Praise, Police and Pancakes Recap
Our All-In Sunday was once again an intergenerational celebration! It was special to have the Children’s Church Worship Team as part of the worship team (and lead some f the worship). The children also sought the Holy Spirit for words of knowledge the previous week which were shared at the All-In. One of our ESCC family shared how a child’s word of knowledge on anger really impacted her.
The young adults joined with other generations, including many seniors who worked tirelessly to make pancake batter and pancakes and they all worked together across the generations to help set up at 7am. It was a time of joy and celebration, delicious smells wafting through the air and also a meaningful time of worship, prayer and hearing from Sergeant Tintswalo Sithole who heads up the Durbanville Spiritual Crime Prevention Programme at the Durbanville Police Station.
SAPS SPIRITUAL CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAMME
At the All-In celebration, Sergeant Tintswalo Sithole explained that the department of police in South Africa recognised that it has “lost the battle in crime. We’re arresting the same people every time. We need the Higher Power.” She was so pleased to be appointed to head up the SAPS Spiritual Crime Prevention Program me in Durbanville, as she loves serving people and she said, “I love Jesus. I love Jesus more than anything else.” As she began working in this programme, she explained that the Holy Spirit revealed to her that all of life starts spiritually before it manifests on Earth and that crime needs to be fought spiritually too.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 NIV
(SAPS has a National Spiritual Crime Prevention Programme which falls under the SAPS Social Crime Unit. The National Spiritual Crime Prevention Unit was started in 2019. It’s not a Christian programme, but includes different religions.)
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DURBANVILLE’S HIDDEN CRIME
Sergeant Tintswalo Sithole shared that the Durbanville Police have identified domestic violence as the most frequent crime in Durbanville, based on the number of protection orders that the Durbanville Police Department needs to uphold. She shared that it’s a problem that people hide. It’s also alarming how aggressive men get with the police when they try and uphold a protection order and she wondered, “If this is the level of aggression against the police, how much greater must it be in the home”? Sergeant Sithole says, “Durbanville is troubled by domestic violence. When a protection order is opened you can see there is anger and there’s lots of stuff that’s been happening for years.”
“We have authority in Christ. Come join hands with me. Let’s pray about the crime. SAPS needs prayer too. Sometimes police officers are dealing with domestic violence at home and then they come to work and have to deal with domestic violence. It’s too much”. We also need to pray for ourselves and our families, because we are not perfect.”
PRAYING FOR THE GREATER DURBANVILLE AREA
Sergeant Sitlhole asked for prayer over Fisantekraal, which although it has it’s own satellite police station, it falls under the Durbanville Police’s jurisdiction. She particularly asked for prayer over the schools. “The kids need prayer. First of all, the kids are fighting. Some of the children are in gangs and last year children between the ages of 12, or 13, and 16 came to the police station and confessed that they killed another child in a gang. To them it was nothing. They need your prayers. Children in gangs are coming to the schools to bother children who want to have a future. Really, it’s spiritual.”
PRACTICAL TIPS TO FIGHT CRIME IN DURBANVILLE
Sergeant Sithole said, “As the Body of Christ, just go out. Go out. Let’s go out and love them. Let’s love those that are not lovable, outside. Let’s love them. You can ask the Holy Spirit when you go out, ‘What should I do today’? Sometimes there’s a person in need of something. Let’s go out and show kindness to people and tell them that Jesus loves them. That’s what we can do.”
WHAT CAN WE DO TO SUPPORT SAPS BOTH SPIRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY?
If you’d like to help partner with SAPS to support them physically or spiritually, please contact he church office by emailing info@escc.co.za
“Pray for the victims of crime. When people encounter crime, they become traumatised.” You can pray for the SAPS staff at shift change. At 5:45am they come on duty. There’s also a specific prayer time at 7:30am on a Friday morning and she encourages you to the police station and join in. We really need prayers.”
