Adventurous Living: The Community ActivistPete Portal - 17 Aug 2016
"A good day is very, very good, and a bad day is very, very bad – but for every challenge there are multiple highlights"
As part of our #CalltotheWild series we’re exploring adventure in all its forms. Pete Portal lives in South Africa and his everyday adventure involves helping drug addicts and serving Jesus with the 24-7 community in Manenberg, South Africa:
Tell us a little about yourself and where you live:
I’m from London, but moved to Cape Town in 2009. My wife Sarah and I live in a community called Manenberg on the outskirts of the city.
There’s a common narrative that gets circulated about Manenberg – that it’s full of gangsters, drug dealers and addicts – but it’s our favourite place in Cape Town. Whatever issues there may be, Manenberg is full of life, exuberance, and kind-heartedness.
How did you come to be where you are now? Would you call it an adventure?
As a student, my friend invited me on a short-term trip to Cape Town. Initially, I wasn’t interested, but over the trip I was broken by the injustices of Cape Town. We were living in a township and volunteering in a prison, and I became angry about the poverty and violence I could see all around me.
When I returned I realised Cape Town had left a deposit in my heart, and it was my responsibility to respond to that. So during my final year as a student I prayed a prayer of surrender to God and made a decision to return to Cape Town.
I wasn’t sure what constituted a ‘calling’ – but I was adamant that my life should count for a cause, for people, beyond myself. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. So yes, I would say my life is an adventure - but it’s not always exciting. While I wouldn’t swap what I do for anything, there’s a fair share of boring, difficult aspects to life here.
What are some of the highlights and challenges you’ve encountered so far?
One of the most challenging experiences was moving to Manenberg for the first time. I’d only been in Cape Town a year and didn’t speak Afrikaans.
I lived with a young friend, Dowayne, who was 19 years old and trying to kick heroin. A few months in, it became clear he wasn’t winning his battle with addiction. Life became unmanageable for me as I watched Dowayne unravel; I left traumatized and burnt out, and became hopeless about the whole thing I felt God had called me to.
"I was adamant that my life should count for a cause, for people, beyond myself..."
Yet today, Dowayne is 25, over four years clean, following Jesus, and working with Sarah and me. In January last year we opened half our home to young men committed to transformation – the house is called Cru62, and it’s a ministry of our Boiler Room community, Tree of Life.
A good day is very, very good, and a bad day is very, very bad – but for every challenge there are multiple highlights. We’ve seen so much and learnt so much along the way – from the trauma of living in a violent community to witnessing friends come off drugs through the Holy Spirit.
Knowing that you’re spending your life doing what you were created to do helps you to persevere.
How has God guided and helped in those moments you’ve been uncertain?
I was really nervous about moving into Manenberg. But God made it very clear each time that I was doing the right thing by providing, miraculously, all the finances I needed to move in!
There was a time in 2014 when a friend prophesied specific details around us buying a certain house - even seeing it in a picture wrapped up for us under a Christmas tree. We ended up signing off on it at 7.30pm on Christmas Eve, certain in the knowledge that God was all over it!
What piece of advice would you give to someone who’s not sure what God’s calling them to next?
Get moving; alter your current life rhythm. I once heard someone say ‘God can only steer a moving ship’ – and I think that’s pretty spot on. Even if it’s just saying ‘no’ less, being less busy to seek God’s guidance on ‘what next’, position yourself so God can interrupt.
It doesn’t have to be spectacular. There are always simple, concrete decisions you can make to orientate your life towards the next chapter. There are so many stories of spirit-filled adventures God takes people on – so get reading the testimonies of others and let those stories inspire your passion into reality.
What’s the best way to approach a life of adventure, in your opinion?
I’m learning not to take myself so seriously - living with ex-addicts helps! I try to see every setback as a place of learning and growth. So don’t mourn lost opportunities; remember to laugh a bit. Expose the lies you tell yourself out of fear. Write them down, speak them out, and laugh at them with some good friends.
Failure is never final, so be prepared to fail loads – in the middle of the mess you’ll probably end up finding the very thing you’re willing to give your whole life for.
This blog is part of our summer series, A Call to the Wild, exploring real adventures. You can keep up to date with the whole lot on the blog or by following us on instagram.
