Band Of Brothers

A few weeks ago, whilst in Cape Town, I had the privilege of joining a group of young men who have recently started meeting together on a Friday night. Most of them have a history of significant drug misuse, some for years, and some as recently as a couple of weeks previously. They are there mainly to support each other and find strength and determination in their ongoing commitment to live life differently , and most importantly to follow closely the One who has set them free.
The group has been started by Bradley Naidoo, who himself used drugs heavily and was a gang member for many years, until over 5 years ago , he met Jesus and his life has been transformed. Since then, Bradley has developed a real heart for former friends, community contacts, and the next generation of young people growing up in the Cape Flats communities, where the role models are 'successful' drug users and gang bosses. He spends much of his time, counselling, networking and just 'being' and creating a different kind of presence in his neighbourhood, than the one he used to create, where he was feared by many.
Bradley has been drawing a group of 10 plus guys together for a few weeks, and I had wanted to go to meet some of them and hear their stories. I was also asked if I could talk to them a little about the effects of drugs on mental health.

What an amazing privilege it was to be there! The format was simple, they just one by one shared how their week had been. I was struck by how brutally honest they were, as for some it had not been easy. One had been tempted to go off and buy 'tik' (crystalmetamhetamine) and had coped with this by handing his bank card to someone in the family to look after. As the meeting went on, I saw how as they shared, they gained strength and support and ideas from each other. One spoke of how he was seeking to recreate some order and routine in his life (tik use especially destroys sleeping and waking patterns, and the ability to eat regularly and healthily), he was running at 5 am everyday. Others thought this might be a good idea for them to try as well. Another guy talked about how he was managing temptation in his thought life, every thought that he felt was unhealthy, he took hold of it, and threw it out. I shared with them that this may be what was meant by the verse in 2 Corinthians 10 v 5 ' we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ'. This seemed to be exactly what he was doing.
Yet another person talked about his struggle with eating, and this led onto a general discussion about how they could cultivate healthy eating patterns and lifestyles. Everyone had something to contribute, there was an acceptance of each other's weaknesses and yet a desire to press on , to reach forward to goals as yet unattained , for example with work, in relationships and in serving God.
I spoke a little about the effect of some drugs on mental health , especially in causing paranoid symptoms and psychotic experiences. This was something many could relate to but fortunately their symptoms had subsided once they stopped using. This is not the case for all, and I warned them that ongoing mental illness, of a severe nature, can be triggered by drug use.

After a while, Bradley asked if I would pray for them, which I was happy to do, but as I did I found myself overwhelmed with emotion. I don't think I have ever been with such an honest group of people and it struck me that I had so much to learn from them. I try so often to cover up how I really am, my day to day struggles , my disobedience, my failings, I fall back into certain traps over and over , just as they have. And how all of us are so dependant on God's amazing , extravagant, scandalous and outrageous grace!