Phelps back in States

After only two weeks overseas, junior Zoey Phelps cut short her year-long commitment with C-Kruis International, an artistic ministry program in South Africa, and returned to Milligan on Jan. 17, saying she did not feel safe.  

Phelps, from Nashville, was chosen in Sept. 2005 and departed Jan. 4, 2006, to join the C-Kruis Arts Program. According to the organization’s Web site, the group travels across South Africa performing shows that challenge teens and young adults to live out their faith for Christ. 

Phelps was troubled when she discovered information had been withheld from her regarding the death of an American dancer prior to her arrival.

“They admitted they were trying to not let me find out,” she said.

According to News24, a South African news organization, American Eddie Rector was murdered on Sept. 23, 2005, when burglars broke into the C-Kruis office.

Flaps van der Merwe, chief executive officer of C-Kruis, said it was “a freak incident that could have happened anywhere.”

According to van der Merwe, C-Kruis was surrounded by an eight-foot electric security fence, and armed guards were in place.

“There is no need for being worried about safety and security of participants,” van der Merwe said.

However, Phelps said she saw only one security guard during her stay.

One incident in particular unnerved Phelps.

On her second night, Phelps and her team of 10 artists were among 80 students taken on an expedition to the wilderness for a team-building experience. During this experience, a group of eight or nine men in black masks hijacked their van and ordered them to lie on the ground for about an hour.

According to van der Merwe, “Students were aware that they were busy with an official team building process and that whatever happened was simulated.”

Phelps said she was the only group member who could not understand Afrikaans and was unaware that the whole situation was a planned exercise. “I really thought I was going to die,” she said.