I’m sorry that I’ve been neglecting to blog lately. It’s our third week here just outside of Cape Town! We’re in Connaugh Estate (or “Dark City”) with Pa Connie and Ma Margie. I could tell you about the ministry and the different programs going on but when you get down to the heart of the Jeremiah Project, you quickly realize that this is not simply a ministry or a program and that it’s more about who Ma and Pa are.
Ma and Pa have lived in this neighborhood for the past 28 years. Even though they barely have enough to pay their own bills, their lives are marked by incredible generosity. Everything they do here comes out of love for their neighbors and the children of this neighborhood. They’ve opened their home as a safe place for kids to spend their time so that they would not fall into bad company in this neighborhood where drugs and gangs are easy to find. On Fridays Ma makes a huge pot of soup (in the winter and briyani in the summer) to share food with neighbors near and far. Once a month they take food and clothing to nearby squatter camps, paying for it out of their own pockets when there haven’t been any donations. Ma and Pa have been teaching me what it means to be generous and to serve and give cheerfully in every season; not just in times of plenty.
Dark City reminds me of what you would expect a Hispanic neighborhood in NYC to look like. It’s mainly a colored neighborhood (people who are ethnically mixed… so I fit right in!) and comes complete with the common problems we find in the inner cities of the USA… Drugs, gang-related violence, teenage pregnancies, absent fathers, single mothers, etc. At the same time, you can find many people in this community who, like Ma and Pa, care deeply for their neighbors.
The kids are back in school this week (it’s been their winter vacation these last three weeks) so we’re finished with day camps.
We’ve been really blessed by South African hospitality. Quite a few people have taken us out to see the beauty that can be found here in Cape Town – a day at the beach at Gordon’s Bay, watching the sunset over the ocean from the waterfront, magnificent mountaintop views after hiking up Table Mountain. Next weekend we might get to see Cape Point (the Cape of Good Hope) where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.
PS The entire squad is fully funded! Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf.
