Could you even fathom what it would be like to not have a home? To not have a safe place to return to every night, with a pantry full of food to sustain you, and a bed with heavy, warm duvets?
I certainly can’t.
But day after day, here in South Africa, I encounter people who live like that. Port Elizabeth has a shocking amount of homeless citizens, young, old, black, white, colored, men, women, and children who do not have what they need to survive.
Love Story, the organisation my team has partnered with this month, does every thing they can to help this sector of people. For example, every weeknight at 6pm in the city centre, we bring giant pots of food to serve to the crowd that gathers. Depending on who shows up, we serve between 100 and 125 people a hot, nutritious meal!
One of the mamas at Love Story, Aunty Faye, hosts a special lunch for the women every Wednesday at the Love Story house. She prepares a meal for them, usually including a desert which they LOVE, and speaks life into them- words completely coming from the Holy Spirit and not herself. Last week, during this women’s group, one woman shared about the troubles she was facing. She is providing for her eight children, her brother, her boyfriend, and her parents. However, she is having trouble finding work and keeps having the temptation to return to drugs, although she does not want to. Just as she was sharing, the other women began weeping for her and laying their hands on her in solidarity. I have never seen a response so immediate and supportive. These women have faced violence, weapons, abuse, heavy drugs, and more- the worst conditions a human can be subject to; yet here they are weeping over a sister! They are completely present in her time of trouble, and wanting to help her in any way they can, although they have nothing. One of the ladies told us that they all understand what she is suffering with, on some level. Each of them have faced the insurmountable task of providing for themselves and others while not having work and/or looking to destructive things for an immediate release. And they know how horrible that feeling is. They do not want that for their sister.
I wish that I could be that supportive and giving- forgiving of a person’s temptation and shortcomings, and giving of anything I can to help them. Someone told me that if they go to heaven with something left in their hands that they have not given to someone in need, then they have not done their job fully. They want to go to heaven emptied of what God has blessed them with, fully poured out for others. That is beautiful. I belive that the Lord desires blessings and provision for each of us, but it is our responsiblity to ensure that we do not selfishly hold on to everything for ourselves. We each have a person or people that we can help- whether it is the homeless, or a friend, or our children.
God has put something into our hands. In the hands of my teammate Elsie, He has placed a pure love for children. Into the hands of Mantha, He has placed a lens to see and understand the condition of people. He may place in our hands money, or love, or a heart for widows, or a car; and it is on us to take the gift and use it to provide for the children of the Kingdom. I pray that we do.
