Imagine you do not have work and you have kids to support, so you move to a country far away for a job. You say farewell to your kids. You leave them with your mom to take care of them because you cannot afford to take them with you to South Africa to look for work. You get to South Africa and live in a metal shack the size of one room. You live in a 300,000 person community of a two mile radius with an overarching smell of spoiled food and trash. Less than half a mile away overlooking your metal shack are mansions with just a river separating you. You look for work but with the economy you cannot find work because so many other people are also wanting jobs. You get 350 rand a month ($20) to feed yourself, pay for housing fees, and send money back home to your family so for most days you go to bed hungry.
The next day you go to a clinic because you are sick and it’s 90 degrees outside. You get up at 7am in the morning to walk to it because you know that if you don’t you might not be able to see one of two doctors in the clinic that day. You get there and you are happy you are the 300th person in line because you beat half the crowd for that day. You pray that you won’t have to come back the next day and wait all over again since the clinic is almost closed.
One of the first days in the squatter camps I was so saddened by the conditions they lived that it was hard for me to see the treasures. I saw dozens of people separated from their families for years and with hungry bellies that it broke my heart. However, with all of these things I see beauty. How you ask? When you look at a situation you can either see the needs or you can see the treasures. Yes there is a huge poverty gap but when these beautiful people believe in Jesus, the eternal joy gap of my brothers and sisters in Christ is as small as could be because they have taken heart; Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33).
Here are some treasures I’ve found while spending the month in the squatter camps of Johannesburg, South Africa:
-A treasure is the opportunity to chat hours with a woman named Courtney and getting to share with her a beautiful moment of praying to God with her for the first time to accept a relationship with Him.
-A treasure is an opportunity to spin a 6 year old child around to the point you almost fall because you are so dizzy just to hear her beautiful laugh ring in your ears.
-A treasure is spending a weekend with a high school student named Daisy and getting to dance with her and 100 other students singing “Malibongwe” (praise Him).
-A treasure is hearing dozens of stories this month from people from diverse people groups all over Africa. I truly believe that you can learn something from every person you meet.
See a lot of times treasures need to be pointed out on a map and dug up in order to access them. Dirt needs to be dusted off and you might even need to pry the lock off of it. From the outside it looks like a rustic wooden box but on the inside is contains beautiful treasures that are priceless. It can be easily missed in fields and fields of dirt that are surrounding where this treasure is but when it is sought after, found, and cared for, there is a radiance so pure. You might not forget about the brokenness, but never let the dirt keep you from finding the treasure because the radiant gold shines that much brighter. Keep your eyes open for treasure even in the slum parts of life because it’s just waiting to be found.
