I have almost completed month 3 of the race and my longing for home is growing stronger and stronger. It has been hard reading friends’ facebook statuses about spending Thanksgiving with family and black Friday shopping at 4am. I can’t help but want that too. But I am reminded daily that I am where I’m supposed to be.
One day as a couple of us were walking to the township for our reading program when we met a woman named Colleen. Colleen was recently mauled by two dogs near the beach and was in the hospital for some time. She had hospital and electric bills to pay but no money. She carried the responsibility of taking care of her daughter and grandson. It was quite obvious that Colleen was lonely, she continued to tell us story after story about herself and the community.
Another day by the grocery store we met two young men, Randall and Melvin who live on the streets. At ages 17 and 19 they had stopped attending school at grade 7 and the other grade 3. These boys come from broken families, with no one around to give them the time of day. Even though they don’t seem to have much motivation to go back to school or look for a job, they were vocal about how they are tired of the street life.
At the reading program, I have become a little attached to one sweet 10 year old girl. She always has the prettiest smile on her face and the eagerness for me to read to her. One day I noticed that she wasn’t as cheerful as she is usually. She put her head on my lap and said sadly that she is not going to pass grade 3. She said it was because she was not smart enough.
Muizenberg is full of lost people waiting to tell their story to someone. Seeing people live on the streets with no shoes and sleep on cardboard boxes is a frequent sight here. Hearing children speak poorly of themselves is a common sound. But it is not one I ever want to get used to or accept.
Though it is easy for me to feel hopeless in these situations and feel like there is nothing I can do to fix anything, I am reminded, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need,” Romans 12:12-13. And so for all of these people I met, I prayed for them and encouraged them as best as I could. Though it is small, I believe letting the community know they are loved and cared for is a great step towards walking out of the darkness in South Africa.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
