Oh Cape Town, how I have fallen in love with thee. If you
have read the previous blog you have seen how much we have been blessed with while
being there, and this blog is more about the ministry.
Near the house we were staying at was a church and shelter
called MES. It wasn’t the typical feeding and clothing center for homeless and
prostitutes. In America we would simply give to the homeless for the sake of
giving to someone who has nothing, but in MES they don’t share that belief.
They believe that all should be treated with the utmost dignity and respect,
and in order to do that it takes participation from both parties. Therefore,
MES will give articles of clothing so long as the person receiving provides 1
RAN for each item. 1 RAN is equivalent to about 15 cents in USD. So its not
like MES is trying to make a profit off the destitute. For every meal prepared
only food items that have recently expired are used, and the food is good! I
know, because I ate it for two weeks. In order to get a meal, you have to pay 1
RAN as well. And if per chance you think well homeless people have no pennies to
their name, that fact is also not true. MES provides a sweeping service; so if
you are unemployed and need money, for 4 hours of sweeping you receive 40 RAN,
which is about $6 dollars. So this organization in general has a great set up
and philosophy. Where is this mission derive from…? God 😀
Called the Three Musketeers
The man we met with everyday, our contact is called Joseph.
He is a man after the Lords heart. He truly takes the verse;
“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the Love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:17 – 18).
As the actual law. Every morning we arrived at the shelter
was a morning greeted with a hug and a verse from Joseph. He was a
man of many words, and a man who could read and understand people better than
the person understands him or herself.
Some days we helped cook or helped out with the clothing section. If
those things were done before we arrived, then we would go out
and walk or drive the streets. Sometimes we had chips or water to give, other
times we had nothing but a word of encouragement. We would do whatever until
noon. At noon was “devo” time.
Harold, Joseph, Gale, and me
Some days we had as little as 40 and as many as 75 people to
feed lunch to. With MES, before they hand out food, the people in attendance
must first sing a few songs of worship, and hear the word of God. Since there
was a group of us, we divided the people up into groups to be a bit more
personal. And in our groups you just ask the Lord to lead and take over the
conversations, this was our devo time.
On the first day of our devo time, there
was a little old man who was the sweetest person ever. His name is Edward.
There was one point in the meeting when I didn’t know what more to say, he
asked a question and it got me going on a tangent. The next time we had devo I
was hoping Edward would be in my group, and he was! Everyday I saw Edward and
everyday you could see the smile on my face while I felt the smile in my heart.
Edward has a long and sad history, but he is one of those people who you know
just shouldn’t be on the streets. He isn’t an alcoholic or on drugs, he cleans
the two shirts that he has daily to maintain his hygiene. He is robbed nightly,
and when viewing him I always tend to think of him as one of the Lords many
angels just trying to get by in this difficult world. I wish there was a
place for people like Edward to safely stay. Maybe the Lord is working my heart
for something like this in the future.
