Discipline. This is such an important part of a childs life. They get to learn boundaries that in turn make them feel safe. Discipline makes kids feel loved. I don’t think I really understood discipline until this month.
It takes having to dish discipline out to understand the importance of it. I know growing up I didn’t have the same appreciation for it that I do now. I was always good of understanding where my parents were coming from, but not always good at understanding why that was a rule.
Here in South Africa I got to work with a surf ministry located in Muizenberg. Muizenberg is a quaint little town outside of Cape Town, really similar to a suburb. The beach is beautiful, the house are nice, and it seems pretty quiet. What you don’t see right away is the homeless kids that sleep on the street. What you don’t notice right away is the electric fences and spikes on top of fences to keep people out. What you don’t see right away is the township with people living in shacks.
This is where the surf ministry comes in. Monday-Friday from 2-5:30 we would pick some of the kids up from the township and walk them to surfing. Here they would get to pray with us, have fun in the water, and get a message and meal at the end.
The hard part about them was that they didn’t listen to a lot that we said. They would run around all over the place and it was really tough to round them up. My challenge was having to be the “disciplinarian” of the group helping with the surf ministry. It was a role I naturally assumed, but probably would have rejected if I had a real choice.
Having to follow through with consequences when they have so little is really tough, but they would always come back and behave better the next time. The sad part is I only had 3 weeks with them to impart a sense of respect for volunteers, but I trust that God did much more in their hearts than we think is possible.
Keep them in your prayers. They live lives of such hardship with no one who really cares. Their one point of joy comes from getting to spend time with people who LOVE Jesus and impart that bottomless joy into their lives.
Names: Ashliegh, “Dude”..He wouldn’t tell us his real name. Reagan, Tonja, Semma, Apelele, Nathan, Michael, Emmanuel
