It’s not difficult to look into the faces of the kids in Lavender Hill and see Jesus. It’s also not hard to look around and see the need for Jesus.
It is hard, however to ask a seven-year old what he wants to be when he grows up and hear him say he wants to be the boss of a gang. It’s heartbreaking to hear him say that he wants to tell people who to rob and get all the money from. It doesn’t make sense that a seven-year old would say when he gets his money from his gang he’s going to “leave my mommy’s house and not care what she says to me.”
But that is the world in which we live. That is the environment these kids and families are experiencing as they live in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the Cape. That is the reality that my team is witnessing in Cape Town this month.
We’re playing soccer with kids that hear and talk about gang activity in their homes regularly. We’re telling Bible stories to kids that have to relate the stories to moments in their lives that they remember, like when Justin’s older brother got shot and there were no adults around to help them. We’re sitting with people in the community that can point to the bullet holes in their door frames and say it was that shot that almost hit their daughter and grazed their son’s arm.
We get to hang out with these kids almost every afternoon. One week ago, a teenager from Lavender Hill went missing. They are still searching for her. Today I listened to three teenage girls ask why there are bad people in the world that want to steal other people’s children. I heard them say they are scared to walk around alone and try to stay together in tight groups. I saw their moods change when they started talking about their missing peer from joyful and excited to fearful and worried. Thirteen-year old girls: afraid, worried, and unsure about the environment in which they live.
I know that Jesus has gone before us and will remain after us. He reveals moments to me that encourage me to keep investing in this community for the short time we are here. One of those moments was when the seven-year old that wants to be a gang proved that he is also one of the best dancers among the kids. He has the sweetest laugh and smile. Jesus showed me that the woman who pointed to the bullet holes in her door frame stopped dealing out of her house 5 months ago because she couldn’t keep putting her family at risk; Elizabeth said she wants better for her kids. Jesus showed me that Chelsey, one of the teenager girls, wants to be a fashion designer, go to university, and said “I believe in myself” the first day I met her. Let me tell you, that girl is going to be a fashion designer. Her outfits are on point every day, and above that, she knows she can do it.
There are beacons of light amongst some clouds of darkness, but we can see that light is invading, and has already won, in this city.
