An answered prayer

A Prayer Answered

Monday April 27, 2009

Today is Freedom Day here in South Africa. It commemorates the fall of apartheid and the first democratic elections held in this country in 1994. This day follows the election last week,April 22 ,that was won by The African National Congress in a landslide. In all of the rejoicing though, there is a national sense, and something I hear from the students, that the challenges of housing, jobs and education must be addressed and patience is short on the part of those who, like my students, suffer the most. I spent some time today at the beside of one of my students in the shack in which she lives. I inwardly marvelled again at how people could live in such cramped quarters with no windows and my student does not like it at all. There are though some beautiful things about shack life. When I arrived for the visit, there were six other women who were there to care for her and look after the children. When I asked her to pray, she invited them all and the shack was filled with loud prayer as we called on God to help and heal her. Over the last month I have been so burdened for the women to be encouraged by other people from their own culture and language who can reach their hearts in a way I cannot. Rose Mbulawa stopped by last week. Zimbabwean born she speaks several languages and when she spoke to the women, they were enthralled by her. One student described Rose's talk as "powerful and encouraging." There are others now who are willing to come and speak to the women from the Bible and about their life's experiences to encourage them that God cares and with His help and the skills we give they can begin to think of a life bigger than the shacks. They have dreams and with faith and hope these dreams for themselves and their children can come true. My heart if filled with praises for this ministry and for your help and support that makes this possible. Please pray for us and for a cure to HIV and AIDS and for all of the women who live with this disease.

O Happy Day

A Day To Remember

April 16, 2009 is the day that Busiswe prayed and asked Jesus Christ to come into her heart and be her Savior and Lord. This is something she wanted to do for a long time and today she was overjoyed because she had made this life-changing decision. I was privileged to be a part of it. Earlier this week, I went to the grocery store where Bucie worked part time. Whenever I visited she always greeted me with a big hug but this time I noticed the grief that lined her face. She was hoping I would come by since I rarely do. This was a appointment God knew I had to keep. The next afternoon we visited as planned and Bucie shared how she longed to be loved. All her life, she felt unwanted and unloved. I remembered her in class. She seemed so full of life and always had a huge smile and such energy. I now learned all of this masked a deep need to be cared for by someone special. As we sat together in the chapel, I shared from the Bible how much God loved her and wanted her to trust Him. She was ready to do this and I will never forget how she prayed. Both of us were overjoyed in this wonderful moment. I thought this is why God sent me here, to show women, most of whom live in terrible circumstances, that they are precious to God. Afterward I went to her home and there we prayed again. I ask you to pray for Bucie that she will always follow Jesus.

Visitors touch lives

A Welcome visit from Australia
We welcomed a group of young people from Australia to our class. They came because they wanted to see our work and also share, through drama, the message of hope in Jesus Christ. They did a five minute silent play accompanied by music. When they were done, Mrs Minah Keola, the wife of my pastor at the Muizenberg Community Church, translated what they had demonstrated. In their play, they depicted young people on drugs or wasted by alcohol and even someone who tried to commit suicide. I was concerned that the class might not understand this, but they did with spontaneous applause and smiles afterward. There was however a bigger result. How could they have known that, sitting in the sewing class was a young women who had recently tried to commit suicide. God knew. When I told them that afterwards, they were amazed, speechless, moved to tears.

A Difficult Road Ahead

What of the Future?

In the photo are children who sang for those of us who attended the Missions Fest Conference in Pretoria two months ago. In what was an otherwise sober meeting, they brought a burst of life with their enthusiastic performance. So full of promise they seemed and yet they came from the same dire circumstances that affect so many of the children here in this beautiful land. Children here, and especially little girls face so many challenges. Just this week, a young man told me the terrible story of a seven year old girl who was raped and murdered by one of his relatives. There is still the belief that the younger the girl, the less the chance to get infected. And AIDS continue to take its toll here in South Africa. Every day 1000 people die from an AIDS related illness. This in turn leaves thousands of children orphaned by AIDS. Desmond Tutu mourned this fact when he said, our children are not able to live to enjoy the victory their parents won. This leads to child headed households or homes where grandmothers have to care for these boys and girls, and, often, their sick parents on nothing more than their pension money. One study showed in one province that 78 percent of older people who receive pension there were the breadwinners for their households. The scenario is disheartening but I am thankful for the help we bring here through Evangeline Ministries. One woman at a time is our goal! To touch a life, give a skill and enable a woman to earn something for her family or help reduce their expenses may seem like modest steps but they make a huge difference, and especially to the children. Always in our class, I am the only one without a child and generally the women in the sewing classes have together more than 30 children between them. If we could make that difference in the lives of those children, then we have done a lot here. When you buy a tote bag from Evangeline Ministries, you help the mothers to feed and clothe their children.
As the winter blows in, the class is making track suits to keep their kids warm. They are also making hanging closets for some other kids in the settlement of Capricorn. Many of those children come from drug and alcohol addicted parents and many are themselves on drugs. They live in shacks with no privacy. They have no place to store a book, or a pencil and place their school uniforms under the mattress to keep them smooth. These mini-cloth closets will give them a sense of being special with a place to put things they treasure. They will paint them to express what they feel through art. Once that happens I will post the photos here for you to see.
So what lies ahead for the children. One of the themes heard here often is the call for an aids-free generation. For that to happen it will take a massive effort on the part of the government, schools, non-governmental agencies, churches and Christian organizations among others. So far prevention efforts yield little success because of many cultural and economic factors. But I also believe there is another thing missing. South Africa needs local heroes and leaders to join in the fight against HIV and AIDS, to reject the stigma that forces even leaders to hide their status and for men who are held in high esteem to speak out against irresponsible sexual behavior that leads to children born into an endless cycle of poverty.