Summertime here

No Snow Here
It is summertime in South Africa, with none of the snow that is now blanketing my home towns of Falls Church and Haymarket. Cape Town is hot by day and good, sleeping cool weather by night. It is the best time of the year to be here and even before the 2010 June-July World Cup, there are plenty of visitors and regulars here to enjoy this lovely weather. I live within walking distance of Fish Hoek beach and you can hardly find a spot these days as people stroll on the beach,many enjoying ice cream cones and watching the surfers and yachts and other enjoyments of the sea. I too love to walk on the beach when I can. But sometimes, all is not as perfect as it seems. Our famous beach is not only famous for its beauty but also for the great white sharks that swim in chest deep and even shallower water. A few weeks ago, a visitor enjoying a swim was devoured by one of those sharks. You know when you go in the water here, you do so at great risk. So with the joy comes sometimes great pain. I think that is the way life is. In the midst of this marvellous place, where thousands come every year, is the constant pain of poverty and violence. Those women with whom I work are affected by all of this and more and they take so little time to enjoy the beach or anything else. This morning as I read the Scripture in Philippians 2:4, as always looking out at the False Bay, I was reminded again by the Lord that I am not here for my own interests, but the interests of others, to bring them hope so that they too may one day have the time and some money to enjoy the grandeur of their surroundings and realize how blessed they are to be in this place. With this in mind I joined our teaching team and spent the day cleaning and scrubbing and getting ready for our big day tomorrow, the start of our 2010 classes.