A place for refugees

A chance to Teach and Make a Difference
I am now teaching English to a class of French refugees from across Africa. I love it. It helps to satisfy the frustrated sometime journalist I still am who is now helping women learn to sew and acquire basic computer skills. What I appreciate even more about this assignment is that it allows me to share in the work of another effective ministry here, African Renewal , which helps refugees get started on their new life in South Africa. The world has heard much about the treatment of refugees or, as they are described, foreigners, here in South Africa. I recently attended a lecture in which South Africa was described as a place with the most intolerance to outsiders in the world. That is probably debatable but truthfully there is a lot of tension around the issue here. Many foreigners have been killed and thousands more live in makeshift shelters, to afraid to return to the townships where the overwhelming majority live. African Renewal offers a very different picture of the way refugees are treated in the Western Cape. Yes it is a Christian organization of compassion and empowerment for refugees and I am pleased to play just a small part. The blessings are many and one delightful benefit is that I must now dig deep to remember whatever college French I learned so long ago!