Yesterday it was raining. It rained all Wednesday night. When it rains in the township, read- shanty town, everyone and everything gets wet and muddy. Most of the shanties have dirt floors. The water just runs on in. Even those who live in government houses, 12 x 10 feet, one room, cinder-block homes, have water running in under the door. The kids will not want to walk in the rain, or they won’t have dry clothes to wear. There is a lot of pride in the Xhosa culture. So they won’t come to Ithemba. There were only five kids there in the morning when we got there. We spent the morning with them, and painting the scratched-up tables in their classrooms.
In the afternoon we put together pencil boxes full of school supplies for the preschool children. Over dinner Rich asked Gavin what his dream for Luo would be over the next five years. I wish you all could have heard him answer off the cuff and from the heart.
He spoke of their desire to go deep instead of wide with their ministry. He talked about seeing Jeffery’s Bay be a leading example in South Africa; breaking racial barriers between the white and the black and colored communities. He said he would like to see the township women have self-worth, see the township men change their bad attitudes and embrace real male -leadership. He would like to see these precious kids grow up with real dreams and hopes, with the belief that they can be something more then every ancestor that has come before them. That they would all would know Jesus. He said “Will that happen in five years? Maybe not. But I believe by praying for things that only God can do, is the way your faith to continues to grow.”
Not a bad dream to chase.
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