I know, right? Drool, sigh, melt into a pool of happiness. That's how we feel too. And we get to see this every day for a week.
What we've heard is true, though: This is a first world area with third world issues. It's a topic we've rolled around back and forth since we arrived, trying to figure out what to do with it.
Today was like "drinking water from a fire hose," as Natasha, our tour guide and Living Hope Teams Coordinator, said. It's true. It was full, rich, emotional, and exhausting.
We started off at the main campus of Living Hope and got the full overview. Let me try to translate in a few short paragraphs what we learned.
John Thomas, pastor of King of Kings Baptist Church in the Cape Town area, heard a statistic that revealed the HIV infection rate in Masiphumelele, a nearby township, was 42%. It broke his heart and moved him to action.
That was in 1999. And that's when Living Hope took off.
Today, we learned that the ministry has four different arms that minister to the greater Cape Town area:
- Living Care – The health care center with 22 beds and home-based health care with 50 carers.
- Living Grace – Originally reaching the homeless and now offering a substance abuse recovery program and feeding program.
- Living Right – Offering support groups, health counselors, and life skills for both children and adults.
- Living Way – The job creation arm that offers soft skills (keeping a job), hard skills (what you need to get a job), and business development training.
Amy Helms is a nurse at Living Care. Ashley Lovell works with Living Grace. Danielle Schneider and Courtney Lankford work with Living Right. And Joey Lankford works with Living Way.
Don't worry. I plan to post more in-depth stories on what each person is doing, more about their roles in the ministry, and the lives they've already touched. Stay tuned.
Our tour included township drive-bys through Masiphumelele, Ocean View, Overcome Heights, and Capricorn.
And we were able to fit a small run-through of Living Way in there.
It finally ended with lunch, prayer, and a pep talk from John and Avril Thomas.
This afternoon, we set sail for our first stop in the week-long eye clinic journey—Red Hill, a small, rural township of about 2,000 people. The pictures speak for themselves regarding the poverty they live in.
But don't be fooled by looks alone. Those we served were kind and grateful we came to visit. And God is up to something there.
Here are some remarks from the team after the fact:
- George West: "Gordon, our bus driver, said, 'You have no idea what that meant to them. Nobody washes their feet—especially a white person. It was something they've never seen before.'"
- Chris Bishop: "A mother and her son came through. I gave the little boy a piece of gum and you could tell it put him at ease. I asked if I could pray with them and he put his head against his mom like they'd done it before. You could tell they prayed together at home."
- Troy Brown: "One lady came to get glasses and I asked if I could pray for her. She was hesitant at first, but finally admitted that she'd been to the doctor and found out she was pregnant. She hadn't told any of her family members yet and was concerned about how they would take it. I'm glad we got to pray through that."
Becky Gross led a powerful devotional tonight based on Romans 8:28: "We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love Him."
She encouraged us to hone in on "in everything" and what that looks like. Because it looks like both good and bad times. And it doesn't mean that we always see the good that comes out of what we do right then and there—and we may possibly never see it. But, nevertheless, in everything.
Tomorrow is a rough neighborhood in the township of Capricorn. It's going to be another long day for our team. But God has already proved His faithfulness again and again, going before us, behind us, and surrounding us as we take the gospel to this nation.
