Sunday, May 27 by Cassie

 

After great anticipation, we finally got the opportunity to meet some of the Molewane Village children.  We pulled up in our tour bus to a variety of faces looking at us.  Some were immediately excited, some looked skeptical.  We offloaded the bus and were greeted by Victor, the Top Village pastor that fills in as the Molewane pastor as well.  By this time, more children gathered near us, watching us.  Victor explained that the children would want to be near us and we should embrace them and love them.  I think we were all excited and nervous to see how the children would react.  We also met the Molewane Village headmaster’s wife, to ask permission to walk around the village.  She was very gracious and encouraged us to mingle with the local children. 

            As we started to walk, one little girl, probably about ten years old, grabbed my hand and walked with me.  Before we knew it there were nearly one hundred children following us, touching us, and talking to us.    There were two children in particular that I met and came to really enjoy.  They told me their names, but they are so lengthy and foreign, I could not repeat it, though they are very beautiful names.  The girl was simply and innocently gorgeous, fourteen and very intelligent.  She spoke English all but fluently.  The young boy could have easily been the next Chris Rock; he was hilarious!  These two children, as well as the rest LOVED the cameras.  They would pose for the camera and then want to see what it looked like.  I bet each of us took over one hundred pictures because the children just loved it.  We walked around their village singing, dancing, and always arm-in-arm.  It was an experience that words would never justifiably describe. 

            Most of these children were very happy and playful; however, there was also a handful that could not smile.  It seemed painful for them to smile.  Most of the kids like this were older, probably acting as the adult in the family, at a mere twelve or so.  Another observation was that the number of actual adults was less than ten for the entire group of children around us.  There were small children holding babies, in fact I distinctly remember a four or five year old boy with a very small baby sleeping on his back as we walked.  I found it beautiful how these children became each other’s family and how they gave each other hope – somehow.

            As hard as it was to let go and get back on the bus, we did.  We went to Mike and Michelle’s home for dinner.  It only took about two minutes to get there – they live right behind this village.  The contrast of Molewane to their lovely home on a golf course was surprising.  Michelle talked with us about this very contrast - “To whom much is given, much is required.”  Those words spoken by Michelle helped us to understand.  Mike and Michelle have devoted their lives to helping the rural villages surrounding Mafikeng, the least of what they deserve is a comfortable home, a home that you might find around La Casa, a home anyone one of us live in without question in Arizona.  After dinner we continued to talk with Mike and Michelle about South Africa, its history and how they became so passionate about it. 

            So far, this has been the most incredible day here.  We have experienced the joy and hope of these barefooted young children, we saw how tough it is for children to raise children in these huts with no running water, and we learned a great deal about this country of South Africa. 

God Moment: What wasn’t a God moment today?