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Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:5 This morning we woke up to the smell of a breakfast of pancakes and bacon skillfully prepared by Pastor Jeff and Jerry. Jerry successfully turned his Mickey Mouse pancake intended for Deb into Bugs Bunny with a little slip of the pancake batter. Nevertheless we all enjoyed another well-prepared breakfast. Even though we were not leaving until 10 AM this morning, everyone still gathered around at 8 AM to enjoy the bantering and laughter which had actually spilled over from Tuesday night. At 9:45 we boarded our now familiar chariot chauffeured by the very professional driver, Lerato for our trip to Molelwane Village. This is the same village we visited on Sunday to meet with the Headman and walk through some of the dirt paths that pass as streets. Many of us had also visited on Tuesday afternoon to work with HHIA’s feeding project for children. Today we came to play games and have fun with mainly the children who don’t attend school.
Pastor Victor Well, when we arrived, there were around 10 or 12 children whom Pastor Victor, the pastor of the local congregation, had gathered up plus 6 or 7 mothers and/or volunteers that assist with the feeding program. These children were mainly under 6 years old; however, it was not long before our now familiar bus entrance had drawn another 20 to 25 children of all ages up thru 16 years old in to the mix. It was a great time of reading stories, making cutouts with Play Dough, playing games, and generally enjoying fun and laughter with these very typical youngsters. Since this was our 3rd trip to this neighborhood the kids warmed up to each of the Team Members right away and willingly participated in all things offered. What has been so striking to me is that in spite of the language, cultural, and obvious racial difference all children respond to a hug, a smile, and a playful manner. Most of the children that gather are most likely being raised by a sibling of maybe 12 or 14 years old. Certainly they have no toys or playthings to speak of yet they have a very caring and sharing nature with the older ones making sure the young ones do not get left out.
As we spend more and more time with these very dear children it is sad to think of the magnitude of the hopelessness that they face. However, in the same way it is uplifting to realize that these children are just like you and me—God’s child who didn’t choose to be born, didn’t choose their parents, and didn’t choose the setting to be born into but God did choose all of this and has a plan, a plan that includes them and us. As we pulled away for probably the last visit this trip and left them waving, it brought to mind a paragraph form Henri Nouwen’s book “The Path to Freedom”: “Poverty in all its forms, physical, intellectual, and emotional, is not decreasing. To the contrary, the poor are everywhere around us and beyond – more than ever. As the powers of darkness show their hideous intentions with increasing crudeness, the weeping of the poor becomes louder and louder and their misery more and more visible. We who yearn for peace must strive to keep listening and to keep looking. We must not run away from this painful site.”
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