Wow. Well there you go folks. I knew I went into the spiritual recollection business with the right gal. A sermon in every post guaranteed free of charge. Thank you for that wonderful word Katherine.
Well it has been a bit since you last heard from me. This week I worked with two aids/community relief organizations with Ethembeni in Mpophomeni and Walk in the Light nestled within Haniville. Ethembeni is similar to Masibumbane in that both organizations seek to instill hope and resources in a community ripe with the despair of the aids pandemic. Ethembeni specializes in emergency medical relief through their four bed hospice unit located in the township. Patients are nursed back to health through a holistic medical program including pharmaceutical aid coupled with scheduled transportation to clinic appointments. Spritual care is also offered in daily prayer and scripture reading in Zulu by the in-house care team. My responsibilities lay with the home visit team performing weekly check ins with volunteers of the agency. Monday revolved around urban visits while Tuesday expanded visitation into the foothills surrounding the community with the rural homes. My experiences with these vists has led to complicated emotions: sadness, hopelessness, anxiety, shock, etc. Beneficial to those reading this entry are not detailed depictions of the many individuals I visited. Words can not do justice to their conditions or challenges. I will not insult them though an inept attempt to do the like. Rather, I seek to give a summary account of my exposure and the many things I continue to process through in its aftermath. As I said, I was considered a pastor among volunteers so scripture lessons and devotion direction was the name of the game. I read scripture, spoke in jumbled English and prayed over clients often with the laying hands through the help of a translator. I spoke of grace and mercy in one bedroom houses with sinking roofs and crumbling walls. I spoke of God's healing touch to a mother stricken with aids and her one month old baby in her arms also carrying the same terrible disease. I spoke of the joyful chorus captured in the poetry of the Psalms to families decimated by death and hunger. I spoke of light into some the darkest places of the human soul I have ever encountered. I looked into the maw of despair and felt my spiritual strength buckle beneath its ever present stare. Poverty is not a word but a human condition that affects the soul when drawn within. I spoke and felt almost nothing of what I said.
Yet, as my hope faded, the strength and conviction of those I sat with seemed to blossom. Clients would also seek to pray or offer testimonies. Through tears and uncertainty, they spoke of God's goodness and compassion. They spoke of their mighty Savior Jesus Christ who guided and sustained them day by day. Mpophomeni is one of the poorest, most economically destitute place I have ever visited, and still smiles abound on the faces of those I passed on the streets and those I visited in homes. As I sank into despair, they stood tall. Vibrant, strong and full of a hope in God's ability to radically transform their current condition. I do not mean to downplay the circumstances of their current condition. I seek to use that bleak reality as a juxtaposition for the wondrous fruit the Spirit is growing in this place. Where my words seemed as nothing more than idle jabber from an over-educated oaf, God's word, blowing forth like a mighty wind from scripture, breathed life into decay and raised anew that which was ash. Charismatic worship often receives a bad word on the denominational streets of our fair cities, but here, believing in God's active ability to restore that which was broken need only be observed through muffled gasps and awe. I stood on the mountain side overlooking the whole of the township and gazed across a vast landscape of oppression, recovery and healing. On that mountainside, I witnessed God's active hand sweeping across the valley, ushering in the good works of the kingdom here and yet to come.
Now on to day three. In most of my blog posts I have hesitated to give a day by day account of what transpires while I am serving, because frankly, I don't want the wondrous ministry done here to sound as routine as my bowel movements. Spontaneity is the spice of life. So let me give you a brief preview of what to expect in a subsequent blog post when I summarize my overall experience with Walk in the Light. Walk in the Light is a broad sweeping community outreach that seeks to generate sustainable jobs and employment with members of the Haniville township as well as minister and give support to families affected by HIV/Aids. Clinic runs and hospital visits are given regularly. Yes, yes you say this all sounds familiar, just like reaching for a soft absorbent patch of toilet paper. Hold on I say, for Walk in the Light has an amazing vision of building a community center in the shape of the southern cross, a notable constellation south of the equator, through a vibrant agriculture program that specializes in the development of rose geraniums. What are rose geraniums you ask? Well it is a cute little plant that can be processed down through an apparatus that Bruce, the current director of Walk in the Light, describes as a moon shine machine into a profitable extract used to make perfume without the cumbersome alcoholic aftermath. So ladies, and gents if your special someone is not around, go into your powder room and inspect that delightful fragrance you adorn yourself with everyday, and chance will have it often, that rose geranium will have been used in its creation. I have seen the fields and they smell delightful. I even keep a small sample of the plant in my breast pocket near my bible. So once again, agencies here find ways to become relevant and viable sources of relief in the surrounding townships.
A closing comment to Katherine, I hope your first day experiencing and living into the mighty call God has layed on your life goes off like Pentecost. I know your friends and family, both near and far, send out their prayers and wish they could be there to experince the mighty ministry God will carry out through your efforts this Sunday and many Sundays to come. We love you kid, and God bless.
Also, don't hesitate to share a few of your thoughts with the blog enthusiasts out there, I know we are all eager to jump in with our waders on.
Jamison
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