Monday, November 07, 2011

Cape Town South Africa, November 7,2011

Today was a stark contrast to the events of day one. We shifted in full gear as a team in action. This morning we spent time touring all the ministries of Living Way and seeing first hand all the various ways they are trying to bring a significant change in the circumstances that are hurting their community such as Aids, poverty, skills training, and health care. I was moved by two phrases that were posted at Living Way
"Are our children valuable or vulnerable, The way we see them is the way we treat them"
"It is easier to build a children then mend a broken man"
The remainder of the morning was spent preparing the beds that we will begin building and installing tomorrow. The sun was hot in in Oceanview and we finished in about two hours.
The reality of life in many parts of South Africa for so many set in as we worked in Kids Camp in the afternoon. Our group worked with young children (between 1 yr and 10yrs old). The town we were in was Mountainview, which was nothing more than wood, metal and cardboard shanties set on narrow dirt streets with all the sights and smells you can imagine. Coming from my background it is hard to understand how hard life can be in these conditions. As we walked through this small town the children ran up to us and grabbed our hands in greater numbers as we walked them back to the small child care center. The most moving thing to realize is we all start as innocent children and that at this age their joy is not dictated by their circumstances. It is a powerful sight to witness these children recite the Lords Prayer and sing Jesus Loves Me.
As we sat in The Team House tonight sharing our thoughts about today, you can be overwhelmed by how many children in this world who are either orphaned or vulnerable and how few you may be able to reach. I think more and more that GOD is not expecting us to reach them all; His call is to be opened to his will everyday, as we go and not miss the opportunity to care for those he puts in front of us.
My pray for those on this team is that GOD will continue to break our hearts for the right things and his will be accomplished. My pray for each of you who read this blog is that GOD moves you in the same way.
David Ward

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