A Seat at the Table
I had dreamed of traveling to Africa for years. Now that the time was here, I was nervous about taking the 13 hour plane ride across the ocean.
Fortunately, the excitement of going to a continent where scientist discovered remains of the first human life, outweighed my trepidation.
The plane trip was beautiful and when we touched down in Africa God’s presence was with us.
After a quick check-in at the house where we would stay, our mission team sat through an orientation about the purpose of our ministry.
Johannesburg – the largest city in south Africa, is known as a city of great wealth and abundant economic opportunity, but it is also home to thousands of people who travel there from outlying towns only to realize that the opportunities don’t apply if you are poor and have little education and that your only option is to be parceled to one of the city’s massive slum areas.
The next morning after a hearty breakfast, our team- accompanied by interpreters and interns who spend entire months of their lives in ministry- was driven to a place that few tourists who come to Johannesburg would ever see.
We sloshed over dirt roads, creeped over deep potholes, and weaved through tangled traffic before reaching Diepsloot.
Diepsloot or “deep ditch is a township that sits on the outskirts of the wealth of Johannesburg.
Initially intended to be a government subsidized locality for those who had been pushed out by Apartheid, the slum was now a dumping place for people who’d come to Johannesburg seeking work and financial stability for their families, and finding neither.
Our walk through an encampment of leaning shanties built on top of muddy streets with small rivers of water carrying waste to past children who played, was sobering as we searched for people to carry the message of Jesus to.
We came upon a young mother- I’ll call her Mary- who invited us into the tiny space where she lived.
Inside of the disorder that surrounded her shanty was the place where Mary had carefully made into a home for her and her infant son.
Their belongings were folded and stored in containers against the wall.
Mary’s small bed was neatly made with a quilt she’d brought from her home country.
Tucked in the corner was a stove and 2 small stools and the only light came from outside of the house.
We walked with Mary past the throng of houses that looked just like hers to another building where limited food items were sold.
There Mary bought a pepper and an onion to put inside of the rice she would cook for her and her son for dinner.
Back at the house as she showed me how she made the rice, Mary talked about her dream to become a teacher. She told us that she believed in God and hoped that He would help her in her journey here.
We stayed until the rice was done, but did not ask to taste for fear she would not have enough for her and her son to eat.
Before we set out to the next place, we prayed that God would remember Mary and her dreams, and that Mary would always know how near God was.
In the 5 days that we remained in Johannesburg, we encountered young people with bright eyes and old people who had settled into their surroundings.
We spoke with parents whose children had stayed back in their home country who had come to this place with dreams and hopes for a future for their children, and found that there was no place for them because they lacked the proper paperwork or they didn’t know the right people, had little or no money and could not get steady work.
The resilience in that place was astounding and reminded me of the nature of God that resides in all of us.
It is the audacity to believe for better and to keep moving forward until we no longer can.
We prayed the prayer of salvation with many people and spoke to them words of reinforcement about God’s love for them. We reminded them that God was near to them and that He had not forgotten them.
Wherever you find yourself as you read this, I want to tell you that those promises also apply to you. God has not forgotten you. God loves you. God has called you into His kingdom.
I hope that those tiny seeds of hope that we reminded them that they carry will continue to be watered and establish a renewed vision of God’s promises. I pray that they have found good ground, have taken root, and that they will continue to grow and to prosper.