Ethembeni

Hello all. Let me first start off by saying if you have any questions about anything I say or want to know about something I haven't addressed then leave a comment and I will try to address it in the next post.

So today we returned to Mpophomene, but we began work with a different agency today called Ethembeni. Ethembeni is a baptist organization that focuses on relief efforts for HIV/AIDs patients. While some of the programs are similar to that of Masibumbane, Ethembeni is more focused on relief while Masibumbane is more focused on self empowerment. For example Ethembeni has four beds in their office where they nurse sick patients back to healh or transport them to the hospital if they have more serious needs.

Today the four Dukies broke into separate groups which consisted of a Ethembeni employee, a pastor, and a Dukie (one of the leaders of the organization enjoyed calling us that). I was with a lady named Tutu, and I never did catch the name of the pastor. We walked around the township visiting clients of Ethembeni; and when I say we walked I mean we walked for miles. When we visited the Ethembeni employee would ask about what problems they were facing. Then the pastor would read a Bible verse to them. Finally I was designated to pray for there concerns. It was very interesting how responsive the people were to my prayers, even though no one interpreted my prayer to them, they really seemed to appreciated the prayers and trust that what I said was a spirit filled petition to God. It was very interesting to see how a prayer could touch someone even though they had no idea what the prayer said. Events like this in the trip so far have really given me a better appreciation for Pentecostalism and the work of the spirit.

One of the most heartbreaking visits today centered around a mother, her son, and her sister. The mother had 3 kids and no income to support her family. One of her kids is mentally disabled in some way and it was tough to be around him. He was malnourished, I think he had TB (don't worry I can't get it) and he just stood there like a zombie. His motor skills were fine but he would just stare blankly as if he had no idea about what was going on around him. This kid could not go to a special education school because it was to far away, and the government would not give the family a disability grant. The family did get a grant for each child which was 260 rand a month per child. In dollars that's close to forty dollars a month, so for three children that is about 120 dollars a month. 120 a month for a family of 4 plus her sister, how can someone live on that? Sad thing is that is more money than a lot of people in the township had. The sister that I was talking about was struggling with alcohol and started bawling when she admitted in front of us all. It was such a sad sight, and praying words of encouragement was very difficult.

We then continued to other houses but the pastor left for other duties leaving me as the de facto pastor. In one house Tutu asked me to speak the word of God, meaning scripture, but the only Bible we had was in Zulu. I was to speak about healing and immediately I thought of the story of the women who touched Jesus' cloak and was healed because of her faith. Unfortunately, like a good Methodist, I didn't know the exact location of the story so I told Tutu to look for it in Mark 6 (it was Mark 5) but she could not find it so I panicked and blurted out the first passage I could think of which was the beginning of Romans 5 which says,

^"1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
 ⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
 ⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

In hindsight I think this passage probably worked very well. Tutu emphasized how our pain is part of our growth and that we always have hope in God; very fitting because Ethembeni means hope. Today has been both one of the most fulfilling days while I've been here but also one of the most painful days after seeing so much pain and suffering. As Jamison and I were ironically talking about before this trip this morning, you can't really have true joy without having pain and suffering to put it in perspective. I saw pain and suffering today, but I also saw joy in some of those who truly felt the presence of God with them. I have realized that joy is not the escape from pain, but comfort and contentment in the midst of all of your pain. God Bless