Vulnerable children

Over the past couple of weeks I've been struck again and again by just how vulnerable many of the children in our community are. Last week 2 of the kids at Mapheo were orphaned - sadly not an unusual thing around here. The day after their mum died, their uncle also died of HIV. On my visiting rounds last week I & Mashoeshoe (who I visit with) finally found a little boy we'd been looking for for weeks. We had thought he was living in Kgubetswana. We'd looked around for him each week but never found him. Then last week after speaking to a lot of people we finally saw his mum. She very casually told us that he lives in the squatter camp. So down to the squatter camp we went and found him living with his gran, grandad, aunty, uncle and at least 2 cousins in a tiny mud hut while his mum lives in much better conditions up the hill. I cannot comprehend how a mother can leave her son in squalor and not appear to be bothered. They are all living in 2 rooms, there is a single wooden bench, a stove, a few pots and pans and a bed. That is all their possessions. But after visiting hm, Mpho came along to Mapheo for the first time in about 2 months. It was so great to see him there, he was completely confused, but loving it! The irony is that his name means 'gift'. Clearly his mother thought he was a gift for his gran not her.

Not a single child that I visit has their own bed. They are all living in absolute poverty. At least one mum is HIV positive, but thankfully very open about it. I'm hoping to test her son in a few weeks. There are probably more who are positive, but the stigma here is still very real, so people keep that knowledge to themselves or just don't get tested. Last week we found that a dad has walked out on 2 little ones we visit. So their mum is left to care for them alone. Again, sadly that's not unusual. Very few kids still have dads who are involved in their lives.

This week visiting has left me a bit overwhelmed - I love visiting but it's also really hard. If I was here doing this in my own strength I'd be back in England by now. Life here is hard to deal with. But I'm not here in my own strength. God is sustaining me. And He loves those children and families far, far more than I do. I think my heart is breaking when I visit their homes, but His is breaking more. He longs for every one of them to come to know Him and His saving grace. He wants to rescue them. He wants to give them dignity. He longs for every child to know their worth in Him, to know that they are loved absolutely by Him. He wants to father them. He wants to raise them up out of their hopeless situations and make them into princes and princesses in His Kingdom.


He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap
To make them sit with princes
With the princes of His people
(Psalm 113)


As we visit I pray that this is the message we bring. Jesus is the only hope. He is the only one who can bring dignity and joy to people who have nothing and are shunned by society. And if all I learn from being here is that Jesus is everything I or anyone else needs, then that's enough. It will be worth the sacrifice. If I learn to truly depend on Him, to give my all to Him, I will be satisfied.


I look at the mountains around me and realise that the God who created them is the God who saves me. He who made the heavens and the earth. He will not let me fall. He who looks after me is always awake and alert. He will never drop off or daydream. He is my keeper. The Lord gives me shade from the heat of the sun and the glare of the moon. He protects me from evil and gives me breath each day. He will watch over all my days. (Psalm 121)