This morning when Mike woke up he was feeling very down. When I asked him why, he said that yesterday when he had gone to get some supplies, he had ended up down Lekkerwater Road in Sunnydale and stopped by a steel place. It was a tiny dump of a workshop with a Zimbabwean immigrant eking out a living as best as he knew how. Mike felt so sorry for him. The level of poverty in the area is rising. So many unemployed wandering the streets, it’s difficult to not get miserable over the situation.
Then today Morgan said that while she and two other ladies were doing home visits in Masiphumulele, at the second house they went to, they were approached by someone who said that three men had followed them from the first house. They must be vigilant.
It’s so difficult because you want to help, but it’s hard to know how. It was just yesterday that I read this Bible verse:
Proverbs 21:13
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
I try to help organisations that help the poor. I’m not sure giving money to those on the street is the wise thing to do. I have a feeling it contributes to keeping them on the street. You inadvertently become part of the problem.
Meantime, one of the poor have caused chaos in our lives by brazenly breaking into Morgan’s cottage, not once but twice, leaving a trail of destruction and days of work to right things. That’s apart from the thousands of rands to sort out security. It has left Morgan rattled and us not a little unnerved.
No wonder Mike was miserable.
I am stoic.
While I have been saying, ‘the joy of the Lord is my strength’ and ‘be joyful always’, God knows and ‘count it all joy’, some other pithy sayings are coming up:
T.I.A.
This is Africa.
It is what it is.
We have been moving onward to our ultimate goal of great security…here’s Mike raising the fence…
And the journey to this point received a boost today when for the very first time in my life, this was the view from my office window…..right over Morgan’s cottage.
This evening Julian arrived for the weekend, so he will help Mike finish the fence tomorrow.
Yesterday I forgot to make mention that it was nine years since my Dad entered eternity. For future generations that’s Derek Thomas Sones. Born 22/7/1932 Died 15/8/2008
#390 of my 1000 thanks is for my diary…I have a proper paper diary….not a digital one! It keeps me on track. I appreciate it!
These are the days!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂