Learning to Breathe

After the Xenophobic attacks began last week, many of the non-profits have been working around the clock to house and meet the needs of over 20 thousand newly displaced people, forced to flee their homes after having lost everything.

I suppose God planned my trip here perfectly, seeing as I arrived the day of the attacks in Joburg. Whenever I tell people that I’ve only be in South Africa for eight days, they laugh and say something along the lines of, “perfect timing, eh?” And I think they’re right. God’s timing is perfect.

Since arriving, everything has happened in a whirlwind fashion. The second day in town, I received a phone call from someone at SHADE, the organization I’m currently working with, asking the other intern and I to head up to a Methodist Church in Observatory in order to receive a flood of refugees. Since that time, I’ve been had the incredible opportunity to get to know a hundred something people from Zimbabwe who currently live at the refugee center. Amazingly, the center is – more or less – run by the people who live there, with limited aid from volunteers.

Over the past week, I’ve seen and learned so much. In one moment I’ve witnessed the desperation and discouragement of volunteers who are heart-broken at the situation of so many people facing utter starvation and joblessness and, the next, a donation of 200 ready meals come in. I’ve held children from Zimbabwe who call me Auntie and ask to come home with me. I’ve preached to a room full of displaced people about the truth of God’s presence, of how God is with us still, and how it is God who wipes every tear from their eyes. I’ve sat at rallies, listening to South Africans cry out, “Never again.” And I’ve seen people who have been beaten down, rise up again with incredible dignity and grace.

Honestly, I’m not really sure what to do with all of this, nor do I know how God wants to transform me by this experience. But what I do know is that God is faithful and that I am here in South Africa and, more specifically, here in Cape Town for a reason. I know that, by the grace of God, I will be used for God’s glory. And I know that I must hold on to the hope that even in the face of chaos, brokenness, and violence, the peace and power of our God is present, drawing us up out of the dirt, binding up our wounds, and carrying us into a place of safety.

Pray with me, friends, for the wisdom of all leaders in South Africa, for my own health and sanity, and for my willingness to let God use and teach me through this process.

I love all of you, dearly. And look forward to seeing you again.

- jess