Last night we had a representative of government come and speak with the refugees at the center. It was a hopeful as well as frustrating experience. On the one hand, I'm thankful that the government is at least attempting some form of communication with the victims of these xenophobic attacks. But, on the other hand, I get the sense that these so called 'talks' are an attempt to placate the people. Furthermore, the conversation that REALLY needs to happen is between the perpetrators of this violence and the victims. Yet, for those two groups to truly engage in dialogue God must first enter into the equation and transform hearts.
My friend, Godfreed got it right when he made the comment that the real question is how someone can have so much hatred within them that they are able to kill another human as if they were an animal. "Until that hatred can be addressed," he said, "we aren't safe to reintegrate."
I personally believe that the problem of this sort of violence lies in a misconstrued understanding of identity, of not knowing who we are in Christ and, yet, attempting to establish ourselves by stating, by means of violence, who we are not. Consequently, violence such as this can only cease to be a threat when we rightly understand / accept the identity we are given in Christ, when we rightly accept our divinely gifted identity.
Anyhow, enough of my reflection. Hope you enjoy the photos.
Much love,
jess
Anti-Xenophobia March
Obz Fair with Melody and Rietta
Cooking Crew at Obz Methodist Church (Refugee Center)
2 comments:
:) definitely praying for you dear girl. His timing is perfect, isn't it? Thanks for posting the pictures. - lola
praying for you, the victims, the perpetrators, and love. thank you for your willingness to serve and your inspiration.
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