South Africa Trip 3

On Wednesday lunchtimes the One Future Foundation Team take lunch down for the homeless on Durban sea front. Each week the people gather and wait for the team to arrive. 

 Food is donated by different companies, sandwiches are made up and each person receives those together with a drink, snacks and an apple. Some take extra for their children

After the food is handed out, most of those who have gathered will wait for the pastor to bring a word of encouragement. This is always welcomed by the poor and vulnerable who are there. On this occasion my husband brought the word and we were privileged afterwards to be able to pray with those who asked. The lives that these people live are desperate, if they dont make enough money during the day by begging or during the night if they are sex workers, then they dont have a roof over their heads to sleep. Those roofs are at the shelters that I mentioned in my previous post. Often they will sleep on the beach when the weather is good.

 

The message my husband brought was one of unconditional love and hope, these people were captivated by hearing of the Heavenly Father who looks at them through eyes of love and doesnt see them as they see themselves. We were able to reassure them of His love and of our love. Most had never known human love in their lives before and to hear that they can have this Father child relationship with a heavenly Father was a new concept. We left this time wanting to go right back and sharing the Fathers heart all over again.

if you would like to help support our daughter and family as they work to bring hope to the homeless please visit
www.justgiving.com/kingsroadchurch

Homeless

Below are some photo's that my daughter took on one of her recent visits to the homeless shelter that she helps at in Durban. Her and her friend from church go each week, when they can, they take a team people of people with them. They find out the needs of the people living in the shelter. On this visit they had taken clothes for the children. Sometimes they make arrangements to go and pick up those who need to have HIV tests or other medical treatment. At the moment they are trying to sort out rehab for one young lady who is addicted to cocaine. They take the love of Jesus to these beautiful people who have been so badly wronged by family and/or society. Please pray for them and the people they are seeking to help.

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COP17.....Street Kids

At this time  COP17 climate change talks, are taking place in Durban, South Africa. I had never heard of COP17 until my daughter mentioned it. This is what I have found about it....

'Essentially it is a political meeting; a negotiating forum. Most world governments have accepted the scientific evidence that global warming is happening, mainly as a result of humans burning fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases. COP17 is the 17th annual meeting when world governments get together to negotiate tackling climate change. COP stands for Conference of the Parties, the parties being the 195 nations that signed the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.'

I am sure this is interesting to some...but at this moment my thoughts are on something else that my daughter has told me about that is going on in Durban as a result of this conference.

Street children, some very young, who have found themselves orphaned or abandoned or who have simply run away from a life of horror, have now been 'kidnapped' by the police, driven out into the bush and left there. Why? Below is a quote from a SA newspaper which will explain.

'The paper quoted the city's metro police spokesman Eugene Msomi saying all begging streetchildren and adults would be rounded up because they mugged tourists.

"We often remove them from the streets when there are big events like the World Cup and major conferences, because some of them mug tourists and damage the image of the country," he said."You find that tourists are unfamiliar with the area and would be intimidated and even mugged by these street beggars."The United Nations Climate Change conference (COP17) will be held at Durban's Inkosi Albert Luthuli convention centre from November 28 to December 9. The conference is expected to attract 20 000 delegates.'

When ever my daughter is able, she drives down to the city and visits a homeless shelter. She said many of the children who live there have been taken away and this happens each time something big happens in the city. She posted about this on Facebook and her friend in Denmark who said the COP17 is huge in her country, contacted the News program who in turn called my daughter in SA and interviewed her live on the radio today. Hopefully this will bring to light what is happening. What is the point in being concerned about the environment if we cant show love and concern for those for whom it was created ?