True confession. We didn't actually see elephants at the Lion and Rhino reserve. My parting shot yesterday of the elephant? A life-sized plastic model at the entry. But believable, right?
Thursday night was our last scheduled "people project." Metro Evangelical Services (MES) operates in Hillbrow, the intensely populated inner city in the midst of Johannesburg. They work to feed and house the street people, to provide job training and jobs for whoever they can. They arranged for us to go out on the streets with them to hand out soup and bread. One stop was on a street near some men's shelters and an abandoned Methodist church where many men slept. Waiting for us in an organized line were about 20 or 30 men, and the numbers increased as we were there. Most of the men were young. They were polite and friendly and seemed grateful for the eye contact and smiles that we gave them. Just being recognized and respected as a person was as important as the cup of soup and handful of bread. Many of the men here have the same story. They fled their countries (many from Zimbabwe) for political reasons and can't return, or they came to the city to get a job to help feed their families in distressed circumstances.
I met one young man whose story is very typical. His name is Luke and he's 17. Luke's lived on the streets for the last 6 years and can't get a job because he doesn't have any documents that identify who he is and where he's from. Like so many of the young men living there, he was beat up and his papers were stolen. He has no way of replacing them and can't even return to his country of origin without them. No papers, no job. No job, no way to improve his situation. A vicious circle. Somehow he has managed to stay in school part of the time. I asked him some questions about himself and learned that he loved to sing. I saw that glimmer of passion in his eyes when he told me about that. Dave Wayman connected him with one of the MES team who explained to Luke that they could help him get new papers. And from there, they could help him get on his feet. Luke could hardly believe what he was hearing, so much so that I am praying that he did indeed show up at the MES offices the next day to talk with someone. After having so many disappointments in his young life, I could easily imagine him not trusting this offer immediately. I wish I had someway to follow up with him.
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