a simple blog by a simple person

we're still in the city of mafikeng, south africa
working in the local schools. next week, we head to
Midrand, south africa and will hopefully get to work
at a few of the local orphanages and hospitals there
and in Rustenburg. i'm excited and little nervous at
the same time. it will be good just to be able to
give the kids the love and attention they were created
to receive. though book of hope isn't normally
directly involved in the humanitarian side of things,
we desperately believe in humanitarian aid and
unconditional love and giving. that is why we partner
with other organizations such as worldvision, who
tackle those types of poverty and sickness issues that
jesus talked about. so, we're excited to have the
chance to work in orphanages and hospitals for a week
or so, and have the chance to help with food
distribution and warehouse organization (somebody's
gotta do it).
anyway, it's great to be able to minister to hundreds
of kids at a time, but we truly believe in being
personal with as many individuals as we can. kinda
like when jesus was surrounded by the mob, he took the
time to stop and call out the lady who touched him.
that lady meant something to him. he had compassion
on her individually, and she left changed forever. i
met this homeless guy name eduard yesterday. i'm
pretty sure he has AIDS, though he would be ashamed to
admit it. he reached out his hand hoping i would give
him some money, and to his surprise, i actually sat
down next to him, looked him in the eye and talked
with him about his life. i didnt have much to offer -
an apple, a half-drunk bottle of juice, and a couple
dollars, but i dont think that mattered to him. in
that moment, we were the same. just a couple guys
sitting on the sidewalk talking about the hardships of
life, and the hope of something better. he let me
pray for him at the end, and then i left. i'll
probably never see him again, but i'll remember him.
i'll pray for him. when i'm having a bad day, i'll
think about eduard, who lost his parents at a young
age, is homeless now, resorted to begging for a living
because his body is being punished by a disease.
i met a guy named billy at KFC. he's 23, unmarried,
and just lost his 5 month old daughter to sickness.
he has dreams of being a singer and a dad again. we
talked about life and God, and i prayed for him at the
end. he was glowing with delight as i left, and i got
the chance to see him again a few days later. i gave
him a book of hope that afternoon, and when i drove
back by KFC that night, i saw him sitting outside
reading intently. billy is a random security guard
working at a south african kfc. billy is my friend.
george sits outside the grocery store everyday playing
his guitar or keyboard, and sings songs hoping that
people will come by and put some change in his jar.
george is blind, has been his whole life. i heard him
singing the song "burdens are lifted at calvary" and i
asked him if he knew jesus. he said he did, and i
smiled when i thought that the first thing he'll see
someday is the face of jesus.
those are the simple things that i cherish. it was
fun to speak to 1100 kids today at a high school about
values and making good choices. it was encouraging to
watch them laugh at our funny presentations and see
them silenced in our serious illustration about AIDS,
drugs, family, and true love. i knew that lives were
being effected as my friend jeremy gave his testimony
about his near death experience with alcohol
poisoning, and how God gave him a purpose and a hope
in life. but i also know that lives are being
effected everyday, as you and i walk around the
office, the store, the street. i pray for george, for
billy, for eduard, and for everyone who has taken the
time to read this simple blog by a simple person named
kyle.
kyle