Masi Christmas Parties

Today was a full-day for us of Christmas parties in Masiphumelele - the township we serve across the road. The first of the 3 parties hosted today was for the littlest of Living Hope’s clients – the Pre-schoolers! There were probably over 150 little ones crammed into the small Masi Baptist church hall. They sang Xhosa songs, they shook their little bodies and danced the cutest little dances – but then the most incredible thing happened: all of them sat quietly and listened intently to the Christmas Story! I could not believe how well behaved they were. It is such a testimony to our Life Skills Educators and how they have played such an influential part in these little ones lives! After the story, they all received some party packs, a sandwich and an ice cream cone! It truly was Christmas!!

The second of the three parties was for the children and teens that attend our Children and Teens Clubs. You could not imagine how many children were there – we prepared for about 200 kids, but there was easily close to 300. No idea how God stretched the supplies, but he has a tendency of doing that! The ER team leader tells of how God stretched their rice in Quito Ecuador to feed a 1000 people – so when we started getting nervous about having enough food for the kids we started joking and saying that “if God can do it in Quito, He can do it in Cape Town”! And he most definitely did! It was miraculous to watch. The only negative to having so many kids in such a small space is that not all of them got to participate in the games and bouncy bounce outside. But you know, I am always blown away at how these kids are so happy about anything – even if they don’t get to get the same experience or portion as another child. It is so humbling.

Then the last of our Masi parties today was for the older of our Masi clients – it was so neat to gather all the adults that attend the Support Groups. The food was late (sidenote: everything is always late in Masi – something we are still learning to adjust to) , so for the first hour the people just danced and sang traditional Xhosa worship songs. We didn’t have a budget for table cloths so we covered the tables with paper – when we were still waiting for the food, I decided to place a handful of crayons on each table. It is amazing to see the reaction: some were worried about what to do and wanting to do it right; others went right to it and like little kids had a wonderful time drawing varieties of pictures. It was just so amazing to watch! Still waiting for the food, some of the clients came up and gave their testimonies. Not understanding the Xhosa I asked one of the ladies to translate what they were saying. A couple of the testimonies were about living lives HIV+ and the struggles that go along with it. For all of them they thought they had to walk this journey alone, but testify about how God brought them into these Support Groups to live in community with others and with Christ. I was floored at their joy and freedom regardless of the circumstance they find themselves in. The food arrived just in a nick of time and everyone had a wonderfully festive time together. Its these things in our lives here in Cape Town that make me appreciate the little things so much more!