The next two weeks I am in Africa with other members from the church. I’ll be sending back a handful of posts and photos. After leaving Kansas City on Monday at 12:30 p.m. we flew to Washington D.C., Dakar and finally we arrived on Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. in South Africa. What follows is my first post describing one of the events of Wednesday, January 23.

This afternoon we visited a community of 147 residents - people forcibly relocated from their homes more than 40 years ago during he height of apartheid as the government sought to separate the races. These lower income blacks were moved into what was supposed to be temporary housing - what look like shipping containers approximately 10′ x 20′, some much smaller, whose thin walls are made of materials that include asbestos. They were told they would be relocated later. Later never came. As if to highlight the tragic conditions of the village, the name of this community was, “Heavenly Valley.” What I saw looked more like hell than heaven.

80% of the people living in this community have HIV/AIDS - 80%. There are a host of social problems in this community - drug addiction, prostitution, serious illness and more. We walked through the village with the members of a mission agency that is the sole group we saw working in this neighborhood to bring hope. They introduced us to the people and invited us to go in the homes to pray with the sick.

My first stop was to see and pray with a woman who had HIV/AIDS. I was certain she was 70. Our host told us she was 40. After spending a few moments and praying together we moved on. Our next two stops were to pray with women who were ill. Next we stopped by the home of a woman who, our hosts told us, was demon possessed. We did not go inside but they asked that I stand outside and pray for her. Then in the homes of several more residents who had illness or family discord.

The children were oblivious to this - they were playful and quite anxious to connect with strangers. Spending time with these children as they laughed and played, you could not forget that many won’t live to see their 15th birthday.

The one bright light shining in this community was from the Christian mission there. They ran a small daycare for 23 children who met inside one of the “shipping container” homes - 23 children in a 200 square foot space. They also sent volunteers from their mission to call upon the people several times a week, and to provide emergency aid. The teachers requested only one thing from us - did we know anyone who could provide small, portable tables and chairs for their day care. We will be providing funds for the purchase of these items.

Where is hope found in a community like this? Only in the love of Christians who refuse to abandon the children there. I thought you might want to see a few photos of “Heavenly Valley.” In order you’ll see 1. A photo of the neighborhood and typical housing,  2.  A few of the children of Heavenly Valley,  3. The Heavenly Valley preschool,  4.  The teachers of the Heavenly Valley Preschool - all but one are unpaid.