It seems like more than the usual amount of “stuff” has come across my radar screen lately. Some of it has been pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, but some of it has a broader impact. Here’s a sampling, in no particular order:

·         Last week 10 school children in the Western Cape were killed in a horrific accident when their taxi driver tried unsuccessfully to race through a train crossing. One family lost all three of their children in this tragedy.

·         During the same week a young girl disappeared after going to the shops for sweets. Her burnt, cut, naked and raped body was found the next day; her neighbor is suspected of committing this heinous crime.

·         There is a massive public sector strike going on across the country, affecting primarily teachers and hospital workers. Their concerns are legitimate, but the people most affected by the strike are, as usual, the poor. Schools in “suburbia” and private schools are not affected and are functioning normally. Schools in the townships have been empty and locked for going on three weeks. End of year exams are looming, particularly for the Grade 12’s. The exams for the Grade 12’s are nationalized and go a long way towards determining the opportunities that those students will have access to. In the healthcare sector it is again the poor that are most adversely affected by the strike, as it is the workers in government hospitals and clinics that are striking. In some cases babies and critical care patients have been left to die in these facilities. Meanwhile, the private hospitals and clinics are open, so those who can afford them have no worries. This point was brought home to me in a small way last week when I cut my finger pretty badly. It was evening, and I didn’t want to go to the emergency room, so I treated the laceration myself. It could have used a suture or two, but it is healing all right. The fact is that in the back of my mind I knew that if it didn’t heal properly or if it looked worse in the morning I had the option of going to a private doctor or hospital, an opportunity that the majority of people here don’t have. I will use the scar as a reminder of the fact that few people have the “safety net” that I have as an option. I struggle with the injustice of the disparities between rich and poor in these two systems – education and healthcare.

·         A young woman that recently graduated from the Zanokhanyo Job Readiness course that Tim and I are involved in had a traumatic experience last week when she went for a job interview. It turns out that the “company” is a front for some kind of illegal operation, probably human trafficking or possibly drug-running. Her “interviewers” essentially kidnapped her and took her to a warehouse in an undisclosed location, took her cell phone, paraded her before other men in the “company,” and finally let her go hours after her initial interview, telling her she must come back early the next morning. Fortunately, she wasn’t physically harmed and she realized that these guys were seriously big trouble. We’re hoping to be able to get the police to investigate, but that’s a long shot. We frequently hear about human traffickers operating through seemingly legitimate companies, but this hit awfully close to home and made it more real. They’re preying on poor people who are desperate for work by putting ads in the newspaper for call center workers, no experience or high school graduation necessary.

It would be easy to get cynical or depressed with so much heartache and injustice around, but I have no doubt that God is still reigning, and He will prevail. Things on the surface have been rotten for a very long time, as I was reminded as I read Ezra this week. Ezra 9:11 says, “Your servants the prophets warned us that the land we would possess was totally defiled by the detestable practices of the people living there. From one end to the other, the land is filled with corruption.” Sounds pretty familiar…A few verses earlier, Ezra recognized Israel’s complicity in the world’s dismal state when he said, “O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. Our whole history has been one of great sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today. But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the Lord our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant.” (Ezra 9:6-8).

Those of us who are seeking to follow Christ are the “remnant” in this broken world. We must not turn our backs on the lost and hurting by retreating into our “safe,” comfortable lives. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of hearing Dallas Willard here in Cape Town, and one of the things he said that struck me the most was this: Being a disciple of Jesus means that I should endeavor to live my life the way Jesus would live my life today. Jesus did not seek to overthrow governments or change systems, but He was completely radical in his approach to people. I am convinced that we, too, have been given a brief moment of grace so that we can, with God’s strength and empowerment, make a difference in the world around us. And living as Jesus would brings Him glory. As Delirious says, “We’re glorious when we mirror You.” Amen!