Soup Kitchen

One Wednesday we had the opportunity as a cell group to go to the CBC of Jo’burg and help a local church feed some of the homeless people in the city. In all honesty the thought of going to downtown jo’burg at night made me a little uneasy, but once we were down there I didn’t feel uneasy. Up to this point the only part of the city I had seen was the touristy section when we went back in September. As we drove over there we quickly left the area of upper economic status and started to drive through the areas that would be considered lower income areas.

The church that feeds the people on the streets provides them with soup and bread and I think they go more than once a week. We had three stops that night, the first stop being the biggest followed by two smaller ones. We had about eighteen volunteers and our jobs were to hand out bread and pour soup and talk to the people. At our first stop we were driving down the road and then the truck pulled over to the side of one of the roads and that’s where the first stop was. There was a good amount of people waiting to get food, and the age group of this stop ranged from about teenage to forty.

Some of these men are from neighboring countries who had come here looking for jobs and/or other reasons while others are from different parts of South Africa, each with their own story and own families. It is so easy at times to judge and wonder why don’t they just get a job, but I learned that some of these men are the workers you see in the parking lots (the parking lot attendants) while others may be the ones standing on the street corner at the robot collecting trash or recycling or selling things. Then there are some who have no job at all. Some hoping to find work and for others a way provide a better life for them and their families.
One problem that these men and women face is the police. The police will come at times and take the men’s blankets and belongings and go burn them or throw them in a dumping site, and in the process taking their passports and other forms of identification. As a result of the destruction of these documents they are then considered an illegal. There is some corruption amongst the police here.

The handing out of food proceeded and we were able to talk to some of the people, not everyone is open for talking. Even though some of these men are on the streets they still have a hope that things will get better. That didn’t go for everyone but some had a better outlook on life. The first stop was also located about a block from a mosque which was lite up against the night sky and as we were out there it was time for the call of prayer. That to me is such an eerie sound. It was a reminder that it isn’t only these men that need praying for but for the rest of the people in the city as well. Spiritual warfare is alive and well here, just like it is in places all over the world.

The next two stops were smaller than the first one, but still where on the side of the road. The second stop was more of a gathering where people lived. Across the road was what looked like an abandoned construction site and a group of people had made small shelters and they had a fire going. I noticed at this stop that some of the other volunteers in the group knew some of the people at the stop. They had developed relationships with the people there. The night concluded with the third stop that was located in more of a business area of downtown. We were near a bus station and across the road were these abandoned apartment buildings. This was the last stop and for the men that came they were fortunate in the fact that they received the extra bread that was left over from the previous two stops. Unlike the first two stops were most people stayed near the site the men here seemed to stay within a block or two of the site and not just across the street.

Overall it was a good experience and I was grateful to be able to see a different side to the city. It is also a humbling experience at the same time and you become more apprieciative of your living situation just knowing that once you leave there you are going back to an apartment were a warm bed is waiting for you while these men are going to sleep on the streets with only a blanket.

Pics from the shanty town

Here are some pics sarah took when we went to the shanty town. Hopefully this will give you a better understanding of where some of the kids live.