Bringing Hope, by Breaking Despair

“I think the Lord has been working on my heart, growing my compassion experientially, for the people here and continuing to show the humanity that we share, leading to a hope that we will all dwell together in the Kingdom of God.”
-Tyler Morrison

We have absolutely adored exploring the beautiful province of Cape Town, and have had the privilege to serve alongside our friends here at Living Hope! Living Hope’s mission is “Bringing Hope, by breaking despair,” and they accomplish this by assisting various communities by tackling poverty issues, offering various job training and educational opportunities, providing medical aid to impoverished people groups, offering food to the hungry, and ministering to less fortunate children in different provinces of South Africa. The Living Hope team truly shares the love of Jesus with South Africa in all that they do, and our team is so thankful to be able to work alongside them for this time.

On one of our first days with Living Hope, we were taken to the small community of Masiphumelele (Masi). Words cannot even begin to describe how gut-wrenching it was walking through this section of Cape Town. This community faces starvation, disease, fires, lack of water, violence, and so much more. The houses are constructed of weathered, blackened, and burned tin sheets and cloths that offer little shelter for the families that call this place home. Trash and broken glass cover the dirt walkways of Masi, where small children run around and play.

This was unlike anything we had seen before. Groups of children waved every time we passed and began to follow us on our tour of Masi. Yet, in the midst of this township, there is a small church (pictured) where we got to pray over their pastor and see a glimmer of hope for a place that often sees little. Our team is so thankful for Living Hope and all they do to serve and comfort the community of Masi. They will remain in our prayers permanently.

Later on in the week, our team was able to assist Living Hope with door-to-door medical visits in communities like Ocean View and Capricorn. During these visits, Living Hope medical staff fill out medical information and check patients’ blood pressure levels. We have had numerous opportunities to not only have sweet conversations with the patients but also pray with them. This time was so life-giving and grew our team as a whole and softened our hearts towards God’s people.

Overall, Team Llamas’ favorite service opportunities with Living Hope were working with kids in Capricorn. A specific memory that comes to mind is cleaning the area where the kids’ club is hosted. It was filled with the smiling faces of children who were eager to see new faces and have fun, despite their hard circumstances. Not only were we able to clear the playground area, but we were also able to play with these sweet kids for hours. We played basketball, soccer, and tag as well as danced and let the kids braid our hair! The kids were full of joy and hope, and it was so encouraging as we saw the immediate impact that intentional prayer and quality time had on them.

Please pray for us as we continue to learn and serve alongside Living Hope for the next two weeks of our time in Cape Town, South Africa. As we continue serving, we keep this scripture in mind,

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” Lamentations 3:22-24

Isabella Lucarelli, South Africa Team #2
Fellow, Class XX