Today I posted that Discipleship can sometimes be a messy thing. Here's a little background to that statement.
I work with Isithembiso, we work with children in a township here in South Africa called Masiphumelele. We have sponsored kids, kids who come to our clubs, and then generally will help anyone with a need. Fires are very common in Masi. Shacks built in close proximity to each other, with no electricity. Fires are used for cooking and heating. Accidents happen and fueled by our South African wind, can cause damage to several different families. Recently there was a small fire that destroyed 6 houses. We had friends in our church whose family lost there house so we decided to go and see if we could help. While we were there we met another family that lost everything. A woman with 4 children. Two of them were still in school, two them were older an moved out already. We prayed with her and said we would get some new uniforms for her kids. As a team, we decided to do a little bit more. We took a food parcel to her the next day and ordered a new bed for her.
I went by a few days later. Her bed was ready and I wanted to let her know so she could arrange for it to be delivered. It was late. I was stopping by on my way home. She was standing outside when I pulled up. I brought the guy with me who made the bed. There was one slight problem. She had been drinking. Maybe to much. She was having trouble walking. Her English is better than my Xhosa, but we were having trouble communicating. They made plans to deliver the bed. I couldn't leave without stating the obvious. I asked, "Have you been drinking?" She answered, just a little. I said no worries, just slow down, and be careful please.
It's like a punch in the gut. You want the people your helping to make steps in the right direction. This was not the right direction. However, discipleship is not always easy. We are discipling people towards Jesus. Sometimes that process is two steps forward and one step back. Sometimes it's one step forward and two back.
We were given a few donations for the fire victims. Today I went thru them and sorted some things for this lady and her family. I wanted her to know that know matter what God loved her. That just because of her drinking we were not going to stop helping her.
We had a great visit. She apologized and was a bit embarrassed by her behavior which she said totally unsolicited. We will continue to disciple her to Jesus. Her and hopefully her family. Please continue to pray for them.
If you are busy making disciples, there will be days where you are disappointed, even frustrated. Hang in there. Stay with it. Today may feel like your going backwards, but tomorrow could be a turning point.
