At least twice per month, we want to take our children into Masiphumelele with us.  Yesterday was one of those days.  Here are some pictures from yesterday….

Masi was designed (if you can call it that) for about 5,000.  Today over 40,000 live here with more coming regularly….

The Masi Ditch...

Actually there are a few such ditches.  While the sign in the foreground says “no dumping” this is not a rule that can reasonably be followed.  People in this part of Masi known as “the wetlands” have no plumbing.  Therefore, at night they relieve themselves in buckets and then dump the product in the ditch.  Needless to say, this area does not smell well, yet it is where we met “Djiboti” (was that the pseudonym I gave him?) who is now following Jesus.  We will do a special blog dedicated to him soon!

A few Masi boys hanging out...

Everywhere you go in Masi there are people! It is quite fun.  Actually, because we don’t want to look like crass tourists or like gawkers we are careful about pulling out our camera, so it is difficult to show you how crowded it can get, but these two boys are darling and we thought it nice to include them!

A family that lives across from the All Nations "prayer shack"

The image above captures well what you may see hundreds of times in a few hours of walking through Masiphumelele.

I'd like to buy the world a coke….

Like anywhere in the world you go, it seems, Coca Cola is an integral part of the community.

A Masi Rooster

Chickens are everywhere in Masi.  Which is a bit surprising considering the poverty and hunger.  But here is a good representative. Some of the roosters (not this one) are among the most beautiful and regal we have seen.

A Masi grocery store...

Dozens and dozens of such stores litter the Masi landscape….which is nice since you are never far from a cold beverage or a candy bar!

Apiwe and Ayabonga's house

As mentioned in other updates, we have grown to really love a few boys from Masi.  Behind that yellow railcar turned store is the tiny shack where Apiwe (age 10) and Ayabonga live with their mother, Aunt and cousin.  My estimate of the square footage is about 120 square feet at most.

Apiwe and Ayabango's Aunt and precious cousin

The way the boys’ Aunt has their cousin attached to her back is VERY common in Masi.  It is also quite cute isn’t it?  She is doing the laundry, which looks VERY time consuming indeed.

Asher and Noah handing out with Apiwe and some of his neighbors

Asher and Noah usually aren’t very excited about going into Masi with us.  It makes them sad and is uncomfortable in obvious ways.  But once we get there, they always have a good time and connect quite well with the children and adults.  In the above picture Apiwe is the handsome boy on the leftmost of the picture.

Hanging out with Masi neighbors...

The video is even sillier!

Selah and Ceci outside a shack in Masi

In some ways, Selah does the best of any of us.  She has less expectations of how things “should” be according to our own levels of affluence.  Of course she is more than capable of being her normal stinker self when she doesn’t get her way!

Asher with Apiwe and 2 other boys

This is inside one of our team member’s mom’s house.  Viwe is a woman in school with us and will no doubt be the subject of a future blog.  We love her and her precious boy “Oyise” (pronounced “Oh Yee Suh” but I may have spelled it wrong!).

The video below will be ready at approximately 8:05 Central Standard Time. It is currently begin formatted by Vimeo! It is a 1 minute video taken of Apiwe and Ayabonga inside Viwe’s mother’s house.  It is precious and should help you see why we love them so much.

[vimeo 40393291]