Makhathini – Unified Diversity

A place close to home, yet so different. Culture, language and so much more, defines a people group. Love and care is something fundamental, all of us appreciate and need it, but what does this practically look like in your culture?

We had the privilege to live a semi-local life for two weeks here in Makhathini. Our hosts blessed us so much during our stay and almost everyone on the team can agree that Makhathini is a special place. 

From our short visit, we can testify that this place is filled with good stewards, truly caring communities and cows… yes you heard me, cows, chickens goats and more. One of Makhathini’s characteristics are the animals that simply roam in the streets, in random people’s gardens and basically everywhere. This is quite different to our norm, some might even use the word “funny” to describe this, but it’s normal life here and it’s great. I can rant about all the differences that this small world has to offer, but unfortunately, this is not an “online tour” of Makhathini and we’d actually like to focus on what the Lord has done in this time. The world is much bigger than we think it is and I never thought I would be eating chilli amagwinya (vetkoek), while writing a blog about such a special place.

One of our main ministry goals here was to distribute 90 “buckets of love” to local families in two weeks, while spending quality time with them to hear their stories and share the truth. Throughout our conversations we had to translate between Zulu and English, and many times spoke what we felt was on our hearts and let the Holy Spirit take the lead. The challenge was to look past all the barriers between the locals and us, and not let that get in the way of the message we needed to share with them. Cayla, one of our teammates, says:

“Smiling, singing, dancing and laughing doesn’t have a language… This is what God showed us as a team when we spent 4 days (living with locals) in the most beautiful African community, in Makhathini. Not knowing how to communicate most of the time was hard, but God has made every smile speak 1000 words.”

Quite contrary to “modern life” where everyone is rushed and impatient, Makhathini showed us how slowing down can help you be more content. Knowing that we were only going to be here for two weeks, we wanted to make the best of every moment. However, being a good steward of opportunities doesn’t require constant steam rolling motion. This is difficult to understand and apply to one’s life, but is really needed in modern day society. Verney, one of our teammates, shares on what happened between the 3^rd and 6^th of March:

“In Makhathini our team split into smaller groups and our team (Charcoal Team) had the opportunity to visit a local Pastor for 3 nights. When we arrived, we were so excited to help and serve him and his family. In fact, we were so rushed and “ready” to serve that we did not see the opportunity to serve while being. Linel (Our Leader) said it so well; we need to be human beings and not human doings. A lot of times, I think of ministry as going out to serve through building things and doing things for people, meanwhile just being with this family was ministry.” 

^{1 Corinthians 12:4-6} “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it all is the same God who works all in all.” ^{Verse 27} “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”

Rene, one of our teammates, really experienced Jesus’ love for His people during this trip from 3-6 March. Not only that, but she gained first-hand experience of how unified diversity can draw us closer to God:

“I loved how we were faced with the uniqueness of Christ’s body, how He is our God – all of us – and each culture expresses praise to Him in a special and creative way, unique to their culture as well as unique to their relationship with the Lord. I cannot deny the unity of Christ and His church as being my highlight of the weekend.”

As we pack and prepare for Mozambique, we reflect on what happened in this special place we called home for two weeks. We can truthfully say, we are extremely thankful for the people we met and discussions we had in Makhathini. Even though we are continuing on our journey, we leave pieces of our heart here. 

Next stop, Mozambique!