Courage in Action We Are Family! In the last 25 years, we traveled to over 53 nations, many times leading conferences and training leaders dedicated to ending the spread of HIV/AIDS. We started as young professionals thrown into the deep end of the AIDS crisis. As the years went by, we watched in horror as wage earners in Southern Africa fell victim to AIDS. Communities plunged deeper into poverty; paralyzing grief and fear blanketed almost everything. We worked with some of the finest educators and public health officials, yet tens of millions of precious moms and dads died, leaving a wake of orphans and widows. Due to mother-to-child transmission, almost a third of all orphans were HIV positive. Pastors were overwhelmed, trying to lead churches, counsel families in crisis, and conduct several funerals every weekend. For many, hope was slipping away. In one conference, a teacher identified her dream “to live in a world without funerals every weekend.” Kerus began to work with local church leaders and educators to craft a compassionate approach to care. We yearned to bring hope and practical help to weary souls, especially children, whose lives were hijacked by HIV/AIDS. We set up a community model of care centered on Jesus’s life and teaching. Dricca Mooka, a fantastic principal who loves Jesus and carries the burden of orphaned children deep in her heart, helped immensely. In October of 2008, we were ready. Dricca arranged a meeting with the orphans joining the program at our center. To this day we couldn’t tell you who was more nervous, the children or us! We brought paints and paper and chatted about the orphan care center as we all did artwork together. We created a code phrase to identify them from the
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sea of other children at school, “We are family!” Little did we know that we would be family for 12 years now! The Kerus Go Amogela (a Zulu phrase, which means hospitality) Orphan Care Center, in Soshanguve, South Africa, now serves over 130 precious orphans. They represent about 90 homes typically led by grannies, who desperately try to make ends meet. Most of these grannies have lost many of their children to AIDS, so their shacks are full, and the food and clothes are little. There are also child-headed homes where grannies have passed away, and the oldest teenager is the caretaker. We support them all and help with homework, food, counseling, medications, and, of course, we share the hope found in Jesus. Traumatized children begin to heal. One precious five-year-old girl came to us after waking up next to her lifeless mother. She sat in the office of our social worker every afternoon and did not speak for a month. Then one day, she was gone. The social worker found her in the middle of a jump rope game, laughing and playing with the other girls. Oh, how we love these children and this community! It’s hard, sometimes very hard, but every minute is worth it. We once received a painted picture that said, “I love you more than a chicken in the oven!” Little berries, coins, or notes tucked into our hands, hugs, hand-holding are all tokens of love and deep appreciation. But there is no sweeter feeling than having a squished lap full of children while reading a book or playing hand games while little girls keep saying, “Do your hair for you.” Our center is wonderfully wild, and we treasure every sweet gesture and every lesson learned about joy, trials, and togetherness. Our friends and churches here in the USA banded together and provided a teen center, an academic enrichment center, and a safe house for our children vulnerable to sex trafficking. We host many visitors: teachers, pastors, carpenters, musicians, and those who just want to love on the children. We put them
