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Global Mercy Missions, IRIS Affiliate situated in a garbage dump in East London. Rachael Minter, founder missionary (with husband Josh).

 

We left the guest house at 9 so that we could reach Global Mercy Missions in East London before Josh and Rachel would be leaving in the afternoon. We were low on petrol when we left, so not knowng where the next petrol was we stopped after 10 minutes drive and checked Garmin for petrol stations. The nearest was back in Grahamstown, so we went back. Garmin took us the shortest route through a narrow road of residences. We were going about 30 KPH when a small grey spaniel (?) ran out right in front of the car. I saw him the moment he came into view but there wasn't even time to brake, and he went under our wheels. His body shook for a few seconds, but by the time I got back to him he was clearly dead. Some neighbours were around but he didn't belong to any of them. I put him on the grass at the side of the road. He had a collar and he probably was a pet, not a stray. This hasn't happened to me before. We continued on our drive. The road was excellent for about 25 minutes, and then we were driving on a small original road alongside an unfinished new highway for the next half hour. The small road took us to about an hour out of East London, when we were back on a modern highway. We aimed for the address of Global Mercy Missions from their web site but saw no sign of a ministry. So I called Josh, and he told us their base really was in a garbage dump off Garth Street. We found Garth on the GPS, and we got there after about 15 minutes. And guess what, it had been a garbage dump, where over the last 5 years about 250 people had come and built shacks to live in. The municipal government had closed it down as a place to leave garbage, but people didn't know this, so garbage was still arriving. Josh and Rachel welcomed us warmly. While Josh supervised the soup kitchen for about half of the 250 residents (today being a public holiday when some were away), Rachel took me on a tour and I took a bunch of photos of some of the poorest living conditions I have seen. Rachel introduced me to Dylan, a South African who had come to Christ a few years before and joined them to help. He showed me the vegetable garden that Josh had established. Meantime Josh had co-opted Laurie-Ann to the food line and she gave out the bread. This was the only meal the people would get today. What struck me most was the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere. These two Holy Spirit-led missionaries had turned a potential social disaster into a place of love. After everyone was fed, we drove to Josh and Rachael's home about 25 minutes away. We chatted over coffee with Josh while Rachael attended to their children (4 and 2). Then we set up the Marantz on their dining room table and interviewed them for CWCP. I hadn't brought the SM58 mic but it was better anyway to use the Marantz' internal stereo mics. This will be our fist stereo interview. Both of them gave their testimonies and told the extraordinary story of how they came to be working in a garbage dump with the poorest of the poor. We left around 4 and made for King William's Town where we had chicken strips on yellow rice at Nandos (the South African chain that is also in Canada). By the time we left it was dark so we drove with care along the windy narrow road back towards Grahamstown.

Done