Coming to the Rescue

In the tiny rundown community of Dwaleni, unattended children fill the red dirt yards in front of shacks made of plastic and tin. Dwaleni was never “my” community. Not like Mbonisweni was. Mbonisweni has my African church, African pastor, African family and so many kids with names that I know. Ten Thousand Homes has been involved with Mbon a little longer and we can easily see that they have much more hope than Dwaleni. The feeding at Dwaleni has about 300 kids who are dirtier and poorer and “play” by hitting each other. There are only a few kids from the feeding that I remember by name and one in particular has always stood out.

Nandi is a 10 yr-old little girl who acts like she’s about 16. Nobody knows much about her story but everyone seems to know of her. The first time I came to Africa, I heard bits and pieces of her story… how she is known to be a frequent runaway and sometimes sleeps in cemeteries or doorways of stranger’s houses. She would be gone for a couple weeks at a time sometimes. I heard stories of her mother (whom she lives with) who is a possible prostitute and the unbearable thoughts of what could be happening to Nandi at home race through my mind.

No wonder she runs.

Kacy has gotten to know Nandi’s family over the past few months. Nandi’s cousin, 2 yr-old Kevin first caught her eye, reminding her of a young Lifa. At two, Kevin and his twin Given wear 12-mo clothes. Accompanied by the home-based health care workers, she was able to go on a home visit to Kevin’s home, to find a tiny shack housing a Mama (22), Charity (4), Kevin (2), Given (2) and Karabo (6 mos). The shack is positioned on the same property of land as Nandi and her Mama’s house, which is a 2 room cinder block structure. Nandi’s younger brother Tommy (5) also lives there.

Kacy has invested into this family and sees that God has something very unique for their story of redemption. She has spoken truth and promises over little Kevin and has already begun to see the hope begin to rise up within him. One visit to Dwaleni recently, Nandi had run away yet again, but this time the family knew where she was. So Kacy and the entire family packed into a truck to go fetch Nandi to bring her back home. Nandi was allowed to spend the night at Kacy’s house after the rescue mission to let the dust settle a little bit and everyone seemed very relieved. Kacy became a foster parent that night. Beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time. She took her to school the following morning, and Nandi never made it home after.

Weeks of prayer for Nandi go by and I go to meet this miracle-waiting-to-happen family and am greeted by an ecstatic Mama Nandi who exclaims in broken English that they have Nandi!! Well, they know where she is. They said that she would “be home tomorrow” so of course we make plans to come back to shower her and the rest of the family with Christmas gifts I brought from the States.

When we arrived with a bucket and hot water to bathe the babies, and bags of clothes to dress them in after, and Nandi was… not there. The mamas started to head for the truck motioning for us to go on yet another rescue mission.

OK. We’re in. 

We drove with 10 people piled into a 5 person truck across town about 20 minutes to a small rundown community across the highway. I won’t go into how I had Given, probably the sickest baby I have ever seen in my entire life, passed out asleep on my lap. That’s another story of healing and redemption waiting to happen, but for now, this is Nandi’s story.

Driving through dirt roads and potholes we end up at a warehouse with about 20 kids running around outside and see Nandi coming out. Nandi gave everyone hugs and we went inside to check it out. Turns out this is a shelter for kids, or at least that’s what we make of it. This gray warehouse lined with bunkbeds and children and didn’t exactly remind us of the Hilton. The adult who was watching the children and spoke some English was probably no more than 23 herself. We learn that Nandi got dropped off by a couple white people and that she can come back whenever she wants. The passive tone in the “adult’s” voice was disturbing to me. Kacy and I became social workers in about 2.5 seconds and we asked if Nandi had opened up to them at all about what home life was like, and if it was safer for her to stay at the center for children, or to go back home with her mom. Same response: “She can go or she can stay. Whatever she wants.”

“Oh, ok.”

I didn’t feel like it was truly a dangerous place, but couldn’t figure out if it was a loving shelter for abandoned children, or a sex trafficking operation waiting to happen with the unattended children and multiple beds.

Nandi piled into the truck with us and we brought her back to Dwaleni to stay with her family. Kacy told her that she could come spend the night at her house again in a couple weeks if she didn’t run away before then and she seemed excited about that part. Her mama seemed thrilled to have her back after the month long rollercoaster of not knowing where her child is. We are seeing a change in her mom and in Kevin’s family as well. They are learning what it means to have hope and how to be a family.

Needless to say, I ask for your prayers. Pray for Nandi and that we won’t ever have to go on another rescue mission for the rest of our lives. Pray for safety in the home. If Mama Nandi is doing anything that is putting herself or any of the children in danger, pray for that to end, too.

This is Nandi’s story and this only scratches the surface. This family has a lot of blank canvas to paint the story of redemption all over. Today I find myself so grateful that God has a big and beautiful paintbrush and specializes in doing this very thing.