I don’t know how much longer I will be in Cape Town. I am sure only time will tell.
One thing I know for sure is that I absolutely cherish the time that I have spent here up to this point in time. It has not always been easy but I have learned a lot and the grace was always sufficient for me to continue on to the next day.
I will never forget these kids, the other wonderful people I have met along the way, or the times that I have shared with them. In all of my experiences, both good and bad, dramatic and humorous, the word that has stuck with me through them all is HOPE.
The difference between a “wish” and “hope” is, to wish for something is merely desiring for that thing, or wanting it to happen. To hope is to desire for that thing, want it to happen and at the same time, know that it can happen.
I have learned so much in these years I have spent with the kids.
I have taken the people on the streets of Cape Town as my brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers – as my family. I have walked with them through good times and hard times, and I truly cherish each and every experience that I was privileged enough to have with them.
I have learned that there are no simple answers, that it is not as easy as expecting them to just “get off the streets”. The issues go much deeper than that.
I have learned to look into the most desperate situation and see that there is a way out, even when it appears to be the exact opposite. I have learned to walk through the most hopeless of situations, not giving up but continuing to speak words of life into it.
I have learned to hope.
And even when I get overwhelmed by the “problem” of the “street kids” or the system or the devastation that the communities are in, I remember the words that the Lord used to call me to work with the kids in the first place and I know that all they need is someone to believe in them, someone to walk with them, someone to listen to them, someone to fight with them, and someone to teach them how to hope, and THEY will rebuild the destruction and devastation of the previous generations.
About Me
- Brown
- I was born and raised in Cookeville, Tennessee. In 1999 I traveled to Cape Town, South Africa with Youth With a Mission and met the children living on the streets of downtown Cape Town. I was moved by their enthusiasm, potential, hope, and love, yet troubled by the fact that little was being done to harness those wonderful qualities. In 2000 I moved back to South Africa to begin fulltime work with the children living on the streets of downtown Cape Town. I have been here since then. A lot has happened! In 2003 I began social work studies at the University of Cape Town and graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Social Work and an Honours in Social Development. I also discovered music, specifically hiphop, to be a powerful tool to get the message out of what is going on, on the streets and in the communities. In 2006 I released my first album “Hanging In and Hanging On”. My second album “Fly to the Moon” was just recently released in October 2008.
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