Click here for photos of the celebration
It was a short and intense visit. Last Monday we welcomed in Hlabisa a group of people from Homeplan, an NGO founded by Jan Tebbe, a Dutch Catholic building contractor. Its purpose is to build economic houses for the poorest of the poor.
The team of about 20 people came from Holland not only to see the work being done in the building of houses for the poorest of the area but... to help building them themselves!
They had also indicated they would love to stay nearby, sharing the home of any of the volunteers working in the project.
Arriving on Monday we celebrated Mass together at the Cathedral. It was the feast of the annunciation of the Lord. The Bishop shared with them that because we celebrate that the Word of God became flesh, any Gospel we proclaim must touch the flesh of every person.
A Gospel of unity must address any division, a Gospel of reconciliation must bring peoples together. A Gospel that proclaims that every person is called to live with the dignity of a child of God must transform the lives of those who live without that dignity and... that is what they were here for!
Much more when not only they financially support this project or chose to come and visit but... they also chose to live with them.
On Friday they asked to close their visit with the celebration of the Mass and a braai. This time, not only the members of the team would be present but also all the families being benefited by their project.
It was a joyful event.
One or more articles will follow but we did not want to wait to say "thank you" to each one of them for these days. They were deeply grateful for the way they were welcomed by the people and we too by their joy and simplicity.
