Sam gets up really early every morning, along with a few others, and catches a bus from his community to the Ten Thousand Homes base for work.
Sam's here for more than a pay check though. He has embraced the vision of TTH, is living with integrity, and strives for excellence and beauty in everything he does. He takes pride in overseeing our grounds, and he leads the other workers and staff toward valuing what we've been given.
Including each other.
Sam's team, a group of local South Africans coming out of the very survival-based orphan crisis that brought us here, have been transformed from workers to servants, from employees to family. They take up a collection, host a mini-party and buy a personalized gift for every person on the base for their birthdays. These guys grew up in a culture that doesn't typically celebrate birthdays and doesn't know how to operate as a family!
Sam stood up during our staff meeting a couple of weeks ago with a whole new confidence and determination. He spoke up with expectancy and purpose.
And he told us to go buy some pads.
It took me a minute to make sure I had it right through that accent and through that man voice of his.
Sam... did you just tell me to go buy pads? Like, lady things?
Oh. Yes. He. Did.
Where I come from, men don't typically stand up and talk about feminine hygiene.
But where I come from, a man who is a voice for the voiceless is a real man.
Sam stood up in front of a variety of cultures, ages and genders and dispatched us to the lady aisle. From the bottom of his heart, Sam explained this is what he knew we had to do because young girls are suffering in the school all around us. He wants to collect 300 pads to take to a local school because young women are filled with shame when they are unable to buy pads when needed and they cannot go to school.
It costs about $4 for 20 pads - which is about 40% of a day's wages, for those that have a full-time job.
God has definitely put this passion is Sam... I have no idea why.
But it doesn't even matter. He is passionately pursuing it, and he's reminding me that, whether it's through finances, family counseling, or feminine products, we were designed to pursue the purposes of God with all of our hearts.
Here's a message from Sam! If you would like to help buy pads, click the Paypal link on the right hand column of my blog. After the Paypal fee, 100% of donations specified for Sam, will go toward buying pads.
Sam's here for more than a pay check though. He has embraced the vision of TTH, is living with integrity, and strives for excellence and beauty in everything he does. He takes pride in overseeing our grounds, and he leads the other workers and staff toward valuing what we've been given.
Including each other.
Sam's team, a group of local South Africans coming out of the very survival-based orphan crisis that brought us here, have been transformed from workers to servants, from employees to family. They take up a collection, host a mini-party and buy a personalized gift for every person on the base for their birthdays. These guys grew up in a culture that doesn't typically celebrate birthdays and doesn't know how to operate as a family!
Sam stood up during our staff meeting a couple of weeks ago with a whole new confidence and determination. He spoke up with expectancy and purpose.
And he told us to go buy some pads.
It took me a minute to make sure I had it right through that accent and through that man voice of his.
Sam... did you just tell me to go buy pads? Like, lady things?
Oh. Yes. He. Did.
Where I come from, men don't typically stand up and talk about feminine hygiene.
But where I come from, a man who is a voice for the voiceless is a real man.
Sam stood up in front of a variety of cultures, ages and genders and dispatched us to the lady aisle. From the bottom of his heart, Sam explained this is what he knew we had to do because young girls are suffering in the school all around us. He wants to collect 300 pads to take to a local school because young women are filled with shame when they are unable to buy pads when needed and they cannot go to school.
It costs about $4 for 20 pads - which is about 40% of a day's wages, for those that have a full-time job.
God has definitely put this passion is Sam... I have no idea why.
But it doesn't even matter. He is passionately pursuing it, and he's reminding me that, whether it's through finances, family counseling, or feminine products, we were designed to pursue the purposes of God with all of our hearts.
Here's a message from Sam! If you would like to help buy pads, click the Paypal link on the right hand column of my blog. After the Paypal fee, 100% of donations specified for Sam, will go toward buying pads.
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