Micah 6: 6&8
What should I bring before the LORD when I come to bow before God on high? Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God. [CSB]
and verse 8 in the ICB Bible says: The Lord has told you what is good. He has told you what he wants from you: Do what is right to other people. Love being kind to others. And live humbly, trusting your God.
How astounding and simple that the response in vs 8, to the question in vs 6 is to: do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with him? I find this so beautiful in the sense that as much as it is a defining answer, it is also a thought provoking one, and one that we are invited to respond to. Do our hearts long to do what is right to others, do we want to love and show kindness and do we desire to walk humbly with our God, trusting him in all things?
Let us take a brief closer look at these 3 words – justice, kindness and humbly:
JUSTICE is just behaviour or treatment and its the condition of being morally content and fair.
HUMBLY, if one acts humbly, we act in a way that shows we do not consider ourselves as better than others. Someone once said that showing humility is not thinking of yourself less, its not thinking of yourself at all.
KINDNESS is the quality of being friendly, generous and compassionate or being generous, helpful and caring about other people.
This year Father God has gripped my heart with the reality that one small act of kindness can change the world and it has turned into a desire to be part of sharing kindness with others. I have had the privilege of collaborating and building a relationship with an amazing foundation. I have the wonderful honour of constantly seeing the remarkable opportunities another NPO gives itself to. I have been so grateful to meet and partner in prayer with a beautiful village for children and I am blessed beyond measure to now work and give what I’ve got for a phenomenal non-profit organisation. This year for Advent, I would like to introduce you to these groups of people and perhaps give you an opportunity to respond to God’s word to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly WITH God. Perhaps you can even share some kindness this festive season. Let’s be WITH Jesus and BE Jesus as we prepare and anticipate to CELEBRATE Jesus.
iKhethelo Children’s village
In the beautiful surroundings of KwaNyuswa, outside of Botha’s Hill in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, just outside Hillcrest in KwaZulu Natal South Africa, you will find a burst of colour that is the IKhethelo Children’s village. They are ‘pioneering a loving community, raising vulnerable children to wholeness in body, soul & spirit’ and are currently home to 41 children, who for various reasons, are unable to live with their families, or have been orphaned. The children live in homes on the campus. Up to 8 children occupy a home and together with a house mother, they enjoy a safe space to live. ‘ Each child is loved, cared for and given every opportunity to lead a successful life.’ They attend various schools, as education is a priority for those who oversee and run the village and, as Nelson Mandela said,
‘ EDUCATION is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. ‘
From their website: ‘ iKhethelo’ meaning ‘Chosen Ones,’ reflects a place of hope & love where we are passionate about rebuilding broken lives. In order to do this we need partners to support & fund initiatives to invest in our children’s lives.’
This village receives a small portion of their expenses from our government, and therefore depend and rely on donations, sponsorships, support and volunteers to make their dreams a reality.
Head over to their website https://www.ikhethelo.org/ to read more about them, the amazing work they do and care they give to the children and ways you can show kindness to them.
Happy First Advent everybody!
Love from my home to yours
xxx
hope of heart 