One day I was working in the garden with one of my new friends from Mzamomhle, and he says to me, "How many likes do you think we would get if we took a picture?" I thought his question was a little funny, so I laughed and replied, "You mean 2 people working in a garden? I don't know...2??" My friend laughed and said, "No, you don't understand. You're a woman doing a man's work. Actually, you are a white woman doing a black man's work. But it's not just that. I wonder how many likes we would get because you are white and I'm black and we are working together. A lot, I think."
It's so hard to even wrap my mind around the fact that two friends, one of whom happens to be white and the other happens to be black, who are simply working side by side would blow up social media. It wasn't until those words came from his mouth though that I began to understand the depths of the separation between the people here in this community, and it helped me to realize something extremely important. When I decided to come to work in Mzamomhle, I thought I was going to minister to the community through helping to develop a food garden. And I am. But that's not even close to being the complete ministry. The ministry includes developing meaningful relationships that people can see. It is little by little breaking down stereotypes that have long since held the community captive. It's demonstrating Christ's love by doing and being the opposite of what everyone, white and black alike, expect. The complete ministry is demonstrating that Kingdom culture transcends everything else.
I am a white woman working alongside black friends to do a man's job. I'm breaking all the "rules", and I wouldn't have it any other way.