When I was growing up the term “I heard it from the grapevine”, usually referred to a particular person known as the neighborhood gossip who had all the information about what was happening in the neighborhood or even the city.
Nowadays the grapevine most usually refers to social media, be it a Tweet about what the government is doing wrong of a Facebook vent or just oversharing on any social media platform about anything and everything.
Personally, I have found my immediate local grapevine to be the street WhatsApp group that I am a part of. The group is supposed to be a tool to pass useful information to help solve problems like crime or service delivery and help improve awareness of what is happening in the neighborhood but I find that for the most part, negativity rules the roost, just like on general social media platforms.
From the Rants and Raves about the Politicians who are doing absolutely nothing, to the complaints about the litter on the street and the escalating problem with homeless people who are on the increase. Very few people on the group see a problem and put up their hand to attend to the problem especially when it is a social or service delivery problem. For the few that do that do it is often to post a complaint to the city of Cape Town or to help find a lost dog or cat. Hardly anyone puts up their hand to try find a solution to the homeless, their plight which goes beyond just being an eyesore on our streets and bringing property values down. Everyone sees the vast people problems and wants to talk about them but hardly anyone wants to get involved. Its often just talk on how, “They need to get those people off our streets, They need to clean up the dirt on the beach, They are not helping the poor people in the townships… “ I am still trying to figure out who They is
I must admit though that sometimes I become a part of the gossip and the negative comments but I have been trying to be more like Nehemiah.
In the bible there is an account of a man who heard a heart breaking story about his nation that was beyond his own capability to address or so it seemed but he got up and began to do something about this issue.
Often as Christians we do get up and pray (sometimes just complaining to God) but we stop at that and do not engage God on how we can actually be a part of the Solution to solving the problem.
Serve Month at View Church has been about activating how we can serve wherever we find ourselves. Its is about realizing that like Nehemiah when we awaken to a problem in our Home, Church or local community, We may just be the solution that is needed to help overcome the problems. Instead of asking who is going to fix our society problems we should be asking “how do I serve so I can help solve the problems that I see?”
Today is our awesome View Church Serve Day. We get to step into our communities and do something practical that will impact our local community.
We have Teams of people who will be packing Love Packs which will benefit vulnerable families with basic food, Other groups will be going out on the streets or to schools and beaches in our community to help clean our public spaces.
We also have another group that is working in a community garden in Melkbos that produces fresh vegetables for the vulnerable in our poorer communities.
I am also excited about the people who will spend time preparing food and helping to serve food to children in the townships that are part of our immediate community.
As a Church we have recently launched View Justice our social Justice vehicle that is driving all these serving initiatives and has recently launched the View Health Centre which provides affordable health care to the community. We will have teams working at the Health Centre to help clean up and beautify the recently renovated health Centre so that it is a clean and appealing place that will serve our community with pride.
We often forget our elderly as a community, but our Church is a generational Church and we have a group that will visit the elderly in our community to spend time with them and minister to their needs practically as well as spiritually.
There is so much that can be done but the best way to get it done is to start doing something. I am looking forward to serving in our community as we take a stand to serve whole heartedly.
Happy Serve Day!!!
Nehemiah 1:4
'When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. '
'So I arrived in Jerusalem. Three days later, The city officials did not know I had been out there or what I was doing, for I had not yet said anything to anyone about my plans. I had not yet spoken to the Jewish leaders—the priests, the nobles, the officials, or anyone else in the administration. But now I said to them, “You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!” Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work. '
Nehemiah 2:11,16-18
https://my.bible.com/bible/116/NEH.2.11,16-18
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