Sotho

Today was an incredible day, and I can't thank God enough for it. I can't even express everything that happened in text right now, but I sure am going to try! But, if you would like to hear some more stories, please come talk to me in person!!

Okay, so my auntie and uncle feed the homeless in the city quite often, and they invited me to go with. I, being who I am, of course accepted! After the very painful ride there, we got to the location and you could just see people lined up. This wasn't something that I expected. So we all grab some stuff and head in. There was a ton of food donated. The main course was venison stew with a bun and juice or coffee, and for dessert there was cookies, cinnamon buns, and muffins. I started out with buttering buns. Then we heard, "Who wants to help serve food??" My first reaction: YEAH MAN!!! I was pumped! So we go out and bring a plate of food to everyone, they were all ready to eat. If someone came and sat down who hadn't had any food yet, their friends were quick to tell us so that we could get them some stew. After everyone had food, I started serving coffee. It was great because I got to go to all of the tables and ask who wanted coffee and sometimes have a small conversation with the people.
One guy was joking around with me and he told me I was shaking while I was pouring the coffee. We had a good laugh about that. Then another guy asks me why my face is always red. Sigh. We had a good laugh about that though, I told him it was always red, but it did get annoying. He said, "Oh no, you like it, it shows that you're human!" I'm going to remember that. I've always hated the fact that my face turns red, but that one phrase was such a blessing. I got complimented on my necklace quite a few times, that also made me smile.
One guy asked if there was a rag to wipe the table and he asked me to pass him the game of Sorry, so I gave him the game and went to get the rag. I came back and washed the table, and we just started talking. I don't remember how it started, but soon we were talking about how he got shot in the leg and how he had to get a bunch of surgeries. We eventually sat down, and he told me so many stories. About how he used to go hunting, and about when he was in school, he showed me his resume, he talked about his family, he was just the nicest guy. He had such a big smile and such a kind heart. About 15 minutes after we started talking he introduced himself. That made me so happy because it showed me that he trusted me. I feel such incredible love for this man and his wife. He was such a happy guy, but he had such emotion at the same time. He got his kids taken away from him when they were little, and now he doesn't even know what his kids look like. They know where he is, but they never visit. He's never met his grandchildren, he only has one daughter that comes to see him. It breaks my heart, because you can see the hurt in his eyes. You can see the pain. I wish so much that it was different for him and that his family life would be mended. God definitely put him in my life for a reason and I will never forget him. He was so funny, and he taught me things about his culture, his first language is Sotho, which is a native language. I learned how he and his wife met, and how she asked him to marry her! She was so shy, but I did get her talking. Such sweet people. And smart too. He went to college for accounting. It makes me wonder what went wrong that put them out on the streets.
These people, the only thing different about them is that they don't have a place to call home. They don't have somewhere to live and put their things. That's all. They work where ever they can get it, they stay outside in the coldest weathers. They are so incredibly tough, but they still have such emotion. They are definitely some of the coolest people I've ever met. I pray that I was a blessing to them, and I know that they were a blessing to me. I just fell in love with these people, I have a huge heart for them and I can't wait to go back.
This post doesn't even do it justice, so PLEASE, ask me about it in person!
God bless!
Ariel