Over the last few days there have been many meetings and discreet conversations around our country about municipal coalitions. We're not included in those discussions, but in public we are hearing political parties committing to working together for the sake of local communities. In a couple of weeks we will see how well politicians are able to put aside differing ideologies to achieve that goal. It won't be easy, but what an attractive vision - people coming together to serve the needs of the whole community.
I was in a Zoom meeting this week with Methodist ministers from around our province where we looked at some of the critical needs of our wider community and asked how the local church can likewise join hands with community members to help meet needs. We covered various issues, but two stood out for me: the growing food security crisis and the desperate need to pass on skills and seed capital to budding entrepreneurs. The first is deeply troubling (something like a quarter of South African households face significant food security challenges); the second is not easy, but represents a way to help address the first issue (teaching people to fish rather than just handing out fish). We left the meeting challenged by the words of Jesus in Matthew 25 who asked his followers what they did when they met him in a hungry person. We have skills, experience, resources in this congregation. We do already support many worthwhile projects, but how else might we join hands with our community?