Founded in 2008, Ten Thousand Homes (TTH) is nothing more than a movement of ordinary people making a tangible difference in the lives of children and families in South Africa. As simple as that may sound, it is mere truth and every day, TTH is building not just physical homes for the most vulnerable among us, but building hope and belonging in their hearts. Ten Thousand Homes has a great website, and visiting there will provide all the information anyone needs to understand their mission, their plans, and the worthiness of their cause. Below is a quote from the TTH website, and there's no reason for me to rewrite it:
Ten Thousand Homes creates “HOME” for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa by sponsoring community care centers, building houses, and providing a sense of belonging for these orphans and other vulnerable children. Ten Thousand Homes brings “HOPE” by providing them with quality training, education, and economic opportunities.
Ten Thousand Homes is a movement of ordinary people actively building HOPE and creating HOMES for Africa’s orphans and vulnerable children. Building houses is the easy part. Building HOPE and creating HOME for 10,000 children … that is altogether different. Help our ministry create the physical space that will allow Africa’s children to do more than simply survive!The more I read on their website, the more inspired I am. Seriously, stop reading this blog and see what they have to offer. Here's another excerpt and invitation to experience:
The mission of Ten Thousand Homes is based on the principles of “HOME.” We recognize that homes are the backbone of a strong community. For orphans and vulnerable children, the nurturing and stability found in a home is especially critical. Providing Home is more than putting children in a house. It is creating that sense of belonging that everyone needs and desires. It is a truth we can all embrace-we all want to know that we are loved.
We are ordinary people stepping out of our ordinary lives to respond to the orphan crisis in Africa. Our dream is to see people from every walk of life working together to provide HOME for Africa’s orphans and to end the orphan crisis. This vision is too large for us alone; we believe that everyone has a role to play. We invite you to come see for yourself and experience both the beauty and the heartbreak in the communities we serve.
You see, TTH has a full-time staff. They're on the ground every day putting their own sweat equity into people's lives, investing of themselves to build others. Smartly realizing that contributing to a solution for a problem as large as orphaned children in an environment where life is difficult enough for children living with two parents, TTH invites us all to join them, to work side by side. It's not an effort to pass work onto others, but a generous offer of opportunity, a chance for others to be honored by serving in that capacity. There is honor in service, of that there is no doubt.
A basic tenant of my faith is that it is greater to serve than to be served. I believe that almighty God humbled even himself to serve humankind. From Eugene H. Peterson's paraphrase of Jesus in Matthew chapter 20,
You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage."Held hostage." That image should burn a hole in you. It does me. The children with whom we will be working are not bound and gagged; there is no ransom. They are hostages of circumstance. Left alone by parents who have passed on from AIDS or left with only an older sibling to make a life in an area already struck with poverty, they are bound by chains of missed opportunities and gagged by vulnerability. The ransom for them is our own lives, lives we give a little at a time to begin the release of hostages. In 10 days, our team will not solve the problem of AIDS, poverty, homelessness, hunger, or vulnerable children, but we can do our part and learn about the greater greatness of God's kingdom, yearning and crying out for hope and peace.
I'm going to be thinking of that last part for a while. Another post will follow soon, I hope. In the meantime, follow Ten Thousand Homes on their website, on Facebook, and Twitter.
