Sorry friends for the lack of posts...I've had the pleasure of being down in Tennessee the past few days taking in the beauty of Norris Lake (no, I didn't wakeboard) and checking out a house a friend was considering buying. The house checked out, the offer was made, and he is now the proud owner of a place on Norris Lake. That's pretty cool. In other news, I watched three movies with my wife this weekend. Very "stay at home, love on her, chill out" kind of Saturday/Sunday. The first two were of the documentary variety (we find ourselves enjoying the stories of real people quite a bit these days). "Born Into Brothels" was number one, and what a film it was. The general summary is a woman (photographer) moves to Calcutta to take pictures of life there, ends up living in the Red Light District with the prostitutes and starts documenting their lives (who hasn't done that at some point?) While stepping into their culture she meets the children of these prostitues who live in the brothels. They are mostly the sad by-product of the sex trade, born into a situation we cannot fathom. She decides hope is in fairly short supply, and the one thing she knows how to do with some proficiency is take photographs, so she decides to teach these kids how to take pictures. The result is amazing (watch the movie).

While watching these kids transform into accomplished photographers, documenting the unbelieveable realities taking place all around them, I kept coming back to one question...who was this woman who was sacrificing her life for these kids? She was barely on screen, almost always seemed to be dodging the camera, and was working herself to the bone day in and day out to secure ration cards, passports, schooling opportunities, etc. for these children. She was being Jesus, but I had no idea if she even cared about him. I'm still not sure if she does, though I did find that she earned a Master's degree in Theology and Religious Studies from Cambridge University (I guess they'd talk about Jesus). Regardless, it always amazes me how narrow my world view is, that I'd assume someone has to know Jesus to love on people that way. At the same time, I'm also amazed how often these types of people do know Jesus, and are drawn to living life out in the most practical examples of Christ's love I could ever imagine. I think a move to Mamelodi is imminent. Part 2 will come soon. Enjoy some of these kid's photographs...

Labels: Born into Brothels, Jesus, Love