The opposite of love is not hate.

Thuli says "Happy Valentine's Day!"

There are only six more days until Valentine’s Day, and I would guess that many of you will be celebrating this weekend.  We too are celebrating love, but in our own unique way. This week we are learning that “Jesus wants to be our friend forever”.  Throughout the Emseni campus you can hear the question being asked, “Who loves me?” with a loud and definitive answer “Jesus loves me!!”   The Kids Club for our younger Emseni children activities include making a beautiful Valentine’s Day card for each Auntie/Uncle and teacher (shhhhh… don’t tell them!!).  The older children are studying 1 Peter 4:10-11 and learning that they should treat others the way they want to be treated.  What a simple concept, and yet one that seems to be so hard for us adults.

Love can heal. Love can soothe. Love can calm. Love can bring forgiveness.  And what about the opposite?

I once heard it said that the opposite of love is not hate, but rather it is indifference.

OUCH. 

Perhaps it’s not always easy to love our family or our friends, but we do it anyway. I don’t think many people would claim to actually hate other people, but have we become indifferent to others outside of our own circle?

Each week thousands of people read my blog or comment on my social media posts, and I know that many people do care, but I often wonder how many people are simply indifferent.  It’s not that you hate what we are doing, or don’t like what we are doing, perhaps you are just indifferent to it?  Maybe you think that if you stay at arms-length, you can remain neutral or even safe?

Today I would like to tell you about another brother and sister duo who need sponsorship.  Their names are Samuel and Samantha and they are biological siblings.  I can’t share much of their early months of life publicly, but I can tell you that their Samuel’s father was an illegal immigrant to eSwatini and we do not have any knowledge of Samantha’s father.  Their mother did not live in a homestead, nor did she have a place to lay her head at night, therefore each child was in danger from the time of their birth until they were placed with us through the Police and Social Welfare. 

Samuel

We currently have 9 sets of biological siblings (not including 11 sets of twins). If those children arrive at the same time, they are often very bonded because they were often left alone together. In the case of “Sam” and “Sama” (as they are called here) they arrived two years apart and don’t know each other at all.  Either way, we are very intentional to make sure that all biological siblings spend time together every week, see each other at church and always celebrate each other’s birthdays.

Samantha

Sama turned 4-years-old last week and you can see the sweetest photo of the two of them below. Each child gets to choose a “friend” to walk out to their “growth stick” to get their annual measurement taken. Sama chose her big brother Sam – what a beautiful and meaningful moment that was for us all.

Will you engage with us today and sponsor one of these children, or choose another one on our website?  Would you consider sponsoring a child on behalf of a loved one this Valentine’s day and give the gift of love and life at the same time.

In the US please click here.

In Canada please click here.

Live from eSwatini … love one another.

Janine