Benescke Janse van Rensburg

Five minutes. This is more or less the time a volunteer spent with a primary school child during a Samaritan's Feet outreach. During this time, the volunteers wash the kid’s feet, pray for them and lastly present them each with a brand new pair of shoes. To some of the children this is their first pair of new shoes in their lives.

Earlier this week, a school secretary, Lindsey Cupido, from a poor school in Bonteheuwel, an area on the Cape Flats known for poverty and gang violence, shared during our radio programme how this outreach touched their scholars’ lives.

Lindsay told of a boy she had had a conversation with the week prior to the Samaritan’s Feet outreach. He is a known troublemaker and was already expelled from his previous school. During the conversation, the boy showed Lindsay his latest tattoo. Knowing that his father and uncles are all involved in gangs and that his mother has a drug addiction, Lindsay asked him what he plans to do with his life after school. He laughed and said he did not plan to finish school and that he, like his family members, wants to be a gangster.

The day after the outreach, Lindsay saw the boy again. She could immediately sense a change in the boy. To the question what he had experienced, he was surprisingly positive. The boy concluded the conversation with the words: "Miss, I do not think I want to be a gangster anymore. I am going to finish school and become a policeman. I want to be like those people who visited our school. "

A five minute conversation was enough to touch this boy. Seeds of hope were sown. An alternative future vision was presented. And who knows what the impact of this five minutes can have on this boy’s future? What struck me most is that the volunteer who prayed for this boy, probably never knew his situation. All the volunteer did was sow seeds of hope and love. The ground was ready.

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul reminds us that some of us are called to sow seeds, others to water it and yet others to bring in the harvest. In verse 7 we read: “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” God does the work through his Holy Spirit. We just have to be obedient to His call.

Every day we are presented with a lot of opportunities to sow seeds of hope – in the workplace, in the community and even in the shop buying groceries. Are we seizing the opportunities to bring hope and love? Or are we allowing fear that we might fail or look stupid to prevent us from reaching out? A five-minute conversation at the right time can change a life. It most probably did for a little boy in Bonteheuwel. Let's be confident seed-sowers today. God bless.

Father God, thank you for Your desire to reach out to all people on this earth and to touch them with hope and love. Please help me to seize the opportunities today during which I can be an instrument in Your hands. I ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

• See a picture of Lindsay Cupid and videos of a recent Samaritan's Feet outreach to another school at the social media, Fbook page, Stories van Hoop or on www.benescke.co.za

• Feedback: Share your testimony of God’s grace or tell me what fears you are struggling with at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. I look forward to hearing from you. Benescke