Last week, the first snow fell on the Drakensberg mountains. Suddenly, there’s an icy bite in the wind that whistles down the streets of Durban and through the rickety shacks in the ‘informal settlements’.

Our hearts go out to our city’s poor and homeless people, huddled in layers of tattered clothing, as they join the queues at the church soup kitchens … hoping for a bowl of hot, nourishing stew.

Others shelter under the freeway bridges, lying on ‘beds’ of discarded cardboard away from the worst of the wind and rain. And out in the hills and valleys of Zulu Mission country, women wrap themselves in a blanket to tackle daily chores like fetching water from the river, or collecting firewood to heat the cooking pot.

Here, there is no hot, running water for bathing …  no central heating or electric heaters at the flick of a switch.

And yet there IS warmth. Generated by close family bonds, and the gifts of blankets from people in a far-off land that always seem to come at just the right time.

 

That time is now.

In the past, your generosity has enabled us to distribute hundreds of blankets to people in need in our Archdiocese. From the city streets to far flung rural villages, your kindness has wrapped our people in warmth and love.

Now, as winter tightens its icy grip, we urgently need more blankets.

If you’ve ever felt the misery of toes going numb with cold, or freezing wind and rain finding their way under the collar of your coat, please reach out to help our Mission people now. Most of them have never known the luxury of thick winter coats or fur-lined boots.

Your gift of a blanket brings a little warmth into their lives and homes.

And, when you make your gift, please let us know if you have any special intentions you’d like included in our monthly Mass for Mission friends.

May God bless you for your kindness.