10 March 2009

I was listening to a local radio station this morning when the topic of the Zimbabwean refugee situation came under discussion. The radio talk show host interviewed Bishop Paul Verryn of the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, South Africa. This comes as hundreds more Zimbabweans arrive at the church seeking refuge from the difficulties still afflicting our northern neighbour.

There are various reports about the number of Zimbabweans currently living at the church. These vary from around two thousand to as many as three thousand. The church is in fact a high rise building located adjacent to the newly renamed Southern Gauteng High Court and the Smal Street Mall shopping arcade.

Needless to say the area is looking more than a little grubby because of the pressure of masses of people camped outside the church. 

Bishop Verryn was asked by the radio show host about the concern expressed by provincial government regarding the sudden arrival of hundreds of new refugees at the church.  This follows complaints from business and others in the vicinity of the church. What struck me was not the meat of his answer but his tone. 

Bishop Verryn’s answer was that the church and Johannesburg authorities were moving rapidly to address the problem. His gentle words were filled with sympathy for the plight of the masses of people who’ve endured unspeakable suffering in their bid to escape the troubles in Zimbabwe.

Verryn revealed that he tries to speak to every new arrival at the church. One instance he cited was that of a woman who was crossing the  crocodile-infested Limpopo River. She was apparently attacked by a man who tossed her child into the river and accosted her. I do not know if she was raped. 

But it was the earnest, forceful humanity of this man of the cloth that struck me. His commitment to easing the plight of the suffering is beyond doubt. I am not a religious person. In fact I am anti-religious. But Bishop Verryn’s religion-based humanism touched me so fundamentally that I paused to reflect on my hardened attitude to both foreigners living in my country and to religion itself.

It’s time for people like myself, who are not religious, but who care about people, to take a stand and DO SOMETHING. So I’ll visit the church again tomorrow and find out what a cynical atheist can do to assist them in helping these poor, desperate people.