Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not

“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”

— Mark 10:14 (KJV)

Today was a bitterly cold day in Ladysmith.

And sometimes the weather has a way of taking you back.

As I felt the cold today, my mind went back to another cold winter’s day when I was driving into Steadville to deliver medication to an elderly patient.

In the street where the patient lived, I noticed some little children foraging through a heap of litter and debris.

They were collecting cardboard and plastic.

I stopped.

There was something deeply painful about seeing children so young doing this in the middle of winter. I soon realised that what they were gathering was not simply rubbish.

They were taking it home.

Their household needed it.

I was mindful, of course, of the dangers and sensitivities of approaching children whom I did not know. There were no nearby shops where I could simply buy them something to take home. But my heart would not allow me to drive away as though I had seen nothing.

So I took the risk of giving them some money to take home to their Gogo.

I was so emotional at the time that I made what I thought afterwards was a terrible mistake.

I did not ask Gogo’s name.

I did not ask exactly where they lived.

I had encountered a need, responded in the moment — and then seemingly lost the people behind the need.

But this is where Acts4Transformation becomes more than one person doing a good deed.

When I told a lady from our congregation who lives in Steadville what had happened, she quietly undertook the painstaking task of trying to find out who these children were, where they lived and who was caring for them.

Eventually, she found them.

The details were relayed to me, and I in turn passed them on to Child Welfare.

I would love to thank this lady by name, but at the time of writing I have not asked her permission to do so.

Her name does not need to appear here for her work to matter.

God saw it.

Today’s cold weather brought those children back to my mind.

So I loaded a supermarket gift card and decided to find Gogo’s home and take it to her so that the family could buy groceries and whatever else they might need.

Finding the house was another little adventure. Some of the streets in Steadville are narrow and not all are clearly signposted.

Eventually I asked a gentleman where this particular Gogo lived.

He pointed down the road.

“There she is — the old lady carrying big bags of plastic bottles and cardboard.”

There she was.

And suddenly another part of the story unfolded.

Gogo is well known in the area.

When I arrived at her home, I found large bags filled with plastic, cardboard and other recyclable material. She explained that she collects everything, sorts it and packs it neatly, and that Why Waste comes every other month to collect it.

This was not simply rubbish lying around a poor household.

This was Gogo’s little enterprise.

This was a woman using what was available to her, working with her own hands, doing what she could to sustain her household.

And then came the moment that touched me most.

The children ran out.

Excitedly, they told Gogo:

“This is the Malume who gave us the money that cold winter day!”

They remembered.

And I remembered too.

It also became clear why they had been gathering those materials that winter day. During the bitter winter months, the recycling venture had to take a backseat.

Some of those materials were needed primarily as fuel to keep the household warm.

Children collecting cardboard to keep their home warm.

In 2026.

In our community.

That should disturb us.

But it should do more than disturb us.

It should move us.

Jesus said:

“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”

— Mark 10:14

And perhaps one of the ways we allow the little children to come to Jesus is by making sure that, as far as it lies within our ability, they are not forgotten when they are hungry, cold, struggling at school or living in circumstances they did not choose.

Jesus also reminds us:

“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

— Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

Today I explained to Gogo how the supermarket card works and asked her not to throw it away when the money is finished.

Because, God willing, this should not end today.

I will try to find people who may be willing to top it up towards Christmas and again when the schools reopen in January for the new school year.

But A4T must go further than a gift card.

I want to keep an eye on Gogo’s health.

I want to understand her recycling venture and whether there are ways in which it can be strengthened.

And I want to follow the schooling and wellbeing of those children.

Because transformation is not simply arriving, giving something and disappearing.

It is seeing people.

It is listening.

It is connecting.

It is following through.

It is asking:

“What is in my hand, and how can God use it?”

Maybe you cannot change the whole of Steadville.

Neither can I.

Maybe you cannot solve poverty in South Africa.

Neither can I.

But somewhere near you there is a Gogo.

Somewhere there is a child.

Somewhere there is a household trying to make it through another cold night.

Somewhere there is a person quietly collecting cardboard, selling vegetables, baking bread, sewing clothes, recycling bottles or doing whatever they can with the little that is in their hands.

See them.

And when God allows your path to cross theirs, do not always assume that somebody else will help.

Perhaps you are the somebody else.

This is the heart of Acts4Transformation.

Not grand programmes.

Not waiting until we have millions.

Not merely feeling sorry and driving on.

But ordinary people, seeing ordinary needs, using whatever God has placed in their hands and allowing Him to multiply it.

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

— 1 John 3:18 (NIV)

Today was a very cold day in Ladysmith.

But somewhere in Steadville, an old Gogo smiled.

Some little children remembered their Malume.

And I came home reminded once again why we must keep believing that another kind of community is possible.

One where we notice.

One where we care.

One where we follow through.

One where, eventually, we may truly be able to say:

“There were no needy persons among them.”

— Acts 4:34 (NIV)

Believe. Pray. Love. Share.

Timothy Hugo Canham

Acts4Transformation (A4T)

Love in Action — Spreading Love in a Loveless World

www.acts4transformation.org