I Became A Father!

The buzz word in mission/church work these days seems to be culture. Proper hermeneutics begins with interpreting God's word in the way it was written to the original hearers, then to contextualize it. In other words, how does it apply to the current culture?

Personally here in Africa i am constantly examining the Zulu culture i am living in and asking myself which parts are cultural and good, and which parts are simply made from sinful man. An example would be that during the whole time i've been here i can't remember meeting a dad who lives with his wife and children. I have been in the houses of locals, been to a church, interviewed 8 groups to potentially move to our village and have yet to meet or hear of a dad who still lives with his family. I did talk with a mechanic who told me his dad has 3 wives and "alot" of sons. His wives are scattered about. The mechanic himself has a girlfriend he'd like to marry but confided to me that he lacks the 12 cows which is the standard dowery in his culture. If i remember right it is equivalent to about $60,000.00 dollars for an American. (that is not a direct exchange but figuring standard of living).

To get back on track, what should be concluded when a whole culture hasn't seen a father figure in the family structure?

Nothile (noe-tee-lay) is an eleven year old girl who lives on our village. She has never had a dad and her mother died of AIDS just a few years ago before the Agathos Foundation took her and her brothers, sisters, cousins and aunt into our care. The other day Nothile walked into my room with a colored piece of paper. It was a love letter with flowers colored on it. Written on it were the words, "I love you very much. I am happy for you to be my father. To Richad, from Nothile." To say the least i was very touched. I kissed her on the forehead from across my desk while pondering the significance of what i was experiencing. I told her i am happy for her to be my daughter, that it was a very pretty picture, "do you like to draw?" she said yes, so i pulled out some paper and pens and spent about an hour drawing pictures with her then walked her to dinner. At the same time i was in awe that, here is a girl who has never experienced a father. Moreover, she does not even know what a husband who is faithful to his family looks like- there are none in her community to observe... and yet, here she is desirous of a father in her life and delighting in the substitutes she has received. I say substitute"s" because after dinner i was visiting the Zulu pastor in his room and saw that he had about 5 or 6 such letters hanging on his wall.

I praise God that He is our Father. He is willing to be a Father to anyone who believes in His love. The love that He demonstrated when He became a man, walked the earth in perfection without sinning, then died in our place taking our sins on His shoulders. After that, raising Himself from the dead and returning to heaven where He has prepared our final home for us to live with Him in a wonderful holy family. That is the ultimate end of our faith, in the meantime i have a vision for our village here in South Africa- to name it "the Father's Home", and to teach many children of the fulfilling love of their true Father according to Psalm 68;5:

A Father to the fatherless,
a defender of widows,
is God in His holy habitation.
God sets the solitary in families;

I appreciate all the emails and comments. I'll try to post more soon!