By Karen Stiller
Merle Henegan of South Africa cares for the poorest of the poor in Goldfields, in the Free State. For the last 13 years she has brought dignity and love to some of South Africa’s most marginalized.
The Orange River in South Africa winds its way from the mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and cuts through the Free State. Within the Free State, a dry, beautiful area of South Africa, many people are imprisoned by severe poverty, barely surviving in squatter camps.
In the midst of the need, Merle Henegan is like a river of life to these people. She is known affectionately and more than a little reverently, as “The Mother Teresa of the Goldfields,” or “Ma-Mosa, Mother of Mercy.” She has devoted the last 13 years of her life to these people she calls “the poorest of the poor.”
It was a dream that started Merle’s odyssey. “God spoke to me and said ‘pick up your cross and follow me and feed my people. I will lead you and show you the way.’”
Merle found her way to squatter camps where the unemployed from the surrounding homelands converged once racial restrictions were lifted, formerly strictly outlining where people could live and work in South Africa. “What I saw in these camps horrified and touched me,” says Merle.
Urbanization
People desperate to provide for their families often seek work in urban areas. Goldfields, the city where Merle set up her ministry, is one of the hardest hit by the forces of urbanization. The squatter camps are horrible places to live. “They live in shacks,” says Merle. “Up to 10 people live in one room. No bathroom, no toilets. The women walk miles to fetch water. Most people have no jobs.”
The hard life of the squatter camps is lived out against the backdrop of an escalating HIV/AIDS rate, one of the most severe in the world. According to an UNAIDS report, 5.5 million people were living with HIV in South Africa by the end of 2005 with an estimated 1,000 AIDS-related deaths occurring every day.
Dying with Dignity
“I deal with the many victims of the AIDS virus, which is killing so many women, men and small children,” says Merle. “Many are also orphans, they are left behind. I pick up the dying and take them to hospital to die with dignity, and with the love of God.”
Merle shares the love of God in intensely practical ways, like creating and running three daycare centers for parents with young children who have to go out looking for work during the day. Her centers care for and feed 300 children and she estimates she feeds an additional 500 children daily. Merle has also created a work project that employs 10 people who make bricks to sell to construction companies.
Merle regularly goes through the squatter camps visiting the people she cares for. She has story after story of the desperate conditions. “One day, I arrived to find an old grandfather very ill. He was in terrible condition. He had no control over his bladder and he was lying in his shack. Something had to be done. He could not help himself. His grandchild is 12, an orphan from AIDS, and in a wheelchair.” Merle called an ambulance for the grandfather and took 12-year-old Tabeso to the donated house that is now a care center for children. “I bathed this poor little chap. My heart was crying out. Nobody wanted this little boy. To them, he was too much of a handful, too much of a problem. An outcast. My heart was crying out to the Lord.”
Merle entrusted her new young friend to the woman who runs the house for her. When she recently went back to visit, she found a happy little boy. His grandfather is still in the hospital.
“I have to be strong with cases like these,” says Merle. “God’s love and grace, will pull me through … and prayer.” Merle’s faith is built daily as she sees the inner strength of people who live in the squatter camps. “They have so much strength. It never fails them.” Every week Merle gathers with other believers and they pray together for two hours or more. “I see Jesus in all these people. He is holding their hands.”
Merle carries out her ministry with only one sponsor helping her cover costs. “You have to love until it hurts,” says Merle. “You have to have faith in our Lord. The Body of Christ has many parts, and we all have a part to play, to build up, and to help in every way.” Merle Henegan has found her part in the squatter camps of South Africa’s Free State.
This article was reprinted with permission from Thoughts About God. If you would like to send a letter of encouragement to Merle, please contact us.
Dear Mother Terissa of Goldfields,
Wish you all the blessings in life!