An angry mob, armed with sticks, whips, and other weapons approached an apartment and began demanding that the occupants open the door. Despite the loud, fierce noise, babies’ cries could be heard. The more the mob banged on the door, the louder the babies cried. Finally, the door was forced open—to the mob’s excitement—only to be confronted by crying babies. No adult was with them; it was clear the parents had fled, leaving the babies behind.
“Your mothers don’t love you,” a voice could be heard saying. “They have run away!”
Faced with frightened and traumatized babies, they picked them up and began comforting them. Immediately afterward, they moved on to find other foreign families to forcibly arrest.
This is not a case of child neglect, but of survival. It is possible that the mothers had seen social media posts showing the mistreatment of mothers with babies. They may have seen how the mob would forcibly take babies from their mothers’ arms without restraint. They may have watched the faces of traumatized babies and toddlers, looking helplessly on as an angry mob chanted, “All foreigners must leave.” They may have seen beatings and torture of foreign nationals too.
It was June 30, 2026, in South Africa, the date the Zulu tribe had set as the deadline for all black foreigners from other African nations to leave South Africa or face their wrath. Leading up to this day, hundreds of foreigners have been harassed and, in many cases, publicly assaulted. African nations have been evacuating their citizens from South Africa, but not fast enough. Some of those being forced out have lived in South Africa for decades; others are married to South Africans and have South African born children, today, they must leave.
“Your mothers don’t love you,” I thought to myself. But then I remembered Hagar—Abraham’s second wife—with her son Ishmael. She could not watch him die in the desert, so she left him alone. I remembered the many parents who choose to leave their children behind in our country. Is this what Hagar sought to teach us? In some situations, a mother can make hard choices out of love for her baby.
I don’t want to judge those mothers, and I hope you won’t.
In a world filled with hatred, killings, and war, such stories barely make the front page. But the once-celebrated rainbow nation of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela has been overtaken by populist xenophobia that would break one’s heart.
As we look forward to the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence, I want to remind you that it takes courage to love a stranger. May God show us the way of peace. Pray for South Africa and its people.
Join us for prayers in the yard at 9:30 a.m.
From the E-Crier of July 2, 2026. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter.