Rest in Peace, my brother

This morning I would like to pay tribute to a very special man who passed away yesterday. He was a Malawian man who worked as a domestic servant to various families in South Africa over the last part of his life. He was honest, humble, gentle, compassionate and extremely hard working. He leaves his wife and children devastated at their loss, and his young wife extremely anxious and afraid as to how she will support her 3 children (including their 1 month old baby girl) from here on. Nothing short of a miracle is needed for her to be able to carry on financially from here on. The desire of her heart and the rest of the family is to transport his body home to Malawi and lay him to rest in the country of his birth- an undertaking that requires many thousands of rands.
I once was challenged by a preacher who spoke about how we could change our country slowly and collectively, if each wealthy, privileged family in South Africa was to support 1 or 2 other more needy families throughout their lives. What better place to start than with those people who work in our homes and in our gardens?
This man was unjustly treated by many employers over the years. He was falsely accused of theft, spoken to like he was dirt, forced to work 7 days a week for 10-12 hours per day, expected to go cap-in-hand for his wages when he was paid weeks after pay-day. And yet, he never lost his faith or stooped to the level of those who treated him badly. He was respectful and patient, and would always pray for those who “persecuted” him. His death was totally avoidable, had he had the money to see a decent doctor, and felt able to take time off his work to do so.
Please, I am appealing to all employers of domestic servants, you have a God-given responsibility to treat your employees with respect, kindness and compassion. Pay them a decent wage that allows them to educate and feed their children. Allow them time off to visit the clinic when they are ill- perhaps even go so far as to take them your GP and pay for the visit. Challenge your friends when you see they are treating their employees unjustly- don’t be silent. Give them enough time off to recover from a very physically demanding job, especially on weekends. They should not have to beg for time off to go to church with their family on a Sunday. We will account for how we treat all people, especially those who live and work in our homes