SPARKED by compassion for the people of Knysna who lost homes and possessions in the recent fire disaster, a group of Kenton residents collected goods and delivered them to a church in Knsysna for distribution.
With prompting from Kenton resident Charles Southey last Thursday morning, Chester Wilmot’s home became a collection point for goods. Within hours, goods poured from the Kenton community and some from Port Alfred to the extent that Wilmot and Doug Swanson were able to leave at 3pm with a bakkie load full of clothing and other goods.
By that evening Wilmot’s wife Jean phoned to say there was already a full second load being sorted in their lounge.
“We were amazed to find the Knysna Vineyard Church still open at 7.30pm, having been serving desperate people all day,” Wilmot said.
After the first fires the church had become a hospital when the local provincial hospital came under fire threat. When the patients were moved out later, the whole building became a warehouse of food and clothes with hundreds of church members working.
“We met and encouraged the local pastor and his workers before leaving for home to return again, leaving Kenton at 4am the next morning. This time there was a ministry team of six,” Wilmot said.
“The sense of generosity of our community overwhelmed us, and then to witness the serving hearts from the church community there,” he said.
See the full story in this week’s Talk of the Town.