Called to a continent once pervaded by darkness

Serving as leaders in a country rejected by some

Yet claimed as their own when the world turned its back

One with a people in their struggle for freedom's dawn.

Burnt by the sun and blistered by blazing heat

Yet bathed in the cool of a country's oceans and beaches

Loving, and deeply loved, valued as people,

Separation's tears shed in love's expression.

Rays of light pierce the equatorial forest

As darkness disappears in a morning landing

When they disembark to begin another life

With eternal truths explained in another tongue.

They start sustained by the prayers of those behind

And confident in the grace that is fresh with daybreak's morning.

Johannesburg

When Anne and Graeme Harding left for Ghana

31 March 1996