...I have no words to explain what my life is like. I find my thoughts jumbling through my head and rolling around, but they aren't really forming into sentences that I can speak, let alone communicate in writing. But that is no reason not to try. So here are a few thoughts.
we're at the beginning of our second week. in the first week we mostly were amazed at how much we didn't know that we didn't know. but now we are fully aware of how utterly dependent we are on GOD. we're open from 10-3 for the first month. we'll evaluate after one month and see if we need to adjust our times and length of being open. this is such an incredibly challenging ministry, we need to go slowly and build relationship with the kids.
the kids coming to the center:
30 kids, so far. only 5 are girls. age range 6-22 (we are aiming at a cut-off of 18 years old...we'll see what happens.:))
a 12 yr old girl and a 13 yr old girl, both prostitutes. one of them is cutting herself to let the pain leak out of her body instead of being trapped inside.
a 7 year old boy, covered literally head to toe in scabies. last Friday he showed up with a terrible dog bite on his ankle. he had been sleeping in the street and a dog broke away from the owner and charged the group of street kids. the others ran away, but this little boy was asleep and the dog bit through to the bone.
a 20 year old boy, addicted to sniffing glue, still acts like a 12 year old.
a 6 year old boy, some scabies, sleeps on the street is the one all the kids pick on all day. punching, kicking, slapping, standing on his neck. of course we prevent this happening in the center, but Teresa observed this kind of treatment the other day outside the mall.
a 16 year old girl, former prostitute, we're unclear on what she's doing now.
and that's only a few of them.
most of the boys have been the victim of sexual assault from men who pay with a bottle of coke, or maybe a meal. some of the men are foreigners. others are locals.
most of the boys are addicted to rugby, a glue...they carry small amounts around in plastic bags and cover their noses with the bag, inhaling the fumes and gaining relief of the persistent hunger and terror of life on the street.
almost all of the kids who have been coming to the center are members of the Bloods, a gang. their leader is one of the ones coming and he is so very respectful of us. it's incredible.
All of this is what I am seeing everyday. We're learning all day long everyday about what life is REALLY like here in Butuan. It's just not pretty.
Have you read Romans 8 recently?
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the LOVE OF GOD that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
How can it be that that verse fits in the same post as the list I have just shared? How can both things be true?? NOTHING can separate us from the love of God?? God loves those kids? The ones that as I type are sleeping on the street? Or being sexually assaulted? Or beat up? Or sniffing glue?? REALLY???
reaLLY???
really.
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4 comments:
There are no words...all I can think of as that scene from "Forrest Gump" when Jinny and Forrest come to the house that Jinny grew up in and knew so much pain in...and she starts to throw rocks at the house until she collapses in a heap overcome with grief and Forrest simply says, "Sometimes there aren't enough rocks."
This from Psalm 10 that I read yesterday morning when I woke up: "Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" (v. 1) "Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless." (v. 12) "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless." (v. 14) "You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more" (vv. 17-18).
May God continue to help you and Theresa as you represent Him to kids who need to see Him.
You are amazing.
Oh my goodness! I just don't know what else to say....
But I will say that we have been studying the names of God on Sunday mornings. Jehovah Olam (everlasting God), Jehovah Shalom (God of peace), and most recently Jehovah Jireh (God who provides and God who sees).
That is the God that these kids need.
They need Jehovah Olam--the God who will be the "constant" in their lives. He was and He is and He will be. Never abandoning them but always being present.
They need Jehovah Shalom--the God who will bring peace into their world, giving them peace in the midst of the terrible conditions they live in.
They need Jehovah Jireh--the God who will supply every need they have.
Oh my goodness! I just don't know what else to say...
Thank you for sharing the reality of these children's life and of what you are doing there. It really is an overwhelming thought as I read your words. I am glad that our God is sufficient for all that you need to know and do as you minister to these children. I have so many questions!!!
I love you,
MOM
So crazy to read of all you're doing. What truly amazing work. I feel so small in the face of such total desperation. May God continue to bless you and all the children as you reach out to them.
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