We had our first day working at the Latter Glory Church with Pastor William and his wife, Pamela. Their ministry is mainly to street kids and older adults who live on the street. When I think about churches in Africa I think of women dancing in the aisles, “hallelujahs” being proclaimed and joy filling the church. Don’t get me wrong, there was dancing, “hallelujahs” and joy. It just came in a different way then I expected.
The kids who were there were extremely dirty and high. One of the things we learned yesterday is the many of the people who live on the streets are addicted to sniffing glue. So, many of the kids showed up to church holding bottles of glue. They put the bottles up to their mouths and then inhale the fumes. Pastor William had to continually be strict with the kids and make sure they were not sniffing during the service, but that was hard to control with thirty kids all doing the same thing. You can tell that it pains him to be firm with them, because all he wants to do is love them. We were later told that he wants them to stop sniffing glue but he can’t give them anything to replace the glue. They sniff glue because it suppresses their hunger and he doesn’t have food for all of them everyday. They sniff glue so they can sleep through the cold night and he doesn’t have a place for them to sleep. Until he can help them get those things, as much as it hurts him to see, he can’t do anything about the glue.
At the beginning of the service the kids stood up and led us in songs and dancing. Pastor William said that it was a special presentation for us. We were all laughing and dancing. Then it was our turn to get up and lead the kids in worship. Brayden played his guitar and we all sang and danced some more with the kids.
