When Jesus came in to contact with the prostitutes, the lepers, the tax collectors, the selfish rich people, and the poor, he did something that many of us as Christians forget to do. He embraced the person for the state in which they currently are, before starting on the task of changing their hearts. He realized that a person needs to start where they are at, to get to where they want to be. There was never a time when Jesus overlooked someone because of the sin that they were dabbling in at the time, but If anything, the person’s current sin life brought Jesus to desire and want them even more. I have learned that as Christians the Lord has called us to press in to the tension and ugliness of a person’s sin life, and to not look towards the future before looking at the present state in which a person’s heart is really in.
This past month in Honduras the Lord showed me what it really meant to take people for where they really were at, and to except the state at which their heart was in. A big part of our ministry consisted of living with street kids that came from horrible living conditions and needed to be disciplined and brought up in Jesus Christ. The stories of the kids varied from person to person, but many of their lives were filled with stories of getting high off of paint thinner and pot every day, stealing from local stores and people in the communities, and being initiated in to some of the most dangers city gangs. Some had gotten themselves into so much trouble that there were people and gangs in the community looking to take them out (a.k.a- to kill them for a price).
Some of our boys had either not yet come out of the lifestyle that they had been in when we were living with them, or would stubble back in to it from time to time to time. One of the girls had made a comment at one point and said “some days I feel like these boys have been raised by a pack of wolfs”, but when we looked at their situation we realized that they were probably the most qualified people to fit that statement. We had to recognize that knowing these boys would mean knowing their sin, and if we truly wanted to love them, it would mean accepting that they just don’t have their lives all together (but who really does anyways).
In loving our Honduran boys, I truly saw the Lord’s love cover over a multitude of sins and melt hearts of stone. I have seen boys that used to pick up paint thinner to get high decide to pick up their bibles and get life. I have seen boys that wanted to be a part of city gangs at first, but now desire to be a part of the Body of Christ. I have seen boys that used to steal for a hobby, but now have stolen their own hearts back from the enemy and have given it to the lord!!
Never did I think that by the end of our month that I would have these 12 to 18 year old boys crying on my shoulder and me on theirs, and having my 14 year old wiping tears from my eyes and saying “Casey, don’t cry, please don’t cry. You will come back, you have to”. These boys have taught me many things and have given me a love that I never dreamt that I would have from them.
Now to introduce you to just a few of the boys.
This is Emerson, one night he came in to the bathroom and he looked at my face and said “Casey, what’s wrong?” He didn’t know that I was trying to deal with some stuff but he sensed something was up. So he came up and gave me a great big hug and stood there with me and just let me cry in his arms for about 5 minutes. He just held me and let me be a girl.
This is my Lewis!!! For about a week he could not remember my name for the life of him, but now he calls me by name all the time because he is always calling for more Casey time. Lewis knew how to make me have fun even when I didn’t want to and knew how to put a smile on my face no matter what. He was by far one of the hardest to say good bye to. He was the one who wiped my cheek and told me I would be back. I think it literally took us about 25 times to say good bye to each other before he could walk out the door.
This is my 12 year old Fernando! If you were to hear this child’s story I don’t really know if guys would fully believe it. Fernando was a person who would get in to this rebellious stage and decide to leave the house and go out and smoke pot, and get high off of paint thinner, but then come home and curl up in your lap and want to watch cartoons with you. I don’t think there was a day that I didn’t get one of my Fernando hugs and kiss. He had one of the sweetest hearts a child could ever have and had all the love to show for it. Fernando has had A LOT of his innocence taken away by what has happened in his life, but when he can he still tries to operate as just a normal 12 year old.
