The three teams that are ministering this month with Pastor William in Eldoret went to our first church service at the Latter Glory Church this past Sunday. Despite having talked extensively about the street children with Pastor William I was not prepared in my heart for what we would encounter.
The street children of Eldoret that Pastor William ministers to in his dirt floor chruch are mostly young boys roughly between the ages of 5 and 18. There were three young girls at the service, one had a young child who was just walking and the other two were only 13. The children come to church, sing worship songs and hear a short message and then they are given a cup of cooked beans and rice to eat. I was ready to see poverty and hunger, desperation and need. I wasn’t prepared to see the prevalence of small bottles with glue in them shoved in the sleeves or the collars of these children. They would inhale the glue to get high and the smell was almost overwhelming on some of them. When I looked in their eyes I could tell they were numb to a lot of what was going on around them. Although they were able to sit and listen to the service and participate, they were a shell of the people that God created them to be.
Sniffing glue is a prominent coping strategy for street children all over the world. The glue is cheap- cheaper than food most times and can be obtained for about 1 Kenyan Shilling which converts to less than 2 cents. The effect of the glue is a headache first but then it begins to numb hunger pains. It also has an effect that makes the children sleep. Since Kenyan nights can get very cold, sleeping is a survival mechanism. Basically they can sleep and be numb and forget their pain.
Ministering to a church full of street children who were mostly high on glue was difficult and it took a lot out of me and my team. I received a lot of inspiration from watching Pastor William and his wife who do this week in and week out. Pastor William is a man who knows the calling the Lord has placed on his life and it shows through the joy that radiates from him. His joy not only inspires us to follow him but it gives us the freedom to be joyful in the midst of what seem to be tragic circumstances.
This week will be spent at the church ministering to the children. We will be building relationships and networking with pastors in the area to provide more support for Pastor William beyond our stay this month. The street children have a stigma attached to them as criminals and theives so they are not welcomed in many places, including churches. Please pray for the street children of Eldoret and for God to continue to call men and women to the harvest field to minister to them and show them love and compassion.
