If you’re reading this, come on over to my new blog site on Albania and see what God’s doing now! –> www.JoshuaMarshman.com
Hello All, C’Kemi! from Albania
I Hope that this letter finds you well and you’ve been living strongly. The following story is what happened on Oct 18th, during a day with Campus Crusade at the University.
The day started out like normal. When college students walked by, we looked to
hand out the Campus Crusade magazines and a little invitation to their
beginning of the year bash. The day
seemed calm enough, until 3 or 4 youngsters held up by our stand looking for
free handouts; either magazines, money or time and attention. The oldest and smartest (maybe 16) led the
charge by “helping” us advertise, while the others made snide remarks at
everyone passing by. This form of
distraction and intimidation carried on until the leaders of our group (CC) had
all us go inside for coffee, thinking they’d leave if their attention starved
audience left. Unfortunately when we
left they just stayed until we returned.
As soon as we got back outside, they were
right back at it. So, I decided to try a
different tactic; instead of ignoring them, I got their attention and told them
to follow me. As I led them to the
corner curb, I started (flying totally by the seat of my pants) to talk to them
in a language I didn’t know. Several
minutes later (20-30) and 1000 lek ($10) in the hole, they ran away, laughing
and smiling at the money they had just victoriously swindled from my pocket.
Returning from the corner, I was slightly discouraged that I knowingly let them
steal money but also happy that the distracting trio was gone. I looked to
continue telling people about the magazine but twenty minutes later another
group of guys came.
These two 8-10 year olds came up looking for trouble.
this is when it
gets good…
At this point, the Crusade leaders were
getting frustrated and the main leader confronted one of the
little boys like he’d been doing all morning with the older ones. This time though, it was with anger, kicking
and swatting at them. I thought, “That’s not right. Something has to be done!” The
response to darkness cannot be darkness. Light is the only thing that can
overtake the dark. If the cycle is always only hatred and always only
intimidation, how will they ever learn anything different? So, the next time they approached, I walked
up, went straight past them, getting their attention as I went, and directly to
the nearby garbage dump. There, I
grabbed a trashed cardboard box, tore it up a bit, and stole their attention to
let the magic begin. The torn box became
a kingly crown, and the graffiti littered street, a parade. The two of them followed me down the street
(away from the magazines) and into the thousands of adoring fans that heard us
say “HELLO!” “MBRET! [King]”
The two boys soon became three and the
chariot a limousine. The loud roar of
the engine attracted 5 and the line of kids yelling “mbret! mbret!” became
10. Soon the children that had been
stuck in their harsh reality allowed themselves to become racecar drivers,
motorcycle professionals, and even airplane pilots. The hitting turned to handshakes and the
middle finger to thumbs up. And just let me tell you, there’s nothing better than seeing 15 poverty stricken kids running down the street with their arms out wide pretending to be airplanes.
The imagination of half-grown children had
gone from hardly breathing to almost full bloom in less than an hour…All
because of a cardboard box, four letters (mbret), and a little stretch of old
eastern block rruga [street].
The glorious part is this was not stolen by
me when I left, but will remain in their memories until they need them
again. It was stolen by the older guys
that came around again, sniffing like sharks the blood of a heart still flowing
with joy and laughter. This will hopefully do more
to destroy the cycle than I ever could, because the clear contrast that so
perfectly paints the picture of light and dark will show the goodness of God…
and the grotesqueness of the wicked.
“…For the Lord watches over the way of the
righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.”
Psalm 1:1-6
I’ll perhaps never know. all I do know is they sure did have smiles on
their faces as I walked away.
“Mbret!”
As Always,
Love
Joshua
STAY STRONG!
