Kenneth’s Story: Update

In a recent
blog titled, “Mute”, I introduced a little boy who stole my heart. His name is
Kenneth; he is 9 years old, and I pray every day God allows him to speak.

Here is an
update on him:

He is
sporting little blue goggles on his head as an accessory, probably a treasure
he found in the trash dump. He recognizes me, gives high fives all around, and
quickly piggybacks on Nate. He lets me love on him through our special clapping
game and he loves to play with my pois(essentially hacky sacks on chains). The
coolest part of this visit however was the opportunity we had to pray for the
families.

I was
already sitting by Kenneth for devotion, front row on the stadium seating built
of trash, when a volunteer announces that we are going to pray. At the mention
of prayer, I quickly make a move to the front and ask the translator to first
invite people up for healing. Surprisingly, Kenneth raises his hand and comes
to the front of his own desire, along with 2 others: Mommy Anita, and a sick
young girl who is carried to the front. (Meanwhile, my heart is jumping for joy
that Kenneth came up on his own, even if it was to just have attention). In
this prayer time, we pray healing over 59 year old Anita’s lungs, we pray
healing over the young girls sickness, and we pray healing for Kenneth to speak
normally.

Dump
Visit #3

Our friends
remember us and are so delighted to see the Children’s Garden truck pull up. We
hop out of the back and immediately find the kids and families we are closest
with and continue where we left off. At first, I couldn’t spot Kenneth, but at
the sound of visitors, he runs up with a new haircut and the same smile. At one
point he even points at me, then my backpack, then starts twirling his hands in
a “figure 8” motion. “Yes, you can play with them,” I respond, knowing he is
communicating a desire to spin my pois.

Also, during
this 3^rd trip to the Markina bridge dump, I was introduced to
Kenneth’s mom (as “Kenneth’s good friend, Lisa.”) through a Children’s Garden
volunteer. Although she doesn’t live at the dump, she did want to share his
story with me.

Kenneth
is the eldest of 3 boys (ages 3, 5, and 9) from his mom Jane and his father, an
ex-athlete, now druggie. Jane is divorced from him. At age 1, Kenneth was
abused by his father and suffered from this trauma in the manner of being mute.
After taking Kenneth to the doctor as a young boy, she learned that his hearing
was average, but that he would need speech therapy. Although he never received
therapy, Kenneth did start attending a special needs school twice a week, where
he learned sign language among other things. However, this family soon suffered
tremendous tragedy. Last years typhoon, which affected thousands of Manila’s
poor, also impacted this family. The area and house in which they were living
was ruined. This is when Jane brought her three boys to this area under the
Markina Bridge, along with other nearby families. Also around this time,
Kenneth’s grandmother died, and he stopped attending school.

Continue to
pray for these families, especially my friend Kenneth. Pray for his family and
his younger brothers, and pray they do not fall into the cycle of violence and
drugs so often associated with street kids.