I remember when I was sixteen I went on a missions trip with my church youth group to Jackson, Mississippi. We went to a daycare in one of the most rundown, dirtiest area I had ever been to. It broke my heart and kind of scared me to think that people actually lived in homes that had boards or bars over the windows. There is one house that is forever engraved in my memory. The windows had been smashed, there was graffiti above pealing paint on the front of the house, the roof was partially missing. The front porch was caved in but there was a swinging bench where an old man sat just gazing at the road. I can recall sitting on the staircase later that day and talking to my Mom about what I had seen. She told me that I saw a lot of hurt and that there are a lot more people in the world who live in those conditions or worse. You need to take advantage of the opportunities God has provided for you. He has started to open your eyes. When I got off the phone with her I just remember crying. I was crying because I felt like I knew one day I was going to see more of what I saw that day. But the thing is…I didn't think I would be ready for it. Ready to feel that kind of brokenness all over again. What I didn't know at the time was that God was preparing my heart for what I would see here in the Philippines. Not just the Philippines but the world. I just have to be willing to open my eyes.
So, you are probably wondering why this picture is on here. This is a picture of my best friend and I when we were about seventeen years old. I can remember clearly when we took it. I had picked her up in my parents car ( Yes, it was before the days we had our own cars), we were listening to a mix she had given me when my dog died sophomore year, and we had just arrived at Starbucks. She had insisted that we take a picture which at the time I wasn't to thrilled about it. Probably because I was having a bad hair day. We were so young and knew there was so much ahead of us. We were thinking about boys, prom, high school, graduation, which college we would go to in the fall, just the typical teenager thoughts.
This is a picture of two beautiful girls that I met last night who just happen to be best friends. So, what is the difference between the girls in the last picture and this one? These two girls are sixteen and have been on the street since they were born. The girl on the left sleeps under the bridge every night with her six siblings while her mother is out working as a prostitute. Around noon they go to their "home" which they pay rent for. It is a small mattress with cardboard and some metal sheets built up around it to make a shelter. You see their smiling faces and normal clothing and you would never guess that the girl on the right was sold every night by her father from the time she was eight. She ran away five years ago and now works the streets. They have never been to school, never been able to learn to read or write, never known where their next meal was coming from, never lived in a real house, never known a life outside of the streets.
My heart is breaking for the kids I am meeting. God has blessed me so much and I could have easily been one of the girls on the street but I was blessed to be born in America with parents that have provided for me and support me. For a long time I was ignorant of the pain and struggles of people who have less than I but God has placed it on my heart to share his joy to them. He has called me to leave the comfort of my home or even my bed at night so I can go visit with the street kids at night. When I go out to the streets at night to meet these kids it is always my prayer that I can bring a light into the darkness that is there. They so desperately need love. They so desperately need to hear that someone cares about them. I am so thankful that I am able to show them love and tell them I care about them, even if it is for only for a short time.
