He is curled up, arms in a ratty tshirt, asleep on the concrete.
This is what we see every morning walking down the streets of Cagayan de Oro. They are street kids. Many of them have families, but they are safer and happier away from their family; on the street. It breaks my heart every time I see one of our kids sleeping on the street, but then I think about the ministry we are working with and how much they have done for these kids in only a few short months.
Flashback to July of this year: Natalie, a 25 year old American started wandering the streets of CDO trying to meet kids and develop relationships. She had already learned some of the language and was just trying to know the kids and have them start to trust her.
Here we are 6 months later with 16 kids as a part of the Street Light Ministry. They come to school everyday at 1pm. They get to shower, put on clean clothes, eat lunch, sit through class, and then have another snack. They then leave and head back home, to the streets. A few hours later we come to them. We meet them in their home, the Divisoria plaza. We dance, laugh, sing, and play games with them. They get dinner and some more love.
It may not seem like a lot, but to these kids it means everything. It is how they eat. They get to learn on their level, because many of them have been out of school for years. This ministry is allowing these kids to take back their childhood from the street that stole it. They get to color and play games. They get to enjoy spending time with us without fear of being hungry, abandoned, or abused. This ministry is so young and has so much potential.
My team is currently studying the book of 1 Corinthians and the other night when we were reading I couldn’t help but see how much this ministry is answering Paul’s call to truly live out the gospel.
“For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong”
To the people of CDO it seems completely foolish for a bunch of Americans to be playing and hanging out with street kids who are dirty and mean. It is not of this world to love the unlovable, undesirable, and rejected, but it is completely of Christ to love His children!
What the people of CDO don’t see is the true heart of these kids. They desire love. They desire to be wanted. They desire all the same things that each one of us yearns for on a daily basis. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is all of these things for us. So we are starting with these kids. Showing them the exact same love and pursuit, so that one day they will know and accept the love that Christ has for them.
This Christmas I am foolishly in love with Christ and 16 street kids in the Philippines.
I want to challenge everyone reading this to be foolish for Christ! Show the people of world what His love looks like. This is the day that our Savior was born, so go tell someone about Him! And go share His all fulfilling love in a foolish way! Do something crazy for Christ this Christmas season! 🙂
Merry Christmas!
Sam
