During the Philippines and Ethiopia, we worked with boys that were rescued from the streets. In Ethiopia, many of the boys had no families or families that were very far from the city and most of their families are no longer present in their lives. Many of the boys were brought to the city by relatives but some of them had run away from home. Some of the kids came on their own to the city for a better life and realized quickly that life on their own was not going to be easy. Some of the boys were on the streets for a long time and some were on the street for a short time, but what they had in common was living proof of God’s redeeming love and grace.
They are incredible young men of God and their passion for Jesus is contagious. Though many of them had been through unthinkable things on the streets, living with hunger, addiction, abuse… they know that Jesus is the reason that they are no longer living that life. Jesus changed that life for them.
In the Philippines, our ministry was really similar. We worked with boys ages 12-18 that had been living on the streets or spending most of their time on the streets. They were involved in gangs, drugs, sniffing solvents, fighting, and exposed to many other things that kids should not have to think about. Most of the boys we worked with in the Philippines have families that are still involved in their lives. Their families are so proud of them for turning their lives around at Children’s Garden.
The young men in the Philippines are the best group of boys that you will ever meet. They choose joy every day and their attitudes are contagious. They know that God is doing really amazing things in their lives and they are still working through a lot of things that happened while they were on the streets. They are still struggling a lot with believing that God loves them exactly where they are and loves them regardless of their pasts. But they are moving forward in that trust and relationship with God and it takes time and that’s ok.
My heart broke for all of these young men but my heart was also so full of love for every single one of them. When I would think about the things they had experienced in their lives thus far, it would bring tears to my eyes. But God is redeeming all of their lives. God brought them out of the life they were living on the streets and gave them a new start. God brought them back to a place where they have meals everyday, a bed, people that genuinely care about them, healthy community, education, and a safe place to be a kid again. Their lives are new because of Jesus and I could feel God’s love so much in both of those places.
Through working with street kids for those two months, God redeemed a lot of things in my life as well. God renewed my confidence in working with teenagers. He gave me opportunities to work with music and redeemed some really hard experiences that I had with student teaching. He renewed my faith in just loving without any expectations of love in return and has really begun the redeeming that over and over. Just like God has redeemed and is redeeming so many things in the lives of the boys that we worked with in Ethiopia and the Philippines, He is using them for His redemption in other’s lives and He is using them for His glory.
I have not felt the love from people that I just met like the love that I felt those two months for a long time. I have never the confidence to do things completely beyond my comfort zone as I did in those two months. I have not seen God’s grace and love so clearly illustrated as I did during those two months through the lives of all of the people that we worked with in all of my life. I believe that God had purpose for me being in both Ethiopia and the Philippines for His glory and for work that He needed to do in my life. I am so thankful for each and every moment that our team was blessed with while working with the boys of Win Souls for God and Children’s Garden. 🙂
