After repeatedly finding the young boys from his ministry site sniffing glue when they thought no one was looking, Austin Shugart of 2015 N Squad was frustrated. Then God changed his perspective.
Since launching on the World Race, I’ve encountered drugs pretty much everywhere I’ve been. That’s the reality of world we live in. It shouldn’t be a surprise that drugs are available wherever human civilization is, even in the middle of the poorest countries in the world.
It shouldn’t surprise me that 10-year-old boys sniffing glue at my ministry site is normal.
Wait…what?
The first time I saw it, I was shocked. I stood on a sidewalk in the Philippines watching the cars navigate the crowded street. Through the traffic, I saw the boys my team worked with the previous weekend huffing glue fifty feet away from me.
My team had just spent a whole weekend loving these homeless kids, giving them food and showers, and playing soccer. Just last week, we sang about how good Jesus is and here they were, huffing glue.
I stared at them, speechless.
“God, is this world so messed up that kids resort to sniffing glue to numb the hunger pains? Are we doing any good?”
I left the Philippines hoping that was the last I would see children huff glue. But I ran into it again, this time in Africa.
This month, in Zambia, the guys on my team and I had the privilege of hanging out with, praying for, singing, and dancing with homeless people twice a week. It was one of my favorite ministries on the Race thus far. However, there it was again:
Each boy had a bottle filled not with water or soda, but glue. My heart broke again. Frustration and disappointment battled for my heart.
“Can’t they stop? Why are they still doing this, though we tell them time and time again that it is not good for them, and that Jesus offers something better?”
At that point, I wasn’t sure what to think or feel. Spending time with those boys and young men was a highlight of my week, something I looked forward to. But, seeing them sniffing glue made me wonder if my team was doing any good.
Then God spoke to me.
“Stop focusing on the glue.”
Jesus was accused of hanging out with the drunkards, tax collectors, and prostitutes. Yet that’s not how Jesus viewed them. He saw them as loved by God. Jesus simply met them where they were and loved them unconditionally.
And while I am sure Jesus told them he offered so much more than a quick high, I’m positive he spent the majority of his time simply hanging out with them. And he wants us to do likewise.
Unfortunately, what the outside world tends to do is focus on the glue.
The Pharisees looked at these people and called them, “cheats, liars, drunks, prostitutes.” They couldn’t view these people as loved by the Father because all they could focus on was the ‘glue’ – their sins and addictions.
Too often, we call people “drunks,” “sluts,” “losers,” “freaks,” or “lost causes,” declaring those titles as their new names and identities. We see them for the bad and sinful things they do instead of seeing them through the eyes of Christ.
It’s easy to focus on people’s problems rather than what they have to offer the world.
I’ve decided I’m not going to focus on the glue anymore. God is the one who changes hearts. Our job is to love at all costs – even as it breaks our hearts.
From that moment on, I stopped giving attention to what those boys were sniffing behind the bushes. Instead, I sang with them, danced alongside them with my white-man moves, encouraged them, and most of all, loved them like Jesus does.
And you know what? The difference in how the boys acted from the beginning of the month to the end was like night and day. Our last night, one stood up and spoke. “I take coming here seriously and am thankful to have you guys come each week.”
I don’t need to worry what happens in the shadows. God is there and sees. My charge is to love. And moments like those remind me that his Love is winning.
Has God ever changed your perspective of addiction? How could God’s message to Austin impact our interactions with those bound by alcoholism, eating, drug addictions, etc?
Is God calling you to love those trapped in addiction throughout the world? Click here to find out how you can join him in setting captives free on the World Race.
