I would say this one too has a special place in my heart, but I’m quickly realizing all these boys are making an impact in my life and even though I came to provide for them, I’m seeing the home they’re making in my heart. So, we’ll call Minor #4 “Dave”.
Even though I consider myself fairly intellectual and a closet nerd, in situations like this, I’m often drawn to people that know the least. As I sat and tutored Dave yesterday in math, I began to feel so thankful for things that I don’t normally think about. Dave and I were working on single digit addition and subtraction, and as I watched this 16 year old count on his fingers for each problem, I couldn’t help but smile. He was finally getting his chance at education in a very nontraditional classroom. The most precious moment was when I asked him, “What is 5 + 7?” and he realized he didn’t have enough fingers. He just looked at me and said, “Where to now?”, I just laughed and pointed at his toes.
As we made our way through the very basic preschool mathematics worksheet, he struggled over many of the basic addition problems. Throwing subtraction in there was a long shot, but we gave it a try. He apologized profusely each time he would shout out an answer and I would say, “Try it again, but show me this time.” It’s easy at times like this to get frustrated and tired, especially after such a long week and with a day off in sight. However, each time I put my hand on his shoulder to encourage him, he’d scoot a little closer to me. It’s a small gesture, but boys like these don’t do that.
After a little under 45 minutes of struggling through the most basic of math problems, Dave made a turn. Without using his fingers, he very quickly shouted out an answer and he was right. Everyone gets lucky eventually, so we tried another one. Again, no fingers, one shout, “Correct”. Dave was on a streak, so I encouraged him to see how many he could get right in a row. Another 10 minutes later, with our lesson nearing an end, he hadn’t missed. It was unbelievable to see how much confidence one boy could get from a math lesson.
Much like Dave, I didn’t want to stop. Unfortunately, with these boys in a jail and not a detention center, our time is restricted. While my time with the boys has been incredible, yesterday was the first time I was disappointed when our four hours were up. I wanted more, just like the boys.
On a very exciting and similar note, Jodi and I will have an action packed next few days as we take some steps to see what we can do to get these boys out of the jail. We will visit a few temporary sights for a potential home for the boys in hopes to eventually purchase land and have them build their own house. The following day, I will meet with a handful of the judges and attorneys in the surrounding areas to see what hoops we need to jump through to get these boys released into a secure home.
I know God is on our side with this mission, but prayer is still greatly needed. The government has money budgeted for a potential detention center for minors, but the challenge will be getting it. They need to know we’re serious about this and the first thing we need is help: financial, prayers, and workers. I’m only here two more months this time, but that doesn’t mean I have to wait to start this thing. These boys need a shot and we can provide that. We just need help…
