Yesterday, one of our minors was released. All of these boys have a very special place in my heart, so I want to make sure that I continue to follow up with them and get them involved with good circles outside of the jail. Renato was the first one that I was able to be present with on his release and see the conditions of where he was headed to. We went home with him for his first night out of the cell in over six months, and he was so excited to be with us. A couple of my college volunteers were with me and they were talking about the Bible study they had that night of which I would be the speaker. Renato quickly perked up and asked if he could join. Technically, he’s not a student, but if he’s with the leaders, he should be accepted.
We went back that night and he looked so excited. He asked us if two of his friends, Jojo and Lala, could join us. We didn’t have much room in the car, but I will do anything to have these boys constantly hear the word of God, so we piled in. None of these boys knew English, but even though our entire service was in English, they were just so happy to be there. I asked one of the leaders to translate for them, but it was just such a blessing for them to be there. I was able to preach the word of God and I think just looking out and seeing them gave me even more energy to speak what God was telling me.
We drove them home and they asked us about the Saturday Fellowship we have each week and if they would be able to join. It turns out the other two boys are 16 as well as Renato, but none of them look old enough teenagers. The program we do is for younger kids, but we told them they were welcome and maybe we could invite some of the younger kids to join as well. I showed up the next day with a van and nearly 30 kids jumped in. Yesterday, we fed and shared the word of God with nearly 500 impoverished children.
Since Renato, Lala, and Jojo were older, they joined in with my group for our Bible study. Most of the students that are in my group are well off for Filipino standards, so we usually wait to eat until after all the kids have had their full. As usual, we went last and barely had enough food. I watched as the three boys sat down, and I could tell that Lala was suffering from malnourishment. I gave him his bowl and went to serve the others and by the time I turned around, his bowl was empty. It was literally 20-30 seconds. So I grabbed another bowl for him, and another 30 seconds later, another empty bowl sat in front of him. I looked at one of our leaders and said, we need to put as many bowls in front of him as we can, he’s starving. Unfortunately, we were out of food.
About that time, I noticed some of the other students pushing their bowls in front of him. Maybe they were hungry, but they knew they had dinner coming. Lala may not have that same blessing. I’m not exactly sure how many bowls he ate, but there was more than enough. We ran out of food twice yesterday, but somehow even Lala left full. It was truly a blessing to watch God work and provide as we had nearly 200 more than we expected.
As the van drove away, Renato reached his hand out to say bye. Lala had been so shy and wouldn’t even shake my hand, but as the van pulled away, he shoved his whole body out of the window to shout goodbye and try to grab my hand. I was touched at how meeting basic needs could have such an impact on the life of a boy.
I’ll be honest, the leaders of Mt. Moriah never ask for support or money, because each week it is somehow provided. I totally understand why they hold this stance and respect the choice, but sometimes you just need to ask, and seeing as how I’m not on Mt Moriah leadership, I’ll make my request. If you have any old puppets (you’d be shocked at how powerful those shows are and right now we’re using handmade paper sacks and two professional puppets), containers, or just funds to support and purchase the things we need, I’ll pass them along.
Mt Moriah Children’s Camp runs totally on the provision of God and I would love for you to be a part of it IF God is prompting you to give (please don’t feel obligated, again, God always provides). Just get in contact with me and I would love to send you pictures and stories from out weekly events. It truly is a blessing to hear all these kids praising God for using this camp to provide for them. From here on out, kids like Lala are always welcome to join us.
