I met Trixhiia a few months ago in the Philippines and have traded greetings with her a few times since then via messages and chat. I met her at our Sunday night Bible studies that I would do with a friend for members of the street gangs. She is one of the girls that is involved with one of the gangs, and I didn’t really know how to talk with her at first. As I began to find out a little about her, I realized that she wasn’t really a bad girl. She was just searching for somewhere to belong.
Earlier I received a message from her that just said, “Tito (visayan for uncle), I need to ask for your help and advice.” Most of the teenagers that I met out there are very respectful and will be social with me, but they would never ask for help. After all, I am still an outsider and family or social circles are where you turn for that. However, for Trixhiia, it seemed she didn’t have much of an option of where to turn to.
Trixhiia knows the decisions that she has made and who she chooses to hang out with can sometimes cause her family grief, but I know she does love them. Like most of us, she has a battle with her own wants and flesh and she has made some tough choices. I found out last night that her mother was admitted to the hospital with a stroke. The rest of her family has blamed her because of the stress that she has caused her mother over the past year or so. She’s beginning to believe them that it was her fault.
I know that children can cause their parents grief, and even sickness, but that’s the last thing she needs to hear. In the midst of all this family crisis, she’s struggling for her own personal identity and she’s beginning to wander who would even want her? The boys on the street seem to really care for her and treat her like a sister, but that’s no life for any little girl. I don’t care how old she gets, I’ll still see her as a precious daughter that needs to be protected and fought for.
I told her those things and asked her if she thought her family cared for her. She began to realize how her parents did truly love her and how she could begin to be a better daughter. She left her boyfriend because of her family and she’s beginning to make those sacrifices, at least for now. After all, at the tender age of 15, no boy should break up the family.
When she struggled with the question of who would want her, I just smiled as I reminded myself of the Gospel. She’s been running around the streets with a group of boys and fighting against her family, and who would want her?
JESUS! JESUS WANTS HER!
I know this sounds almost cliche or cheesy, but that’s what he came for. He didn’t come for people that had it all together. He made that more than clear in his dealings with the religious people. He came for the people that needed a savior, which should be all of us if we get over ourselves. I couldn’t help but smile as I felt she was starting to realize the power of the Gospel. That it’s a gift for her and she’s on that list of being wanted. It feels good to realize you’re wanted by a God that created everything. That blows fame and popularity out of the water…
