We woke up really early and it was a day I had been looking forward to. We had to go find the street kids before they were up getting high so we could feed them and minister to them. I didn’t know what to expect but I prayed as we walked that God would prepare the way. We turned off the street to walk behind the businesses and my first thought was, people actually live back here? To me it looked like nothing more than rubble, but there were homes in the mess of it. And there they were sitting against a brick wall eagerly awaiting us. I felt my heart melting but I was prepared this time. It didn’t take long for a crowd to begin to form around the white people preaching to the kids. I didn’t like it. There were jeering shouts and laughter coming from behind me as one of my teammates shared the gospel. I didn’t know what was being said but I could feel the spirit of Satan lurking around. However that didn’t stop four boys from accepting Jesus. Then there were those who were already high and didn’t care what we had to say and just wanted to be fed. The whole process felt rushed. After we shared the word we fed them and went home.
My heart was so unsettled because I felt like we didn’t make an impact at all. So I had to trust that God would find a way to move in those kids. The next day I couldn’t believe it, there were some kids from the day before plus a few new faces. We sat there in the shade on the church property for a while and got to know each of their stories. All the boys emptied their pockets of drugs and put them in a pile. By the end of the meeting they had the option whether or not to pick the drugs back up. Every boy there wanted so badly to be able to go to school. I told them that they have to show respect to themselves if they in turn wanted to be respected and go to school. I didn’t want the conversation to become the cliché ‘Jesus not drugs’ talk but somehow it turned in to that. I mean it’s true that Jesus wants us to turn to him instead of drugs and he will fill us up but how do you convey that to a bunch of kids who have never had a personal encounter with Jesus? And in a society of religiosity and condemnation that doesn’t acknowledge the street kids as human beings who am I to tell them they don’t need drugs? To be honest if I was in some of the situations they are in I would do the exact same thing. At least it’s a quick fix and it allows the pain to go numb for just a moment. They don’t deserve the pain, they’re just kids.
Don’t get me wrong I’m not promoting drug use for those who are suffering. I just want them all to know how much God loves them whether or not they chose to do drugs and that God knows each and every one of them and has a plan for their lives. A plan of freedom, and deliverance, and hope.
I think as the week went on and we continued to meet with the increasing number of kids they got an idea of who Jesus is. Some of them were even able to remain sober. Now that I have to leave all I can do is trust God and pray that he will continue to place people in their lives to love on them and eventually send them to school.
This was a good experience. I learned that I don’t have the power to change anyone but I can love unconditionally. The changing part is up to God. I won’t always get to witness the results of ministry either. However, I do know “my delight is in the Lord… I am like a tree planted by the rivers that bring forth its fruit in season, whose leaf shall not wither and whatever I do shall prosper” Psalm 1:2-3.
None of the boys went back to their drugs by the way. We lit the pile on fire and flames of victory consumed every bit of it.
“[An angel] laid hold of the dragon , that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and put a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished…”Rev. 20-2-3.
