Last night, my God made a 14 year old Filipino street girl weep in my arms.
Her name is Edilyn.
She sells herself on the streets daily for the equivalent of less than one American dollar. When she isn’t working she sniffs sealant to escape the hunger and hurt of her life.
As I walked up to her last night I saw tears on her cheeks she was panicked, someone had stollen her purse! I asked a translator to help me tell her that my purse had been stolen that very same week, and I understood how she felt.
When I was able to relate to her in that moment she let me in! I had a good friend point out to me that God used that rough thing in my life to speak to this girl, and that might be the point of the whole ordeal, because God cared enough about her to have me share an experience with her.
I began to pray that the Lord would show his faith to her by bringing back her purse! A few minutes later she found a friend who had gotten her purse back for her, a miracle! No matter how small, God cares about the details!
I asked her to come sit down next to me and I would play with her hair until she felt better. She was pretty calm by then despite the traffic rushing by, the jeepney drivers yelling from the street, and the men walking out of the “massage parlor” behind us who gave her looks that boiled my blood. This chaos is her home. These streets of smog and stench are her bedroom.
After a few minutes I felt her relax back against my knees and I heard God say, “sing to her!”
“No!” I said! I am very self-conscious about singing and thought it would be so awkward for this girl who was just getting comfortable with me.
“I can use anyone else in a second, I am asking you to be me to this girl, will you really say no?”
So i began to sing, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound…” It was truth that poured over both she and I, we were both wretches who were lost, but in that moment God’s love was flowing over us with grace, we were found. I sang and sang until I ran out of songs.
When I went silent she turned around tears streaming down her cheeks and looked into my eyes. In that moment it was not my heart that beat in my chest but God’s for this little girl. So beautiful, so treasured, so seen by her Heavenly Father!
We sat there staring into each other’s eyes and letting God’s warm love flow down our cheeks.
It was the kind of moment that wrecked me for life, and taught me more than I can even realize now.
Later that night I sat on the curb serving these kids one of the only meals they will get all week. I was watching the yellow street lights alluminate the cockroaches that ran in the sewers at our feet, trash piled against dilapidated buildings. I watched teammates scoop up kids who hadn’t showered in months tightly in their arms and spin them around. I watched them sit among the filth and play games, hug, and hold these little ones. And in a moment I will never forget they all faded away and under the flyers for prostitutes, the street smog, and smell of sealant, I SAW JESUS!
He was in each person here, he was in little Gilbert as he rummaged through the trash for a bag to make into a cape and run through the streets like a superhero with. He was in Lia as she spoke life over two young girls who make their living on the streets. He was in Caleb who diligently serves in any way possible. He was in Phil as he spun a child in circles.
It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!
**ALL PHOTOS ARE BY THE TALENTED LUCAS TILLMAN**
