it is not just a bracelet.. it’s a life…

Today I met a boy named who spends his days selling bracelets to strangers.  This boy spends his days walking the streets in hopes that he can get some tourists to buy all the items in his bag.  He walks amongst the crowds… weaving in and out, around the tall foreigners, mostly unnoticed… his little, pleading voice so often never heard…  When he is seen he is quickly dismissed or ignored.  When he is heard his ears are met with agitated responses and most always the word “no”.  But, today someone saw him.  Today someone heard him.  Today he didn’t just ask for money and offer a bracelet… today he asked for help and offered love…

 

While starting to walk back to our guest house, with my new team, this little boy came up to us selling 10 bracelets for 1.00 US dollar.  I turned him down.  We continued to head home… he followed.  He walked with us the entire way home repeating, “Please buy, 10 for one dollar.  Please buy, 10 for one dollar.”  We kept walking, and he did too.  We finally reached our place.  While I walked away from him and inside, God really convicted me to just go and buy some bracelets.  I walked back out to find him still standing in front of our building talking to my new team mate Cassie.  I gave him a dollar and he gave me 10 thin bracelets and said thank you and walked away.  As he was walking away Cassie started to cry.  I asked her if she wanted to go pray for him and she nodded yes.  So, me and Cassie and Gina called out to him to turn around and come back.  He turned from the end of the street and walked back our way.

 

I asked him if I could buy some of the bigger bracelets and he said 5 for one dollar.  After our second transaction Cassie asked him if we could pray for him and his face lit up as he said “Yes, thank you.”  We asked him his name – “Rhem”.  We asked him how old he was – “12”.  We asked him why he was selling the bracelets – “He doesn’t have a mother or father and he doesn’t have money to go to school”.  Our other teammate, Nikki, had asked him earlier on our walk what would happen if he didn’t sell all his bracelets – “He would get in trouble and get hurt”.   Cassie prayed over him… safety, love, that he would sell all his bracelets.  But what happened after was what really pierced my heart.

 

After the prayer was over he reached into his little plastic bag and pulled out a bracelet and handed it to Gina… then he reached in and handed one to Cassie, then again he reached down and then pulled out a bracelet for me.  He gave us a gift!  He was giving us the only thing he had to offer.  He gave us the very thing he needed to sell for money to keep him out of trouble and to keep him safe!  I was in shock…  as I stared at the gift, and started to tear up, he said thank you and just walked away.

 

I have thought about him all day.  I look at this bracelet and it hurts my heart to know that he will be out again tomorrow…  looking for help, seeking hope, wanting someone to care, needing love.  I want to do more than just pray for him!  Pray that God sets up another opportunity for us to see him and share some more of God’s love with him before we leave and travel to our ministry site.  Please pray for Rhem.