My home for the last two months of the race has been nothing short of life giving, heart yearning, full of joy and passion, and just… so much Jesus. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed being somewhere or doing a certain kind of “work” ever before. Some Christians call this feeling “Holy Spirit butterflies.” And if I have them, dang- they feel so good. I’ve been working with a ministry called Children’s Garden of the Philippines, it’s a safe home/orphanage for former street boys and orphans. There are about 16 12-18 year old boys that live in this home. Let me tell you; it’s never quiet, something exciting is always happening, there is so much love constantly being given out, people are usually wrestling, not everyone always gets along, emotions are always running wild, but something that’s always a constant is Jesus. Jesus is always overflowing this home with His unconditional, radical love. He brings in redemption, forgiveness, and so much grace. He is moving, and it’s so evident.
Early on in my stay at CG I realized what my purpose is here, how God intended to use me. These boys are surrounded by staff, house parents, orphanage parents, teachers, and just people in authority and then in came myself and the other racers. I asked myself, “where do I stand in this mix of people?” and “how am I suppose to be used here?” These 15 boys reminded me of my little brother. Energetic, full of sassy remarks, hard workers, always ready to wrestle, loving, just normal teenage boys. And from the start of stepping back and watching all of this unfold, I realized something. I’m not here to be a parent or babysit, I’m literally here to be Jesus to them, to be a friend, to be a Godly women in their lives. I was talking to my teammate Kara Murray about this one night and she said something incredible; “If Jesus were at CG there still would be wrestling and playing fighting, but he wouldn’t sit there and discipline them or speak anything but positivity to them. He would just be their friend and love them and laugh with them.” So the past two months I’ve done exactly that. I have sat there and pictured Jesus in this house, and followed His led and mimicked Him.
I’ve learned so much from and about these boys. My heart explodes with love and joy every time I step foot in the door. I hear boys yelling “good morning!” and laughing their heads off at who knows what. My spirit always feels at home. When I step in the door and sit down on the couch next to these 16 boys I have never once looked at them and thought and labeled them as street boys and orphans. I’ve seen them as my little brothers, my friends, and children of God. They are no different than my brothers at home or the boys I went to high school and middle school with. They too were created by the father, and have stories that He created and drew out so perfectly for them. I feel like so often in our lives we see people who have such different stories or lives than we do and we instantly think less of them, the judgement starts, the pity starts, and we think of ourselves; not the Lord, not the people in front of us. Why do we do that? Why do we jump to judgement? Why don’t we strictly as followers of Christ, show Him to them?
Shortly after getting here two months ago, and discovering that all I wanted to do was imitate Jesus here, our squad mentor asked us to write a “there statement,” which is ultimately a goal to constantly work on to create a better relationship with the father. I thought about it a lot, thinking about a goal I could pursue the remainder of the race, my transition home, life when I get home, and beyond. And I came up with this statement; “Know Jesus intimately to be able to outwardly share His characteristics with everyone I meet.” The past two months I’ve been working at this. I haven’t been labeling people, instantly judging people. Ive been studying characteristics of Jesus, and then taking that knowledge and sharing it through my actions. The crazy thing is, living like Jesus is an absolute blast.
I get to do ministry and love these boys as if they’re my brothers. I get to show them Jesus through smiling and laughing, generosity, doing chores with them, talking about hard things with them, and simply just exposing them to Him. I don’t ignore their stories though, their stories are important, Jesus wouldn’t ignore them. I get to sit there and listen, and love them through it. I listen to what life as a street boy looked like, I gain knowledge.
When I say street boys, I don’t strictly mean homeless children. Most of these boys have families, but still ended up living on the street, under bridges, in closed down markets at night. Most of them ran away from home at ages as young as 6 years old because of abusive parents, drug addicted parents, houses so crowded with kids that they were just pushed out, parents that had them go out and steal money in order to feed the family, parents that didn’t want them so they left them on the streets as babies and young children. These kids lives looked like pick pocketing to have money to survive on the streets, drinking alcohol and doing drugs, going into markets and stealing whatever possible, gangs, fighting, police brutality, tattoos, branding, piercings, and so much more. Hearing their stories is heart wrenching and nothing like anything I’ve ever experienced. But the amazing thing is, I don’t know them as those boys. I know them as boys who were redeemed and given grace by the father. I know them as boys who sleep in beds, have food to eat, have showers, who love dressing up for church on Sundays, who go to school, who get accepted into college, who seek redemption and shout repentance. I don’t see them for who they once were; I see them as beloved sons of the father. And I don’t do anything, but love them.
Children’s Garden is a place I’ve fallen in love with. It’s opened my eyes and my heart. It’s given me perspective to go home with. It’s made my walk with Christ so much better. It’s one of the biggest blessing the race has given me. There’s no ministry I would have rather ended my race with.
