The past week we have been traveling around the city of Kathmandu working with several different types of ministry including meeting and playing soccer with kids that live in the slums of the city. Seeing the kids in the slums was heart breaking, but not only because the intensity of poverty is so apparent. I spent some time talking with one of the volunteers at our ministry site and he explained the cyclical pattern that exists from generation to generation in the slums. Kids watch their parents grow up without jobs and without a drive to build a better life. Parents and children beg for food and money on the streets and live in shanty towns. He said the only ones who really escape this future are kids who are rescued and taken far away from his home and usually do not return. Listening and learning about this reality while I watched two children playing together in a river of sewer water, I immediately felt hopelessness trickle into my heart. But as soon as I started meeting these kids I knew God was doing a work on their hearts. I knew deep within my soul God had not forgotten them.
A wave of children of all ages came rolling in and immediately jumped into our arms, all smiles and laughter. These kids love so intensely- climbing, hugging and jumping all over us for without even skipping a beat. It was one of those overwhelming moments where we saw the cyclical poverty of their home life, but the beauty in their innocence and youth. The second day we spent several hours on a soccer field playing with some of the same kids and many more from the surrounding slum areas. Soccer is a universal language to them- there are no barriers when you laugh at each other after someone falls down after missing the ball or celebrates as a team after scoring a goal. At one point during the day, I looked down at a small boy sitting in my lap singing silly songs and watching the entertaining scene around him. He had both his little Nepali hands clasped as tightly as possible in my bigger American ones. He was holding on for dear life as if this moment was one he innately knew he had to hold on to this moment as long as possible. I realized that even the innocence of youth was not strong enough to keep these kids from searching for something more than their present circumstance. Right now, all they may know is the slum life they see crumbling slowly around them. But they have an inherent desire to hope and find joy in the heart of it all. I decided in that moment that during the short time I have with them, I want to cultivate that hope. I want them to keep seeking the purpose they long for because Jesus transcends all circumstances. He cares about our present trials and triumphs, but He doesn’t want us to miss the point that this will all come to pass when our eternity is safely in his hands.
After soccer on the second day, we shared lunch with all the kids who came out to play and acted out the story of the Good Samaritan. Through the skit, we were able to relate to the Love Jesus has for these kids we had building friendships with the past few days. Jesus cares for each individual child more than the Samaritan cared for the Israelite. We shared the gospel of Jesus dying for our sins and rising again in triumphant victory over all that this world has against us. We are conquerors because Jesus already won the war. It was a beautiful moment to reflect on as we shared a meal with these beautiful souls who we were growing to love more and more each day.
I won’t change their present situation by singing more songs or playing more soccer with them. But I think that’s the point behind what the Lord is teaching me right now. It’s not about changing their present circumstance- it’s about changing their eternal perspective. It’s about looking at the bigger picture from a God’s-eye view. There is purpose for these kids same as there is purpose for my life- the lifestyle we grew up in doesn’t change that. So right now, I will continue to build relationships through soccer games, singing Father Abraham 7 times in a row, and encouraging the joy and hope that burns in the heart of each child. After I do all that I am called to, I must trust that no cyclical chain of poverty is too great for God’s hand to break.
