"For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the world of Christ."
Romans 10:13-14; 17
Last Thursday we went with Team L.O.L. & Nikao to go with some staff members of the Children's Garden, an orphanage in Manila, to do outreach to a group of street kids near the Santa Lucia mall. There were around 30 kids ranging from 3-17 there. These are kids who often hang around the area and use the street as a stomping grounds. While we were there, Children's Garden provided a meal for the boys and girls there, we played games, took LOTS of pictures, and got to love on those kids. the boy on the left is a huffer, the girl in the pink that he`s holding is the 3 year old I talk about below…
During this time, a few truths were pointed out to me…
- All children are the same
- They want to be loved, played with, cherished, accepted, wanted; they just want some attention, and will take it in any form they can: positive or negative.
- They all want to take pictures. They. Love. Pictures!
- All kids have different personalities based on their life stories
- They can be clingy, standoffish, reluctant, adjust fast, weary, trusting, hate people, or instinctively trust people. If they have been neglected for a long time, or have grown up in an abusive family, one often finds it`s much more difficult to gain their trust and their smiles. It just takes a lot more time and, unfortunately, most people aren`t willing to put forth the effort to uncover the child inside the shell.
When I first arrived, I was standing by the truck and I totally got splashed with mud. It was gross, mostly because I didn`t know what was in this mud. But I had a choice:: choose to leave it on and be fully in or use precious drinking water to wash it off. I chose to leave it on. Part of me did it to be able to show these kids that I wasn`t ashamed to be dirty. And, I hoped that by doing that I would be able to gain their trust more or at least more easily. I`m not sure that it exactly worked that way, but in the least God knew my heart.
my muddy legs!
- Street Kids
- In Manila, it is illegal to be a street kid
- Street kids are boys and girls. I`ve seen them as young as 3. There was one little girl where we were who was just about that age and the only thing she was wearing was an oversized sweatshirt – no underware, no shoes, no pants. And she was there with her two older siblings who were maybe 6 & 10.
Little beauty I talked about above!- if they're picked up, they get 3 days in jail, minimum.
- All they have are consequences to be a street kid, not programs to help them get out of the lifestyle.
- I have been contrasting it with Denver's Road Home – there is very little hope for these kids
- Reminds me of Tent City (place where displaced persons after the 2009 typhoon now call home; will do a separate post).
- Huffers
- A lot of kids on the street have turned to huffing glue out of plastic bags to make due. It`s America`s equivalent to getting drunk or high.
- John Wade. How To Achieve Heaven on Earth. p.281 “Almost all squirt glue into a plastic bag and huff it. `Why do you do it? Why do you sniff the glue?` one journalist asked. “It makes us feel lighter in our souls, to forget about and escape what is all around us.“ But the chemicals in glue stop the growth process so that at fifteen or sixteen, they look twelve. In this time they are attempting to kill the pain of a life in which no adult seems to love them, they inflict pain on themselves…“
- That night, I saw multiple kids, mostly boys but also some girls, huffing the glue out of little baggies and it broke my heart. It goes back up to that top truths part. All kids want to be loved. When they can`t or when they feel they aren`t they will go to extremes to live in a pretend place that makes them either forget it entirely or believe it at any cost.
the boy on the left was one of the many boys huffing.
- Beggers
- Different than panhandlers in the US – more aggressive here, and most are younger [think Slumdog Millionaire]
- Here they are often pimped out
- The money they receive goes to someone else – if you want to read more about all these kids, read the links I`ve provided below; they`re eye-opening.
- Prostitution
- On this street there is also a large number of street walkers, or prostitutes as you will. Throughout the night we a number of people were able to talk with them. It`s amazing how much these girls want their stories to be heard too. Everyone has a story… Are you willing to take the time to hear it?
- Prostitution is a means to and end, provides money http://ashleyedwards.theworldrace.org/?filename=a-girl-named-grace
Red & black. Both are street walkers. Both are daughters of God. Both are infintely loved anc cherished.
For the last half hour I was there, while the kids were being played with and loved on, I spent that time walking up and down the street praying for all these kids we came into contact with. I spent time asking God to protect them and to bring people into their lives that can help these kids and young adults find something better, more worthy of who they are. I want them to know they have dignity, that they are loved, that they are NOT what they do. They have worth. They are beautiful. They have a story. They have a savior who loves them, who died for them, who wants a relationship with them, who has a plan for their lives.
In America we just don`t get it. I know I didn`t. We are so stinking blessed in so. Many. Ways. But we hoard those blessings. We are too self-absorbed to share, to think about people other than ourselves. Yes, there are exceptions to that rule, but overall we only help people when it is comfortable or when they make us directly uncomfortable.
How can people be saved, be conformed to the image of God if they don`t know who God is? How can they be loved or love themselves if they don`t know what love, true love, looks like?! It makes no sense to me.
This article gives you a glimpse into Manila`s street kids:: http://www.larryhollon.com/blog/2007/12/12/street-children-in-manila/
This article is sad and reminds me how much street kids are victimized:: http://cpcabrisbane.org/Kasama/2005/V19n3/LifeOfStreetChildren.htm
