I have tons of pictures to add to this blog, but the internet isn’t allowing me to upload them right now…bare with me for a few days and hopefully I’ll get it updated for you. You can see most of the pictures that go along with this story in My Pictures.
We came to
Buenos Aires with no plans. No expectations.
Just the desire to ask the Lord each and every day what He would have us do,
and where He would have us go. On our first day of ministry we ended up at a
pretty big park on the other side of the city and came across this group of about
10 street kids. These kids weren’t technically homeless, but they had chosen to
leave their homes and live together on the streets and in the park because
their home lives were so bad. They had become a little family of their own.
They survived mostly by begging off of tourists, and mentally coped with the
hopelessness of their situation by huffing wood glue from plastic grocery bags.
They told us it was for their life…for their health. It was so sad and my heart
just broke for them. They had clearly lost hope that life could ever be
anything more than suffering from day to day, trying to dull the pain. We got
to know a couple of their stories. There was only one girl in the group. Her
name is Pado, she’s 18 yrs. old and she told me privately that she’s two months
pregnant. None of her friends knew, and she asked me to please not say anything
to them about it. I could tell she was scared and didn’t know what to do. We
heard many other stories of family abuse, abandonment, and violence. The
youngest boy, Frandiso, was nearly out of control. He told us he was
13. He was extremely high from the glue, was
smoking cigarettes, and getting really violent with a couple of the older boys.
Another guy, Sebastian, is 24 and has two children. They live with their mother
about 30 min away and he left because they don’t get along. Esteban was
probably the one we established the strongest connection with. He was 17 and
had left home because his family was very abusive. He still has 2 little
sisters who live at home that he’s worried about. He goes back and visits them
once a week. It was such a diverse group, each with their own story of how they
ended up on the streets; but they all had one thing in common. They were trying
to escape. We stayed there for about an hour just talking and hanging out. Jon
bought them all lunch, but when we left we both had the strong desire to do
more for them than just give them food for
day…we wanted to give them hope. We knew we wanted to do something for them
while we were there, but we only had 4 days…we wanted to give them something more
permanent that would still be there when we left. The next day we set out to
find a church that might be able to help. It was an all day ordeal, but we
eventually hooked up with a church that not only has a Social Action Group that
provides clothes and food for those who need it, but the church also has a
youth group type meeting every Sunday afternoon that has music, food, and
soccer to draw in kids like the ones we met. They share the gospel, listen to
them, talk to them, and do everything they can to give them hope. We were able
to return to the park and told the kids about the church. They sounded somewhat
interested, and while I have no idea if they’ll actually go, I felt better
knowing that there is a place out there if they need it. We were able to pray
with them that day as well. It was a very good day, and after we left, we
realized that there was one material need we could meet that we knew would mean
the world to them. Jon and I decided to buy them a soccer ball. I was so
excited to give it to them the next day. The boys actually
met us across the street and were yelling
“AMIGOS!” from nearly a block away. It was fun seeing the way friendships had
developed in just 3 short days with our very minimal Spanish. We had come back,
and I think them realizing that we cared and wanted to spend time with them
really had an impact. When I gave them the soccer ball they literally FREAKED
OUT! Estevan immediately claimed that he was the most responsible and wanted to
be in charge of taking care of it. It was so fun to see them running around
like little kids on Christmas morning. A soccer game broke out instantly using
backpacks and trees for goal posts. It was great to just watch them play for
awhile. I know it’s not a permanent solution, but it did get them to put down
their bags of glue for a few minutes and will hopefully help keep them out of
trouble. When their game finally ended we all sat down and Jon and I were able to
tell them why we were in
Buenos Aires
and why we wanted to spend our time in the park with them. Jon said (and I
attempted to translate) “We know our lives are very different. We don’t have a
clue what your lives are really like, and we can’t pretend to be able to
understand the struggles you go though every single day. But we do want to tell
you guys that there is hope. Jesus Christ gives hope when things seem hopeless.
We are here in
Buenos Aires
to share the love and hope that Jesus has to offer. Jesus loves you guys, and
we hope that in the few days that we’ve spent with you, you’ve been able to see
the love of Jesus through us. Jesus isn’t about religion or rules or a church
building. He loves us and wants to have a relationship with us.” They seemed
surprisingly receptive and actually listened to everything we had to say. Where
it goes from here I will probably never know.
After
a multitude of hugs and kisses we finally had to leave. It was really sad to
think that we will most likely never see those kids again, yet I was comforted
by knowing that we did everything we were supposed to do. I know God is in
control, and I trust that He will take care of them now that we’re gone.
God’s
will for me in
Argentina?
I think I found it.
