“The little boy is growling at us. Like a creepy growl. Guys, we need to pray. And he’s eating rocks. I’m getting a weird vibe; we need to pray.”
I am so glad Sara, my teammate, got this vibe.
I had seen the little boy, Melvin, running carelessly inside the church, getting into everything as I was setting up my tent inside earlier that day but until that moment I had not given him a second thought.
We all simultaneously began to pray for the little boy until suddenly he popped his head through the gates of the church.
We opened the door and unlike earlier, he came in and stood STILL.
I felt an impulse to go kneel next to him so I did. As I helped him peel dirt off his hand, I began asking and sharing with him about the Lord. That late evening, as I knelt before him, Melvin accepted Christ in his heart.
It was late, maybe 9 or 10 pm, and pitch black outside. Melvin is little and young. Why was Melvin out so late, you ask? Well his mother was out also. His grandmother, whom they live with, has never liked him or his mom and they were avoiding going back to the house.
This happens daily. His mother, who I got the pleasure of getting to know, is often seen wandering out and about late hours of the night while Melvin does his own thing. He was abandoned by his father, lacks discipline, and constantly gets in trouble at school.
Melvin and his mother are outcasts in this community.
This is why, the next day when I heard Melvin had been thrown out to of the church after service, I could not help but run to his side.
Had I not gotten to know him the night before, I probably would have seen him just like the other members of the church who probably saw an unruly kid, running, disturbing, and interrupting important conversations and a mother who did not manage her son well.
Quick to want him, them, out.
But I couldn’t see him as a disturbance. I saw a little boy who I desired would grow up to see the church as a safe haven in a community that rejected him and his family, who would increase in knowledge and understating of the love of God. I wanted him to use all of his unending energy towards sharing the love of the Lord with others.
Afraid that he would have a sour taste of “the church” and simply because I couldn’t help myself, I ran to find him. He was crying outside. (AAAHHH!! Heart breaks!) I picked him up and cradled him.
The Lord gave me the sweet blessing of seeing his face turn from flooding teardrops to unquenchable giggles.
Even though everything worked out, I was so broken-hearted.
Not just because he was kicked out but also because I pondered how many times “the church” pushes people away. Physically kicking people out of the church is not the only way to leave people hurt, looking from the outside in. We keep others out when we judge them, think we know everything, keep them at a distance, build walls, and simply withhold love from them.
So here’s my challenge to us, “the church”: let us not be so quick to write people off, to label them as a “disturbance,” so quick to get irritated and kick them out.
Jesus WENT to the OUTCASTS!
What are we doing comfortably talking to the same people at church who have lives similar to ours, the ones who are easy & likeable when there are those yearning to be loved and seen? We are missing it.
Melvin, aka my little man, stole my heart! He was the biggest blessing of my time in Panama. I teared up leaving him a couple days later. I would have missed out had it not been for my teammate Sara tuning in. Now, I just have to trust that what the Lord started in his heart, He will bring to completion.
Who’s your Melvin?
Tid-Bits:
1. I leave to Africa TOMORROW!!
2. Team changes happen this week! Ahhh!!
3. Thunder and lightening storms were INSANE in Chiriqui, Panama! One day as I was frying some plantains, thunder roared and I almost flipped the pan on myself when I jumped!
4. Helped paint murals in schools; everything from monkeys, starfish, to giraffes!
5. I am $3,378 from being FULLY FUNDED! Almost there y’all!
6. I hitchhiked in 3 weeks more than I have throughout my entire life span!
Bye! 🙂
