I have found myself in a bunch of uncomfortable, heartbreaking places throughout the past few years. Anywhere from inside a drum shop in Africa with a bunch of Rastafarian guys, to the middle of a remote Haitian village to clothe naked children in the Dominican Republic, riding on the top of a jeepney in the middle of the Philippines during a typhoon……But, what I saw on Thursday broke my heart in an instant.
We went into Manila to pick up street kids to bring back to our home-base to take part in a youth camp for 3 days.
I didn’t know what we were getting ourselves involved in…
We show up in the ghetto of the city and see this big cluster of rowdy kids all over the street. I brought my skateboard, which immediately became like a magnet to attract them. As they were attempting to ride my skateboard in the middle of traffic, I learned some hard truths about these boys. They ranged anywhere from 8-18 years old, some with no families, some with no education, some living on the street, and majority of them already hooked on drugs and being parts of gangs.
Where am I right now???
Once we piled this rag-tag band of punks (I say very lovingly) into this crowded jeepney, we got to see some of their over-the-top personas in full bloom. Dang, those kids were cracking me up, even though have the time I had no idea what they were saying because they were speaking in their native tongue of “Tagalog”.
For example, if you’ve ever seen Despicable Me???
It’s like being surrounded by a bunch of those minions with their speedy gibberish
It was quite enjoyable.
But then came the visual reality of what I had just gotten myself into. I remembered before we entered the vehicle, there were these teenage girls on the street who were giving the boys “stuff” (I didn’t know what yet) as they were leaving for the weekend.
Then I saw it for the first time.
12 years old…sitting right beside me…and snorting solvents to get high…
12….years….old….
I started crying very discretely in that dark motorbus that night because my heart was breaking for those kids. So young, no one to look after them, nothing else going for them except for the desire to get high and forget about their circumstances. I’m even tearing up right now as I type this part because those kids deserve someone to love them and show them a hope and a future.
That is why I LOVE the ministry I am a part of here at GROW
We take in the kids in on Thursday night while the drugs are still in their system, most of them still high, etc. We give them a place to shower, wash their clothes, have a nice dinner waiting for them, and give them a place to sleep for the night. In the morning, once the drugs leave their system, we take them to the top of the mountain where we have a devotional time with them.
FUN FACT: At the top of said mountain, lies the World Record for the World’s Largest 10 Commandments Statue! BOOM
One of our ministry partners, Emil, leads the boys in a bible study up there, asking them questions (and all of them responding and taking part in the discussion), and leading them in praying. From there, it’s a full day filled with non-stop running around and me learning how out of shape I am. I will say that nothing beats playing bare-foot soccer in the mountains of the Philippines with a bunch of street kids! We had bible trivia games with them, played basketball, ate meals together, skateboarded, and then had a treasure hunt! The treasure hunt included them following clues to find different items they would need in order to eat their next meal, then they would put it all together and learn to cook their meal together! Such a fun idea and those kids were all about it.
We even built a new rope swing for the kids! Totally random idea, but we were brainstorming how we may be able to give the youth something else to do here and took a trip into the nearby village, found some rope and BOOM! Made it happen!
When Saturday came, I thought we were going to be seeing the same group of kids next week, but sadly, after saying goodbye, I learned that we would have a different group of city kids. I can’t begin to tell you how emotional I began to feel after those goodbyes. I kept thinking of Martin, Christian, and Matthew and knowing that all I can do is pray for them that God will look out for them, and the leaders here will continue to love on them and share Christ with them; encouraging them with a hope and future. I think of Jim Jim, an abandoned 9 year old who just wanders the streets with no family but his brother, and my heart breaks.
I found myself being discouraged here and there by the language barrier because I have not been able to directly preach a hope in Christ with my words. But I’m realizing that the love of God transcends beyond the use of audible words. We are called to also be the hands and feet of Jesus, serving and loving others with action and deed. I’m comforted today knowing that Christ IS being preached nonetheless. Even though they may not understand my words: spending quality time, offering a shoulder or lap to sleep on, or embracing a kid like he is your son…LOVE IN ACTION:
God IS Love
LOVE is a universal language
