The elevator door was about to close. The security guard stopped it and motioned for the nine year old street boy that was clasping my hand to get off. We assured him he was with us. The doors slowly began to close leaving the perplexed security guard on the ground floor probably wondering what we were doing hanging out with a street boy in the city mall.
You are probably wondering the same thing; I got a little ahead of myself.
About a week ago, I had a dream (literally) that I was bowling with some Nepali street children. Naturally, I decided it was Jesus telling me to do it, so I went for it. A couple of days after I had the dream me, along with a few of my teammates went to the mall to look for the children.
That is where I first met Shiva. His body was covered with scars. He was a little rough around the edges, but his smile captured me the first time I saw him. He was standing next to a fruit stand with two other boys sitting out front. We asked them if they wanted to go bowling, and after a little translating with a boy behind the counter, we were frolicking upstairs to the bowling alley.
Within the first few minutes, we found out that none of them had bowled before. We also found out several pieces of their stories that left my heart broken for them.
Shiva is nine years old. He has parents who work as tailors (which means sits on the side of the road with a sewing machine). He roams the streets and finds tourists leftovers near the mall. His body full of scars told me that his life has been less than easy ride.
Upendra is nine and Bablu is twelve years old. Their parents sent them from India to work and make money for their families. They work every day for twelve hours at a fruit stand.
Pawan is eighteen years old. He came from India to work at the same fruit stand. His father is an alcoholic, and spends all of his money on gambling. He insisted on coming with us to make sure the boys were safe.
We were attracting quite the audience and we went through the ten frames. I would like to think it was my impeccable bowling skills but the sad reality is, Indian child workers and Nepali street children aren’t really the first people to get attention at a fancy mall. The fact that my team and I were associating ourselves with them was socially unheard of. But in my quest to see people more like Jesus did/does, the only thing I saw when I looked at those kids…were kids!
Towards the end of the ten frames, Upendra kept checking the clock, worrying about going back to work. At nine years old, he was forced to worry about things far beyond his years. His chance to be a kid was taken away from him. But for those two hours, he had a small chance to get it back.
After bowling, we treated ourselves and the kids to frozen yogurt. A perfect ending to an amazing day.
Before we left, we prayed for Pawan’s father to quit drinking and that his liver failure would be healed. He looked genuinely thankful for our prayers, which has been rare this month in a Hindu dominant culture.
I loved getting to know these kids for an afternoon and showing them what love is.
I would challenge you to find the “untouchable” people in your community. Who needs a good game of bowling in your life?
