We spent our month in Ethiopia working with an organization called Win Souls for God. They’re a ministry that works with street kids, to change their lives and give them a chance at a better future.
“What does that mean though?! Like…for real…”
I’ll tell ya! We went out on the streets and just hung out with these kids that live there. We heard about their stories, we talked about the hardships they are going through in their lives, we fed them, and occasionally we told them about Jesus. The main purpose of these outreaches is to actually get to know the kids who live on the street and be their friends. They get plenty of people bugging them about Jesus everyday and sometimes they get angry when you just try to tell them about Jesus. So sometimes we get to tell them about the gospel and that’s always awesome.
Anyway, they get to know the kids on the street and once they know enough about the guy and think he’d be a good fit, they bring him to live at the Win Souls for God Rest Center. This is a house with about 30 former street boys where they can get off the streets, be fed everyday, and get an education. Some of them go to regular school (though delayed in some cases), and others go to a trade training program. After they finish their education, they go onto college, or finding jobs in what they’re trained for.
So we got to know the guys at the rest center really well, and spent a lot of time hanging out with them and going on the night time outreaches. The best part about hanging out with these guys was just being able to show them love and friendship. They told us that plenty of white people stop by, and ask them about their stories, and say “Aw you poor street boy!”, maybe sometimes throw some money their way, go back to their regular lives, and never talk to them again. There’s no love in that. They told us how much they appreciated how we treated them like friends, and showed them real love, not just pity disguised as love. It was an amazing experience getting to know these guys and getting to show them love.
On the streets, we were put in groups that went to specific places in Addis Ababa and met with street people where they were at. We had to bring food most nights because, when we talked to them, we took away time they could be using to look for food. Food which usually comes from restaurant and university dumpsters. My team leader Joe De Leon and I went to a part of Addis Ababa called Amist Kilo, and met up with a certain group of boys every outreach. These guys were sleeping behind a bus stop on pieces of cardboard. There was about 15 of them sleeping there, and during the day they would go try to find work or beg around the city. During night time, while they’re sleeping, cops usually come by to stomp on and kick them because they’re not allowed to sleep there. A lot of the time these kids get seriously injured, arrested, and sometimes even tortured by police and security guards for sleeping on the street or trying to find food in dumpsters. They’re treated by most as less-than-human. All we wanted to do was love them like God loved us, and they were grateful for that.
Joe and I got really close to these kids, and wanted to do whatever we could for them. One boy named Abebe said he wanted to change his life, and stop smoking cigarettes and drinking. He was wrapped in a blanket and looked weak and haggard as i talked to him. So i told him my story and how I needed Jesus’ help to change my life, and that Jesus would help him change his. So he accepted Christ as his Lord and savior right there. A week later we went back and He was standing tall and looked strong. He told me he hadn’t smoked a single cigarette since a week before when i talked to him, and he was full of Joy and had new energy. It was awesome.
Joe became really close to one boy named Habtamu. He wrote a whole blog about it so you can check out http://josephdeleon.theworldrace.org to read more. One of the days we met up with them, we found Habtamu, with his face completely messed up. We hardly recognized him. He told us that cops had come during the night and stomped them out of where they were sleeping and did a number on His face. You can see how swollen it was in the picture below, and that was even a few days after that event. So Joe payed to take him to a clinic to have his face checked out, and Abebe and their friend Michias came along. We bought them all food all day, and they were psyched to eat in a real restaurant. Joe even ended up sponsoring Habtamu and paying for him to go to trade school.
Overall our experience with the street boys was incredible, despite how hard it was at times. Their stories are usually really hard, full of pain, hunger, addiction, and an extreme lack of love. What amazed me the most was that their primary need wasn’t even money, but love. Money helps them get a little food or new clothes, but eventually it runs out. Love sticks with them, especially since they get so little of it on a daily basis. So i want you to think about how much you love others. And just know that loving people is the most important thing you can do for them. Love does more than money ever could.
