Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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Richard sits at a picnic table by a tree. Across from him, three chocolate-toned boys, small in size, with large dark eyes sit and ask him many questions.
They smile. They laugh. They listen … to every word that proceeds from Richard's mouth.
 
I watch them throughout the week bounce around, run, jump rope, work out and flex muscles as they enjoy some big brother time with the men on our teams: Richard, Ryan, Jordan & the others.

Until yesterday, I had only watched them from afar.
I enjoyed seeing real Christian men pour into hungry little souls.

 

They are beautiful. Their names are Gibson, Alfios and Gina. They have been eating dinner with the men, but can only eat so much.
 
Yesterday, I watched the two younger ones kick around a half-deflated soccer ball with Jordan.
The older one, Gibson, sat alone.
So I approached him — and it didn't hurt that I had some chocolate in hand.
 
The youth here have been very shy. Eye contact is hard to make, and their heads hang low.
 
But not here, not now…not while they are experiencing God's love through my brothers in Christ.

[Left to right: Gibson age 16, Alfios age 11 & Gina age 11]

Gibson laughs with a surprised look on his face as I sit across from him and extend my hand — only to greet him in the customary way of the locals with what I call the "South African handshake."
 
This gesture breaks the ice quite easily, and I share my chocolate with him.
He smiles shyly, and nods yes when I said if it was OK to ask him some questions.

 

This is his story.

Gibson is 16 years old, the youngest of 4 brothers. His mother came and dropped him off over a year ago, and left him. She went back to Johannesburg, he supposes, and he has not seen her since.

 

He lives in the same house with Gina, the 11 year old.
Pointing across the empty lot across from out compound, he says he lives there in the shanty houses.

This place is called Salvakop — but we call it Baghdad, because believe me, it's a war zone. It is a place where garbage is burned nightly, HIV infected men infect their wives who then birth HIV infected babies; it is a place where criminals find refuge and children like Gibson are dumped and abandoned.

Gibson answered 5 simple questions I had for him and then all three boys have given me a message for the young people of America…

  1. Do you know Jesus? Yes, he is the Son of God. To be a Christian is to worship God and to understand the Word and to love God.
  2. How do you know Jesus? I know Him because I had a vision of Him. He looked like a Light. He told me to focus on the right things and must not focus on the wrong things. I heard Him talking this to me.
  3. Who is your hero? God. (why?) Because He saved my life.
  4. What does a typical day in your life look like? When I wake up, I pray and then after, I pray. I pray about how I want to work hard and go to school. Before I sleep, I pray to God to help me pass my exams. I also have to clean the house where I live.
  5. Can you tell me about your struggles? Gibson fell completely silent and looked down. My heart hurt for him, and I gently stated: Life is hard. He nodded yes.

It wasn't long before Alfios and Gina saw Gibson receiving a lot of attention. So they stormed in and sat next to their friend, quickly putting out there little hands to him for some chocolate. Without squabbling or hesitation, Gibson broke big chunks of chocolate and shared with his friends.

I gave them some scratch'n'sniff stickers that smelled like bananas and some smelled like pizza.
They were enthralled. But as entertained as I had them, they'd look up and see if they'd spot Richard coming soon…
 
…our little neighbor kids, these boys, from across the lot love their big brothers.
They've invited us to come see their soccer game today.

To the kids of America they said to tell you:

"They must be safe!"

"They must protect themselves!"
 
"Love God."
"They must have good friends."
"Have fun!!!"
 
"GO TO CHURCH!"

 

"They must pray!"

Please pray for them. And they grew very excited to find out next week if anyone from America has a message for them too.