I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the Race, but one common one is, “how are you going to handle what you’re going to see? The people you’re going to meet?” And honestly, at first this thought terrified me. Seeing orphans with nothing, victims of sex trafficking, starvation, it all sounds horrible. But the more I thought about it, I’ve encountered those kids of experiences here at home, just on a different scale.
God blessed me this year with the opportunity to volunteer at Christian Friendliness Youth Hope in the west-end of Rock Island. I volunteer every Thursday for girls’ small group, and then take some of the girls to church on Sunday. These girls have challenged me, befriended me, and most of all blessed me in more ways than they’ll ever imagine. But I’d like to tell you a few stories from some of the girls I’ve worked with:
Ashley* is one of 11 kids in a two-bedroom house. Their family is on food stamps, her mom out of work, and she gets no attention at home. I take her and her younger sister Sara* to church, as well as their younger siblings on occasion. One Sunday, their little sister Anna* wanted to come. This was the first day it had hit below 30 degrees, and she walked out in a zip up sweatshirt. I said, “hun, go run back inside and put your coat on! It’s cold!” and she looked at me completely straight faced and simply said, “this is my coat…” I was dumbfounded. I HAVE THREE COATS. And this seven year old didn’t have one to keep her warm during the winter. I later found out that 7 of the 11 children didn’t have coats for the winter.
Patience* is a wonderful, caring individual who is basically raising her four younger siblings. She has so much potential, but has no thoughts about college because she needs to get a job to help support her siblings. I was talking to her this week about Christmas, and she got on the topic of presents. She was talking about how grateful she was for the presents she got, but all she really wanted to do was take them back to the store and buy socks for her and her siblings, because that’s what they really need. Can you imagine the maturity of a 15-year-old who would take her few new shirts she got for Christmas to buy socks?
Lauren* is a young lady who comes with me to church on occasion. Every Sunday after church I take the girls with me out to lunch, which I found out is sometimes their only meal for the day. I one day took the girls to a buffet, and five plates in, I jokingly said Lauren could sure eat a lot. She laughed and said, “yeah, well, I figure since I won’t be eating till school tomorrow, I should probably eat as much as I can now.”
Hunger, poverty, neglect, anger, these are all adjectives that describe almost every girl I work with, and this is ten minutes down the road from where I go to school. And this is only a scratch on the surface of what these girls go through. I could tell you stories of abuse, rape, neglect, and other horrors that I would never wish anyone would have to go through, let alone girls under the age of 18.
So, yes, the World Race is going to be eye-opening, but don’t think for one second that you need to go on an international missions trip to see what I’m going to see. It’s in your backyard, right now; all you have to do is make the decision to do something about it. It’s a completely different world, and it’s humbling to see that the things these girls desire are things I take for granted every day- a warm coat, a hot meal, a pair of socks, or a hug from a parent.
I have seen such strides made with these girls in the six months I’ve been working with them, and I can’t wait to see how their relationship with God is going to grow them into remarkable young women. If you would like more information on Youth Hope or how to get involved, let me know and I’ll get you the information. I promise, it’ll be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make.
*Names have been changed for privacy purposes.
For a photo class I did a project on the girls and asked them to describe a few words about how they feel as black girls in Rock Island. A few of the words were, “unworthy, undeserving, broken, and invisible”.
