When I showed up at the church, I knew I wasn’t there to just use the internet. In fact, I wasn’t even overall excited to get online in the first place. I was more excited to meet the people that surrounded me and spend time in the word!
As soon as I arrived, I was introduced to Marvin and an 11 year old boy named Joe-Joe! Kim, Jenn and I quickly learned that he had run away from home a year ago. He didn’t want to be at home. To him, home was boring and quiet – it was a village with nothing to do, even though him family and friends were there, and he was in school. He wanted something more…so he took off to the city.
Marvin is a friend of Felix
who helps out on the streets of Mutare, doing evangelistic services, handing out food and getting to know the homeless people, many of whom are children, and bringing them hope. He has put Joe-Joe on the bus a few times to try and get him home, but he just returns to Mutare, sleeping on the streets and having the “freedom” he’s always wanted…even when his street friends leave for home, Joe-Joe still stays.
As I got talking with Marvin, we chased Joe-Joe around the building and laughed so hard that we cried, Kim started passing him notes…getting to know him without having to talk about what he’s dealing with. He responded. He smiled. He grew on us, and he started to get to know us…he would slowly inch towards us, building a relationship…trusting these foreign girls that he just met! The fear in his heart began to subside.
Then we had to leave…
We had no idea what the outcome was when we left. We just knew we had spent hours loving this little boy, trying to inspire him, give him hope and challenge him to go back home. To be honest, I walked away feeling hopeless – like what we said and the time we spent with him was nothing more than entertaining someone! How was it any different than what Marvin had already said, done and tried?
Marvin called later that night and immediately informed us that he had put Joe-Joe on a bus. He’s going home! Praise the Lord! Obviously what had been said and done earlier in the day made a difference. It wasn’t what we said or didn’t say. It was the love of Jesus that was inside of us that flowed out. Jesus brought his child home. He cares for every one – big and small.
