July 3, 2010
Malaybalay, Philippines
Tomorrow is Independence Day in America. I am very far from America, but I am having a celebration all my own because freedom is and will continue to reign at the jail and in the hearts of the minors.
Yesterday, it took everything that I had to hold back tears as Jonathan read his first word. He sounded it out and read it. He has never gone to school, as is the same story for 2 others. And really, the average education level is grade three. They are learning. But more than that, they are learning about what it means to be who God has called them to be. They are learning to be confident, to not walk with the burden of shame. They are learning how to have manners, and walk in the brilliance of truth. They are learning what it means and looks like to be loved, lavishly.
A few years ago, I had a dream. I wanted to have a place for at-risk kids to be able to come and have a second chance. A place that would rehabilitate them to be productive members of society, through love and education and responsibility. A place that would help them realize the abundance they were called to as a child of God. Sometimes, for whatever reason, kids miss out on that foundational truth, that they are a child of God. It changes everything, and I believe everyone has the right to know that. Even, and maybe especially those who others don’t know what to do with. Those who have a pattern of destruction because it is all they know.
I kind of took that dream and put it in my pocket for a rainy day, not really knowing what it would look like or where I could join Him in that work. But as each day passes here in the Philippines, that rainy day may be soon approaching. There is great need for minors in this city to have a place to go. Because of funding, they really have no place for them and just keep them at the jail until a judge decides to let them go. So, instead of being rehabilitated into something greater, they are being sustained into a lifestyle of crime. With no education or chores, they are left to watch life happen around them and make agreements that they aren’t meant for more. So when they are released, they don’t know much else different than finer skills of what got them there in the first place.
When I think about that for these boys, my heart hurts. You know, the hurt in the pit of your stomach. There is so much potential in that cell. So, I have been talking to different people about what it would take to have a rehabilitation center for these boys. A place where they can learn life skills. Get an education. Learn job skills. And most importantly gain a foundation about their identity in Jesus Christ. They aren’t bad kids, they just made a bad choice. There are always consequences but there is grace too. Imagine partnering the two. That is my dream. A place that would show them love in a way that would transform them while they are living out the consequences of their actions.
If they don’t commit another crime until they are 21, they will have a clean record. Imagine having a program that would give them an education, life skills and job skills all built around the foundation of identity so that when they are 21 they could be released with a clean record and a foundation for success!
I have had great conversations with social welfare, attorneys, and more about what it could look like. I have found great favor but at this point, it is still a dream. A dream that is bigger than I could imagine. But now that I see their faces and can see Jonathan as a productive citizen, there is much fuel to the dream. Please continue to pray for favor, for God’s provision, for God’s direction, and for continued open doors.
I am praying that you too, will dream with me!
Above is a picture of a young elephant in Thailand. If you look closely, you can see the chains. That elephant will only learn and experience what is within the radius of that chain. If that has been his life and then he is released, death is imminent. He won’t know how to survive. If we can make a place that showers these minors with the truth and success while they are in the radius of their chains, success will be imminent when they are released!
