Today, my heart was absolutely shattered.
Our ministry this month is working with an organization called “Crossing Cambodia.” They go out every morning and pick up street kids, take them back to their center, feed them, bathe them, take the older kids to school, and teach the toddlers themselves.
Today me and my team spent all day with these kids. We did the girls hair in the morning, sang songs, sat and ate with them at lunch, played with them, and then, we took them home.
Our host asked for 2 people to go with him to take them home so we could see where the children live.
I volunteered.
I spent the car ride there preparing my heart for what I was about to see.
We dropped the first few kids off on the side of the road. No houses. Just a few tents.
My heart sank when my host said “this is where they live. They sleep on the concrete with a mosquito net over them.”
We kept driving to a small, really run down neighborhood (I dont know if you could even call it that) and dropped a few more kids off. There were naked children lining the street and the houses were made of tin and sheet metal.
We kept going. We had 1 last stop and only 1 little boy left with us.
We pulled onto a gravel bumpy road. There were buildings with caved in walls and graffiti on both sides of us and we were headed for some open land, train tracks, and garbage piles.
We stopped just before the trash piles so the boy could get out. He ran to some tarps where his family was waiting for him.
Tears streamed down my face as soon as we started pulling away.
My heart is so broken for these children!
It’s not fair that they have to live this way!
I’m angry! I see all this brokenness and there’s nothing I can do to change it!!
And then I think about the “American Dream”; to have expensive name brand clothes, diamond jewelry, as many nice cars as you can get, and a huge house, while the dream of millions of children all over the world is just to have a roof over their head, an outfit, and to not be hungry anymore.
It hurts my heart, not only to see children live this way, but to see people that could help and make a difference, so wrapped up in themselves, that they don’t bother to really make a difference.
I’ve said all this to say, what could you give up to make a difference in somebody’s life today?
Do you really need 3 cars?Those $200 shoes? That $400 purse?
Let’s make a difference in our lifestyle and living patterns to change the world around us!
