We work with children everyday that would probably be on the streets if it weren’t for Volunteer In South Africa. The organization that we are partnering with while we are here gives kids the opportunity to participate in soccer and surfing after school IF they go to school everyday. If they stay on the streets, they will likely get caught in a destructive cycle of drugs and violence. If they are out of school for 2 years, they are not allowed back in. We walk the streets in the mornings, trying to get their information and find out which school they used to go to. We pray for them and tell them about the soccer and surfing programs and explain the rules for participation. I have been working with the surfing program everyday and the kids are pretty amazing. They aren’t like any kids that I have ever interacted with before though. They probably have home lives that we don’t ever want to imagine. We don’t ask them questions about where they come from, we just love on them where they are at and tell them about the love that Jesus has for them and all that He promises them. One day during our first week, we were gathering the kids together to have a devotional and a snack with them, when a few of our kids sprinted from the wall and started kicking and hitting some other kids that were on a skateboard. It all happened so quickly and we weren’t sure what to do. We got broke it up and got our kids back to the wall where they had been sitting, but I had completely lost my train of thought. When we asked what had happened to start the fight, they explained that one of the other kids had talked bad about one of our kid’s mother. We talked to them about what Jesus says we should do in this kind of situation, but it was not getting through to them. They kept saying that it was right to call someone names back and to hit them or kick them when something like this happened. Finally, the child from our group who seemed to have been the center of the commotion was pulled aside. After a few minutes, it was discovered that the child’s mother had been shot. Oh. Oh my goodness. This would be the only logical explanation as to why an insult to someone’s mother would clear a bench of boys so quickly. What do you say to that? No, no violence is never okay. It is not the answer. But to these kids, it is a harsh reality of their daily lives. As people who they had only known for a couple of days, how to we comfort them? How do we explain to them that the person who shot their mom was wrong…so very, very wrong, but it is still not okay to respond in violence when someone calls you a name? When the violence that they see in their daily lives seems to illogical, how do we explain to them that seemingly logical violence is wrong and never acceptable? Another piece of my heart was broken that day. I hurt so badly for that child and for all of our children. It’s been a couple of weeks now and they have started to warm up to us and it is so great. And now we are about to leave. I long to be the one consistent thing in their lives. I am so thankful for the longer term volunteers that are here. But I can still show the kids love everyday. Love that they might never see otherwise.
We work with children everyday that would probably be on the streets if it weren’t for Volunteer In South Africa. The organization that we are partnering with while we are here gives kids the opportunity to participate in soccer and surfing after school IF they go to school everyday. If they stay on the streets, they will likely get caught in a destructive cycle of drugs and violence. If they are out of school for 2 years, they are not allowed back in. We walk the streets in the mornings, trying to get their information and find out which school they used to go to. We pray for them and tell them about the soccer and surfing programs and explain the rules for participation. I have been working with the surfing program everyday and the kids are pretty amazing. They aren’t like any kids that I have ever interacted with before though. They probably have home lives that we don’t ever want to imagine. We don’t ask them questions about where they come from, we just love on them where they are at and tell them about the love that Jesus has for them and all that He promises them. One day during our first week, we were gathering the kids together to have a devotional and a snack with them, when a few of our kids sprinted from the wall and started kicking and hitting some other kids that were on a skateboard. It all happened so quickly and we weren’t sure what to do. We got broke it up and got our kids back to the wall where they had been sitting, but I had completely lost my train of thought. When we asked what had happened to start the fight, they explained that one of the other kids had talked bad about one of our kid’s mother. We talked to them about what Jesus says we should do in this kind of situation, but it was not getting through to them. They kept saying that it was right to call someone names back and to hit them or kick them when something like this happened. Finally, the child from our group who seemed to have been the center of the commotion was pulled aside. After a few minutes, it was discovered that the child’s mother had been shot. Oh. Oh my goodness. This would be the only logical explanation as to why an insult to someone’s mother would clear a bench of boys so quickly. What do you say to that? No, no violence is never okay. It is not the answer. But to these kids, it is a harsh reality of their daily lives. As people who they had only known for a couple of days, how to we comfort them? How do we explain to them that the person who shot their mom was wrong…so very, very wrong, but it is still not okay to respond in violence when someone calls you a name? When the violence that they see in their daily lives seems to illogical, how do we explain to them that seemingly logical violence is wrong and never acceptable? Another piece of my heart was broken that day. I hurt so badly for that child and for all of our children. It’s been a couple of weeks now and they have started to warm up to us and it is so great. And now we are about to leave. I long to be the one consistent thing in their lives. I am so thankful for the longer term volunteers that are here. But I can still show the kids love everyday. Love that they might never see otherwise. Jesus loves His little surfers, and they deserve to know that they are worthy of that love!
