A Father to the fatherless
to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
As I landed here in the Philippines February 27th I took a
three-hour bus ride from the airport to the location we would be doing ministry
for the month of March called Kids International Ministries. Upon arriving, as
I stepped foot out of the bus I was bombarded with kids from the surrounding
community. The smiles on their faces were like none I had ever seen before,
despite they lived in such poverty; houses made from ply wood and tin, trash
used for building supplies. I knew
in my heart these kids had something to teach me and that God would use me just
as much as He would use them to grow me in my own faith.
After getting settled in I decided to take a walk around the community
with my squad mate Chris Cave. We wanted to meet some of the people and survey
the impoverished area to really allow God to speak to our hearts on what our
eyes were seeing. Needless to say God broke my heart almost immediately for
what I saw and yet as I have been here for over two weeks now He has given me
joy in seeing how happy and excited these kids are regardless of
circumstances.
One of the main themes this month God has placed upon me is being a
father to the fatherless. As in many cultures the fathers are not around, and
the ones who are, are usually out working. When they are home they seem to
show no affection and spend little to no time their kids. This has resulted in
many boys turning to gangs to find comfort and support from other male
influences. As God would have it, part of my ministry this month is building
relationships with some of the teen gang members along with working with men in
the prison.
The first day I met some of the guys, we all hung out played basketball
(which is HUGE in the Philippines), ate lunch together, did a bible study and
then they took my team and I up to this mountain which overlooks the whole
city. On the walk up I got to talk to a lot of these guys and one thing I
quickly learned is they have amazing hearts. They are just like any other teens
but they happen to be in a gang because it’s the one place they get the male
influence, the only problem is they are boys and it’s the blind leading the
blind. There is no MAN showing them what it truly means to be a man of God and
how that looks. There is a guy Den and his wife Sam who led this bible study on
Saturdays and really gives a great example of God’s love to these kids in how
they love on them. Like most people Den works a full time job so Saturday is
usually the only time these boys get care they desperately long for.
As I walked to the mountain and back with these teenage boys, I had a
realization that deeply impacted me. Maybe for the first time I understood why
Jesus always hung out with the thieves, murderers, sick, the worst of the worst
because it’s raw and it’s real. What I mean is, in a day to day life we usually
ask even our closest friends how are you? Or how have you been? And 95% of the
time the answer is always “Good”, we have become experts at being fake a lot of
the time. Exposing our trials and shortcomings puts fear in our hearts, but to
me this is a huge problem because we are supposed one in Christ and we are all
sinners and fall short of the glory of God and we can’t express the most real
part of ourselves to each other. These boys will not hesitate to tell you what’s
going on in their life, what kind of trouble they’ve been in, and take you to
their house made from garbage and scraps of wood.
One day for a few hours I got to hold and take care of a little boy
named Nestle. He was the cutest kid I have ever seen. He comes from a home
where the Mom can’t always afford to take care of him and so the ministry I’m
working with helps people in these situations out by tending to their needs. As
I held him I wondered what his future would be like, who will be the Godly man
in his life? As I held him I also couldn’t help but be filled with joy for the
day God allows me to be a father to my own child. I want to show my own child
one day the love that God has loved me with and by the grace of God give him a great example of what it is to be a man who passionately seeks after God’s heart.
I’ve had a passion for the last year or so now to train young guys in
how to be men, but not just men…. Men of GOD! I am in no way a perfect example
but regardless of that God has placed this call on my life. He wants me to step
into the lives of young guys who have no male role model, who desperately need
a guy to tell them how much they matter to God and to me.
month so far has changed my heart in ways I would of never imagined. I’m
excited to see how the rest of this month unfolds but even more excited to see
how God builds this call in my life to train men, and make disciples of Jesus.
68:5 – Father of the fatherless
and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.
