And the juvenile delinquent said, “I have a FUTURE!”
Yesterday we went to a juvenile detention center. There were plans to go earlier in the month, but they fell through. Twice. Because of this, the consistent tardiness of our transportation (we’re talking up to two hours late) and the fact that our group was split up and no one with us had a phone, I didn’t have high hopes that we would even get there. But we did.
After getting to the center and administration having to confirm with one another that we were even supposed to be there, I didn’t foresee things going very well. I saw a girl through the window in the waiting room and asked her name. She told me and then asked me for my bag. My attitude was not improving.
Pastor Zak, who does ministry with us almost every day, arrived. He talked to administration and told us that we had two hours to speak to the children. We found out that the children are a blend of law offenders, victims of domestic abuse, and orphans. I don’t think I have to point out the flaws I see in putting all of these together… I had to remind myself that we are not here to fix systems, we are here to share the love of God. We were told that we would have two hours to speak to the kids… share testimonies, sing songs, share a message. I almost got angry for having to make something up on the spot, again, but I saw it pointless. After months of making things up on the spot my brain is finally okay with never being prepared. That is definitely going to make my life easier.
We went into a hot, crowded room with almost one hundred kids. Most of them were teenage boys between 12 and 17, but there was also a smaller section of girls and a handful of boys that looked about 8. We introduced ourselves, sang a song in Swahili, and began to speak. Although unplanned, our program ran like clockwork- a short message, a song, a testimony, a song, another testimony, a song, a time of prayer… At the end of the program Pastor Zak spoke in Swahili. I don’t know exactly what he was talking about, but he was encouraging the children. He brought up Jeremiah 29:11-
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD. “Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
He recited this verse to them. Once, twice, then three times.
He shouted louder every time.
He made them repeat it.
We repeated with him.
Soon the whole room was shouting. Kids that had been sleeping half the time were on their feet. People threw their hands in the air and yelled at the top of their lungs. The temperature of the room began to rise as warm breath came out of a hundred mouths.
Have
A
HOPE
AND A FUTURE!!
Zak shouted it. We shouted it. The kids shouted it. The delinquents, the orphans, the victims all stood up and declared over themselves that they have future. They have a hope. They acknowledged the power of Jesus in their lives… that they are more than their circumstances, more than their labels, more than a group that struggles to not be left behind by a society.
And if God has a hope and a future for these kids here in Kenya, he surely has one for you, too.
