Recently the Lord has been teaching me how to live an interruptible life-where I put others’ needs above my own, even if they are complete strangers. He put me to the test two days ago. A few of the girls from my team and I were walking to the bus station after we had just bought our groceries. We were walking along the very busy street when we saw two boys around the age of 16 pushing a car that had broken down in the middle of the busy street.
I yelled, “Need some help?” and they yelled back, “Yeah!” Four white girls pushing a car through a highway was a weird site to see. We got the car to the nearest parking lot and the boys left to go get gas. The driver said that he wanted to thank us for our help by driving us back to our compound. (**WE WERE SAFE. IT IS NOT AS SKETCHY AS IT SOUNDS**) We stayed and talked with the driver, whose name is Jasper, for an hour and a half. Turns out, Jasper runs a ministry called Nsansa just blocks away from where we are living! The boys returned with the gas and the car started again, so we started to drive back. Jasper invited us to see the ministry, so we said, “of course!”. Spontaneity births adventure.
The car broke down again on the way to the ministry, so some kids who live at Nsansa pushed the car with me about a mile to the home. We arrived and I was FILLED with joy! The ministry is a safe home for kids who were rescued off of the street. The children escaped the worst abusive situations you can imagine, but they end up homeless and sniffing glue on the street to quench thirst, hunger and pain. The kids are from the ages of 6 to 19. Nsansa takes these kids in and gives them a safe home, education, and introduces them to Jesus. Having grown up on the street, these kids LOVE rap music, beatboxing, and breakdancing. When we entered the compound, the kids were having rap battles and breakdancing throughout the grounds. It belonged in a movie! Jasper’s ministry encourages the kids to use their talents to benefit their life and others, and even to worship the Lord. They have a recording studio where they record songs, raps, and preaching and then play it on their own radio station in the capital of Zambia.
The best part of all of this is that we now get to partner with them. We visit them on Sunday afternoons, and on Thursdays at 11pm-2am, we have the chance to go into the streets with Nsansa and meet the kids who are still on the street. We get to worship with them and give them food and hear their stories.
None of this would have happened if we had passed by the boys pushing the car in the road. It would have been easier to just keep walking and let the boys push the car by themselves. We would have been home faster, rested and could get some food. Instead, because we lived that moment interruptibly, we have the chance to bring the gospel to the streets of Lusaka through Jasper and his ministry.
