Scripture is not dead. Nor is a boy from Bolivia named Daniel. Both are alive and well, because people like Bill and Katie Swan live out what they’ve been called to do.
When the love of God is demonstrated authentically, lives are changed. This is the heart of Adventures in Missions.
Here’s Daniel’s story (told by Bill and Katie):
When I first met Daniel I thought he was dead. He was lying, passed out on the dirty cement in front of a small vegetable shop.
When we gently tapped his shoulder, his 70-pound body slowly staggered to his feet.
Daniel was absolutely vile. He had only one pair of clothes, and it showed. His blue shirt was torn and blackened with filth.
Held up by a rough-looking black rope, his green pants were extremely short and eight sizes too large. Even his yellow flip-flops were well worn and too small for his bloated feet.
Honestly, Daniel looked like the walking dead. HIV, tuberculosis, and a hard life on the streets had ravaged his body heavily. His arms and legs resembled two-inch dowel rods, his cheeks sunk deep into his face, and his eyes were tired and skeptical.
He was nothing but taut skin and brittle bones.
Although Daniel is only fourteen years old, he carries the life experiences of a 90-year-old war veteran. His nights are consumed by horror and dread from the numerous rapes he endures at the hands of older street boys.
His days are covered in loneliness as he seeks to find a family that does not exist. And he fills his nostrils with the only form of release he can find–the fumes of Elmer’s glue.
I was working with an organization that sought to love, serve, and reach out to street children.
For the past three years they had offered Daniel food, housing, education, family, and a future, be he refused.
He had known the streets his entire life and didn’t want to struggle through the detox or adhere to a schedule.
But Daniel desperately needed the intervention we were offering. His failing health was taking him to death’s door, and he didn’t have much time left.
Today was the first time Daniel agreed to hope–the first time he has spent a day off the streets.
In his wisdom he told us,
“At some point I am going to want to go back to the streets, but I don’t want to go back. So, when that happens, please lock the doors and tie me down. I want a new life.”
Daniel has known and experienced incredible amounts of pain, but he’s starting to believe there’s something more out there.
He’s starting to believe someone really does care for him. He’s starting to believe, and it makes my heart happy.
