Today was my first full day in the Philippines. I’m so excited to be back here and it has been so fun to see people I haven’t seen in a couple of months. It’s almost like I never left. One of my favorite things is to walk and spend time with the teenagers that hang around outside on the streets. Most people in Manila, even the unschooled kids, can understand and speak english. I ran into a group of boys and they just wanted to walk around the block with me. There wasn’t really anywhere I needed to be, I was just going for a walk, so I welcomed the company.
All three of the boys reminded of the minors that I’ve been working with, but they seemed a lot tamer. None of these three would admit to being in a gang and told me how they just waited around the children’s home for work. It was good for them because they were more than willing to haul trash from the construction or just hang around for manual labor. While all three boys were keeping up with the conversation, one of them really stuck out to me. He told me his name was Smoker.
This kind of confused me at first, but I went with it. We were finally able to get around to why they hung around the children’s home. I told them that I knew the work was alright, but I was still wondering why would they stay there. Finally, Smoker gave me a straight answer. He told me that he had always been on the streets and having to fight for himself. But then he started hanging around the children’s home and so many volunteer teams would come to work and visit. As the teams came, so did the free stuff. After all the free sodas and snacks, he began to realize that these people weren’t just free stuff, but they actually cared about him.
Smoker kept telling me about some of the names and stories of the people that had showed him love. I wish I knew them so I could tell them how much of an impact they obviously made on this kid. But for now, I’ll settle for the reminder that when we love and serve, it rarely goes unnoticed. I could just see the transformation in this kid. Even though he was still on the streets and essentially still begging, he had been loved and that changes everything.
While I only spent about 20 minutes with Smoker and the other two boys, this will serve as a reminder of what love can do. Smoker isn’t a new boy because of all the gifts he’s received. Meeting needs is merely an open door to truly touching a person’s life. Smoker is a new boy because of the love he’s received…
