I wasn't going to blog today, but I had to go to internet with a teammate and while I was here God whispered,
"Michaela, just tell them how you feel."
Earlier this week, our pastor told us we were going to be working with the street kids. We were all so excited, we had heard about these kids and how hungry they are for God! Fun ministery, with kids that despiratly need Jesus, this is what I signed up for, this will be so awesome, Right?…. wrong.
The street kids were told to meet us at the church at 10 am for some food.
But first let me give you some background. Street kids in Busia, Kenya/Uganda live in a place called "No Man's Land" It is a small strip of land between Kenya and Uganda with no law, no police. People are killed their daily, and no one is ever notified. Women and beaten and raped daily. Yet people stay there because if they cross into the country they will be arrested, or they are addicted to the drug that are readily available their.
The 40 young boys that showed up at the church fall into the latter category. When I walked up to greet them I was literally knocked back by the intense smell of paint thinner on their clothes. These boys dip their clothes in turpentine so they can constantly be getting high.
They could not string together a coherent sentence in Swahili, let alone English, the drugs affected their ability to look at anything. They made fun of each other for being drunk when they laughed to much. Several of the them even started grabbing at my body. One young boy was bold enough to try and pull down my skirt when I shook his hand.
I don't tell you this so you worry about my safety, I tell you this to complete the picture of how totally lost these boys are, these children of God are so surrounded by lust and drunkenness they cannot get out.
I read this morning in Isaiah 59.
The LORD looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
God is displeased. These boys have no justice, there is no one for them, no one to intervene for them.
And now I know. Knowledge leads to responsibility.
One member on my team is working to collect money to purchance a farm to grow food for these kids. Eventually it will be the location of an orphange for them to live.
I have seen the faces of a 7-year old homeless young boy.
To put that in perspective, that is my 7-year-old cousin, Brooke. With her sweet innocent eyes and joyful spirit, that is her homeless, crawling on the ground trying to pick up rice her buddies dropped, addicted to drugs, and watching other people have sex. That is her.
And now I have to move. I can not longer sit idle hoping someone else will do God's work. It is my job. I have to do something. I have to give until it hurts. Because no one is intervening and God is telling me.
I have to pray like the street kids pray.
Remember how I said the street kids were searching for God… here is how we know…
The first day we fed them when they were about to go home, my teammates yelled,
"Okay we are going to pray for you before you go."
We bowed our heads and folded our hands, hoping they would copy and stop being rowdy for one minute.
But when I peeked to see what they were doing I was shocked.
40 homeless African children lay facedown on the ground. Literally bowed to the King of Kings whispering prayers to Him in the most humble position, we can be in…. And I thought I would teach them something…
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for THEIRS is the Kingdom of Heaven.
if you would like to help my team raise money for the farmland please contact me at [email protected]. and please please please be praying constantly for these boys.
