"A Full Man"

I want you to hear about my friend A. He is one of the boys at the New Life Homes. A can be found wearing the same thing most days, sandals, shorts (usually black) and a soccer jersey. God has given him a very large mouth (I don’t mean he talks a lot just the size of it) to hold the huge smile he has from ear to ear all the time. He is shy and constantly tries to hide when he smiles and gets embarrassed. A is larger than most of the other boys and is looked up to by them. His most prized possession is a radio he carries with him everywhere, usually it’s tuned to some soccer game. Katie and Mallory love telling us how much his English has improved this year and how impressed they are with him.

Like all the boys at the home, life has not been easy for A. Some of the story is sad to hear and you have to ask him are you sure that is what he meant to say. But it ends with such beauty and it keeps getting more beautiful. A grew up in one of the villages outside of Jinja. He, like many of the kids here, was abused and beaten while he was living at home. One of his friends was homeless and he seemed to be doing alright. So, one day he put a seed in A’s mind. He told him, “You are being beaten and life is not good, why don’t you just come with me to the streets.” After thinking about it A decided to go with his friend. However, A found that life on the street was not what he wanted. His friend would steal from others to get what he needed and A didn’t like that. Eventually his friend was caught and taken to jail. A knew this was not the way he wanted to live so he went back home.

Unfortunately, he didn’t come home to a welcoming family full of forgiveness. His father told him, “I wanted you to become a full man, to grow up by now, but you haven’t. Get out of here!” A didn’t really know what to do. In the end he decided he would try to get to Kampala. A said, “It took me two weeks of walking. When the sun came up I walked, and when it went down, I slept on the side of the road until it came up again.” Finally he had made it to Kampala to fight it out on the streets as an 11 or 12 year old. Life was not fun on the streets at all. A recalls hating the life and wishing for something better.

In 2007 things got worse. The queen of England was coming to Uganda for some meetings. In order to make Kampala look nice the government tried to “get rid” of their problem with street children. The police were out all the time looking to capture them. This meant no rest and constantly being chased at night. Those who were caught were shipped to holding camps outside the city. However as the visit date grew closer the government got more desperate. The street kids that were caught were put in jail until all of the jails were full. “When the jails were full they would just throw them in the sea.” Katie quickly came back and said “What? What do you mean they threw them in the sea?” A told us that they simply rounded up the street kids, forced them into boats, took them out into Lake Victoria, and threw them in to drown. Now, I am not sure whether this was true or not. They say perception is reality and it is for sure that is what the street boys believed was happening. Many things can happen around here that don’t make sense and I believe this could have very well gone on because people don’t care about the boys on the street. Either way, it was during this great time of fear that A met someone who could help. Within two weeks of meeting them A found himself removed from the streets.

Now he is full of smiles and a huge love for God. He loves to sing and lead worship. He loves to dance. He is a leader among a group of boys who have been saved. No, literally, they have been saved, pulled out of certain death physically and spiritually. A says he remembers praying a lot while he was on the streets asking God to help. He smiles and lets us know that God answers prayers. Last week A took his national exams to leave primary school. This is a huge deal. A no doubt passed and will be heading to a secondary school next year as he continues to work towards his goal. “I want to be a lawyer. Because I see things happen to innocent people and I want someone to stop it from happening.” A has seen his fair share of innocent people suffer. His is one of those stories. Now he stands tall redeemed by the grace of God. He sings songs of redemption and praise. He smiles because the glory of God fills his life and overflows.

After he finished his story I looked over at A and said, “Your dad was wrong. You are a full man now. You have become one.” A just leaned back, tried to hide is face in embarrassment, and smiled. He told us that in the next month he is going back to the village to visit his Dad. He doesn’t know if he is still there because it has been many years since A left. But he hopes to see him. I hope his dad sees the man he has become. I know his heavenly Father sees him, and he smiles!