Well as we continue to be here our days can sometimes be the same. The experiences aren't but it becomes something that you don't think others want to hear about. Therefore, not many blogs about what has been going on. So I feel as though you should get to hear some of the things that have been going on. Below are some things that have happened over the last couple of weeks.
Oct 31st - yeah we had a bonfire out back and roasted marshmellows roasted pumpkin seeds and sang songs. Earlier in the week we bought pumpkins and carved them. Pumpkins are green on the outside here so it wasn't perfect. The carving, roasting, and fire all got us strange looks from the staff.
During the early part of the month I have had the opportunity to speak a little more. Getting the chance to lead the preparations with the boys in secondary school, and leading the Bible studies at the boy’s home have been great. It has really helped me see that God has renewed passion to teach His word to youth in the US. It has also been interesting to see how well they respond to what I have to say. It is cool to have God speak through me. One of my favorite days was the first study we did at the boy’s home on who Jesus is. The questions were coming from everywhere and God continued to give me the words.
Nov 7th – we had the chance to go to tutor at the discipleship house. That night I had the chance to sit and talk with Ronald. He gave me his story which you have read, and I gave him mine. We were so in to sharing that we missed dinner with the rest of them. Since two of the boys had just celebrated their birthdays and I had one the next day, we had a plate of cookies with candles. I also had to use the bathroom in a plastic bag as we arrived at the house before them and my stomach could not wait. The alley by their house only leads to the front doors of other houses. Since everything was concrete, I could not do the Uganda thing and just squat and leave it cuz it would have been obvious. So, I found a plastic bag and went back by what I thought was an old out house in the corner of the alley. I held it as close to my bottom as possible, after finishing most of my business I realized I was facing where anyone who came out of their door would see me, and as I arranged myself again the door to the outhouse came open. It was a present outhouse. So I went in and finished up, which I should have done in the first place.
Nov 8 – I celebrated my birthday by going to visit two schools. The first one was in Katonte. I had been here once before. Both of the other Abaana staff had work they needed to accomplish so I wondered around and into classrooms. I have become quite good at walking into the rooms and communicating with them almost exclusively with my actions and expressions. This was necessary as both schools did not speak Lugandan of which I have learned a little. We were having so much fun in the p4 class that the teacher from another room had to come over and tell the class to quiet down. I loved it. Next we drove to Busia. Busia is on the border with Kenya. I mean on the order. Half the kids live in one country and half the other. The road we drove on IS the border, so I got out and walked into Kenya to have a picture taken. The time here was also great as I made my way from room to room during their lunch break, and sometimes I would chase the kids outside. However my favorite moment, and perhaps my favorite moment at any school so far was hearing one of the classes sing. I recognized the hymn and so I got up and went to the classroom. There was no teacher but the kids were just sitting there praising God. They smiled at me as I walked in and started to sing with them. It always gets them excited. When that song was over, they started another. We sand three or four worship songs and I could just feel God’s spirit descending on that room. Then we sang a song that requires you to dance and sing by yourself. Oh yeah it was a hit and I had the kiddos laughing and dancing until we were all sweating. What a holy moment!
Nov 10th- Ryan and I went to the Mabira Forest Reserve to do some hiking and get out on our day off. It was nice to go out on our own about an hour and a half from the house. We are becoming big boys. The reserve is the largest protected forest in central Uganda. We went to explore the rain forest and of course see monkeys. It was nice to hike around and we did spend a lot of time watching the monkeys and enjoying their movements through the trees. We did have one of those National Geographic moments as we were hiking. We came around one of the corners on the trail by a stream, and there in the middle was an old man naked and bathing. He was so dark it was hard to even see him. His machete was lying beside his clothes so we decided we would not document it. I don’t think he was bothered by us one bit and we are pretty used to nudity at this point as well.
I was invited by one of the 2 of the guys at Calvary Chapel to come and join them on Sunday morning to visit another center in town for street boys. They go each week and give a lesson to the boys who stay there. So I went the first week to go and give the lesson. The house or compound is a drop in center for Retract Uganda. I learned about how the program worked and was amazed at the organization of it. This exactly what Calvary, Abaana, and Tomorrow’s Heroes would like to set up together. The boys were all very well behaved as most of them are on a life course to go back home. It was such a pleasure to speak to them about Moses and running away from our mistakes. The boys have such a joy it was contagious. I liked it so much I told those who invited me that I would love to come every week and get into the regular rotation of speaking. Since it is early in the morning on Sundays I could still come once we start camps. They loved the idea and so I spoke again this week about how God calls us and uses us despite our pasts just like Moses. It is great to watch their faces light up when you connect with them.
Nov 15th – Ryan and I had the opportunity to go with the Abaana staff to visit another boy’s home in our neighborhood. Don Basco has 210 street boys who live there. This was by far the best run system and home we have seen. They have 12 acres of land and use it all to help rehabilitate the boys. It was exciting to go around with the Abaana staff and hear them start to dream about how to improve our own boy’s home. They agreed to met with me and whoever else to make up a plan of how to go forward with the New Life Homes in the future. I have already started on my own research to figure out how to make some of it come true!
I have had the opportunity to meet with the youth pastor at Calvary when the others go to tutor some of the boys from the street during the week. We have been talking about how to speak to youth and what are keys to building relationships with them. His name is Andrew as well. I love talking with him and I feel so humbled as he gets so excited to learn from me.
Nov 21st – the security guards were put in charge of fill a ten foot deep 8 foot diameter hole that is in the ground near the front gate. When we got back from being out that day I jumped at the opportunity to go and do some manual labor. However, I am out of shape. It took 5 minutes of swinging the pick and the hoe to rip a blister across my hand. No matter, I just became the guy who would transport the dirt in the wheelbarrow. It was such a blessing to work with Isaac and Alfred. They were so surprised and happy to have me out there. We were able to talk about a lot of things which I won’t go into. Funny how the simple things can be so meaningful.
So there is some of what has been going on – include feeling God’s presence as we live and work alongside these boys on the streets and in the homes. There is a lot of love here and I will miss my friends on the street as we take a break to do camps across the country. However I am excited about the new opportunities and friends we will make there.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Where heaven and earth meet?
I like to touch. It is one of my favorite senses. More importantly, I like to hug. I learned that from my Mom. Unfortunately, I don't know if hugging is acceptable here as apart of the culture. So I don't hug, at least not those who get them from other places. I have started hugging the boys on the street. I'm not sure how many of them have ever been hugged, but they sure seem to like it. They aren't the only ones. They aren't as quick to let go as most Americans. I don't want to let go either. Is it because they have shown me so much? I don't know. Maybe it's because I miss them. Maybe it's the smile I get from them when we let go. Maybe it is something deeper. Earlier today I was listening to a sermon online. They were talking about the "thin" places where heaven and earth meet. Hugging the boys on the street is one of those "thin" places for me. I don't notice the dirt on them, the unbelievable smells that come off of them, or their past or present. I only notice the love. IT WOULD BE WRONG TO PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE THINGS. BECAUSE IT IS AT THOSE MOMENTS THAT GOD DOES THE SAME FOR ME. He allows me to hold him. He doesn't notice how dirty I am, or that I stink of sin. He doesn't care about my past. He simply wants to embrace, to love. It is such a wonderful experience to come in contact with heaven each day. I only pray those boys feel God's embrace through me too. Go hug someone! It might just bring them in contact with someone greater than you both.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
A picture of redemption
I want to paint you a picture. Obviously, I don’t have a brush, and I’m not the greatest writer, but I want to still help you see this story. It is of my friend Ronald. I wrote about him earlier as one of the boys at the disciple house. However, being the old man I am and having things slip my mind, I named him Robert in that post. Correct names and all, Ronald has given me permission to tell people his story. So let’s get to painting.
Ronald was born in Kampala, and was raised in a home. At some point, he doesn’t remember when, his Mother and Father were separated and his Father remarried. Ronald had all the opportunities a child here could want. He was enrolled in school and did very well. However, around the age of 10, Ronald, in his own words, became a “bad guy.” He found himself getting involved with doing opium. This became a regular habit for him. His desire to be educated disappeared, and everything he had been taught growing up soon followed. He became very disobedient to the teachers and to his fellow classmates. He continued to buy opium each day with the money his mother would give him for lunch. Soon Ronald began to skip class and just go and do drugs each day. Finally, when he was 12 he was kicked out of school.
His mother was not ready to give up on him yet, and she enrolled him in a new school. However, Ronald’s problems and habits continued. He recalls, “I would go and skip class every day. I would just go and do opium with the older boys. When it was time for report cards, I made one up and took it home for my mom to sign. She never knew I wasn’t going.” Finally though, he was caught and was kicked out of the school he didn’t really attend. Again his mother would not give up on him. She talked to his Father who was now remarried and asked for help. Ronald’s father was able to pay for him to be sent to boarding school. He says, “My mom was always praying for me too. She was a Christian and tried to give me that but I didn’t want God.”
It was a new school, but the same old story for Ronald. He says he was the worst behaved kid at school. He didn’t want to learn. He didn’t want to do anything. So, he would cut holes in the boarding school fence and would run away. As you can imagine, he was finally caught and kicked out. When he arrived home his mother told him, “I can’t deal with this anymore and I can’t pay for you. You need to go to your father’s house.” Off he went to his father’s home but his new wife would not let him in. His father was supporting the 13 children he had and it had caused him to lose his job and forced the family into poverty. So, they told him to go back to his mother’s house.
Since Ronald had nowhere to go, he hit the streets in 2008. He thought things would be OK because he wouldn’t have to do anything. Life would be the way he wanted. No school and no rules. Ronald says, “Life became very hard on the streets.” He did his best to survive. “I dug around through the trash, and I had nowhere to sleep. It would get so cold at night.” Ronald is not a very big guy. He is probably 5 foot 5 and 125 pounds. At night the bigger boys would come and beat him up and take anything he had. Ronald hated the streets.
One day he was approached and told about a street reach where he could get food. He started going regularly and met some people who really cared for him. “I met Auntie Erin. She would just sit and talk to me about God as long as I wanted. Eventually, I gave my life to Christ. It wouldn’t have happened without her.” Giving his life to Christ didn’t make everything easier. He was still living on the streets, but he at least had hope. Ronald soon got a job from one of the other street boys. “We can sweep out taxis and they will pay us. That is what my friend told me. It was my first job.” So for 200 shillings (8 cents) they would sweep out taxis at the end of the day. Being at the taxi park helped get him another source of income by carry luggage for people. As Ronald continued to earn money he saved enough to become a street seller. Street sellers walk around the taxi park or have their own box and table where they sell goods. “I tried selling all sorts of things, apples, flowers, and toilet paper. Eventually I made friends with a restaurant owner. He would let me sleep in the storage shed out back with the bags of supplies. It was the only time I really ever slept on the streets, because he would lock me in and I was out of the cold a little.”
However, it was another change that was more important. “I really started to pray and I started going to church at Calvary Chapel. I met Uncle Derrick and Aunt Ruth. They opened up the Bible and started teaching me more about it.” Ronald ate it up. He developed a strong appetite for the word of God. He attended church regularly and started volunteering on Sundays. Last December Derrick offered Ronald a spot in Calvary Chapel’s Discipleship House. “I thought it over for about a month and then decided to do it.”
Now he lives with his 5 brothers in Christ and two uncles who help him study the Word of God. “I go to school and love it. I don’t do drugs. I even get sick at the smell of them. I want to be and engineer,” he says with a huge smile on his face. I ask him, “Ronald can I tell others about your story?” He gets a shy grin on his face and gives me a nod. “Is there anything you would want me to tell others about you?” I ask. He says, “Yeah, tell them that God has used my mistakes to mold and shape me into the person I am today.” Ronald is excelling in school. 2 weeks ago he celebrated his 19th birthday. He volunteers with street kids on Saturdays and assists in Sunday school for the boys on Sundays.
It’s true that you don’t have to come to Uganda to find a story like this. These stories happen out of our sight all around the world. You may even have one similar yourself. The cool thing is that God is still into redemption. It isn’t something he quit. Maybe you still need to be redeemed. Maybe God is wanting to use your mistakes to mold you into a new creation. I know he has with my friend.
Ronald was born in Kampala, and was raised in a home. At some point, he doesn’t remember when, his Mother and Father were separated and his Father remarried. Ronald had all the opportunities a child here could want. He was enrolled in school and did very well. However, around the age of 10, Ronald, in his own words, became a “bad guy.” He found himself getting involved with doing opium. This became a regular habit for him. His desire to be educated disappeared, and everything he had been taught growing up soon followed. He became very disobedient to the teachers and to his fellow classmates. He continued to buy opium each day with the money his mother would give him for lunch. Soon Ronald began to skip class and just go and do drugs each day. Finally, when he was 12 he was kicked out of school.
His mother was not ready to give up on him yet, and she enrolled him in a new school. However, Ronald’s problems and habits continued. He recalls, “I would go and skip class every day. I would just go and do opium with the older boys. When it was time for report cards, I made one up and took it home for my mom to sign. She never knew I wasn’t going.” Finally though, he was caught and was kicked out of the school he didn’t really attend. Again his mother would not give up on him. She talked to his Father who was now remarried and asked for help. Ronald’s father was able to pay for him to be sent to boarding school. He says, “My mom was always praying for me too. She was a Christian and tried to give me that but I didn’t want God.”
It was a new school, but the same old story for Ronald. He says he was the worst behaved kid at school. He didn’t want to learn. He didn’t want to do anything. So, he would cut holes in the boarding school fence and would run away. As you can imagine, he was finally caught and kicked out. When he arrived home his mother told him, “I can’t deal with this anymore and I can’t pay for you. You need to go to your father’s house.” Off he went to his father’s home but his new wife would not let him in. His father was supporting the 13 children he had and it had caused him to lose his job and forced the family into poverty. So, they told him to go back to his mother’s house.
Since Ronald had nowhere to go, he hit the streets in 2008. He thought things would be OK because he wouldn’t have to do anything. Life would be the way he wanted. No school and no rules. Ronald says, “Life became very hard on the streets.” He did his best to survive. “I dug around through the trash, and I had nowhere to sleep. It would get so cold at night.” Ronald is not a very big guy. He is probably 5 foot 5 and 125 pounds. At night the bigger boys would come and beat him up and take anything he had. Ronald hated the streets.
One day he was approached and told about a street reach where he could get food. He started going regularly and met some people who really cared for him. “I met Auntie Erin. She would just sit and talk to me about God as long as I wanted. Eventually, I gave my life to Christ. It wouldn’t have happened without her.” Giving his life to Christ didn’t make everything easier. He was still living on the streets, but he at least had hope. Ronald soon got a job from one of the other street boys. “We can sweep out taxis and they will pay us. That is what my friend told me. It was my first job.” So for 200 shillings (8 cents) they would sweep out taxis at the end of the day. Being at the taxi park helped get him another source of income by carry luggage for people. As Ronald continued to earn money he saved enough to become a street seller. Street sellers walk around the taxi park or have their own box and table where they sell goods. “I tried selling all sorts of things, apples, flowers, and toilet paper. Eventually I made friends with a restaurant owner. He would let me sleep in the storage shed out back with the bags of supplies. It was the only time I really ever slept on the streets, because he would lock me in and I was out of the cold a little.”
However, it was another change that was more important. “I really started to pray and I started going to church at Calvary Chapel. I met Uncle Derrick and Aunt Ruth. They opened up the Bible and started teaching me more about it.” Ronald ate it up. He developed a strong appetite for the word of God. He attended church regularly and started volunteering on Sundays. Last December Derrick offered Ronald a spot in Calvary Chapel’s Discipleship House. “I thought it over for about a month and then decided to do it.”
Now he lives with his 5 brothers in Christ and two uncles who help him study the Word of God. “I go to school and love it. I don’t do drugs. I even get sick at the smell of them. I want to be and engineer,” he says with a huge smile on his face. I ask him, “Ronald can I tell others about your story?” He gets a shy grin on his face and gives me a nod. “Is there anything you would want me to tell others about you?” I ask. He says, “Yeah, tell them that God has used my mistakes to mold and shape me into the person I am today.” Ronald is excelling in school. 2 weeks ago he celebrated his 19th birthday. He volunteers with street kids on Saturdays and assists in Sunday school for the boys on Sundays.
It’s true that you don’t have to come to Uganda to find a story like this. These stories happen out of our sight all around the world. You may even have one similar yourself. The cool thing is that God is still into redemption. It isn’t something he quit. Maybe you still need to be redeemed. Maybe God is wanting to use your mistakes to mold you into a new creation. I know he has with my friend.
Monday, November 7, 2011
"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!
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!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Huge Hands
Let me introduce you to one of my friends. His name is Robert. He is one of the uncles (helpers) for the street ministry with Abaana. Robert is one of the older and larger uncles. He is around 6 foot and has a large smile. However, he is quite shy and rather quiet. He is well respected in the community, which you can tell by the people who speak to him as we walk around the streets. His hands are strong and, well, they are huge.
Robert came to the streets in 2002 when both of his parents passed away. At the time he was 16. He found his way to the Abaana Street Reach, where he learned about God and His love for others. After a year on the streets he was able to receive support to enter into secondary school (high school). While he was in school he began to understudy with a teacher who taught him how to carve wood. However, his teacher and mentor passed away before he could finish. Robert again found himself looking for a way to finish his education. Again someone locally stepped forward and in 2006, Robert was able to become a licensed carver.
Due to his time on the streets battling and struggling each day, Robert knew he wanted to do something to help those boys who still found themselves on the street. So he decided to use his gifts to raise money for the boys and teach them just as he was taught. Today, Robert works 5 days a week with a group of former street boys from Abaana in a group they call Never Lose Hope. Each day they meet with the boys in the slums and teach them English, math, life lessons, teach them about the Bible, play games, and generally help them have a hope that they can overcome the streets. When he finishes each day he heads over to his workshop in the slums.
Tuesday, I had the chance to visit the workshop and spend some time with my friend. Since it was the last week of the month, Abaana Street Reach was not taking place, so Robert was hard at work. Several of the street boys were there. Why? Because Robert has taught them how to make bracelets and necklaces from the beads that the other uncles make. He then sells them at the market and uses the money to buy them food. The workshop is hidden amongst the slum buildings. Winding through the cardboard and aluminum of homes and down passageways you reach the 8 foot by 8 foot area. Cardboard crammed among old tree limbs make the walls and wood chips make up the floor. Fishing line hangs from the walls to be used for the jewelry. A line also runs across the room where finished pieces hang to go to the market. A wood stool sits in one corner where unfinished carvings lay waiting to be polished and then stained. Robert tossed some of the beads on the top of a can and laid them in the middle of the room for us to get busy making necklaces. After awhile I decided that I wasn’t going to finish a necklace, and I was getting pretty hot in the poorly ventilated area. As I was walking out I grabbed one of the unfinished pieces to inspect it further and then Robert came around the corner. He grabbed the stool, a piece of wood, the chisel, and then said, “Here, you try.” Robert carves little huts that look like the straw huts you see in the villages. He showed me how to chisel it down and I got started. Robert watched me with a smile on his face and then disappeared to go work on something else. Ten minutes later he came back and laughed. He took the chisel in his hands and told me to grip it firmly. Then he started carving and in 30 seconds did more than I had previously done. I started back to work as Robert started working on a log that he brought back from his storage area. “Oops!” I had just messed up the roof. Robert looked at me, smiled and held out his hands asking for the chisel and the hut. He quickly fixed my mistake and shaped the rest of the house into something familiar. He handed it back to me with a “You are doing good.” After I gave out another oops, again for messing up the same roof, Robert took it from me and in three minutes had the piece finished and ready for the detail work. He never complained, just smiled. He looked over and saw the smallest scratch of blood on my knuckle and asked if I was alright. “Yeah,” I said. My knuckle was fine, but the blisters on my hands were hurting. I watched as he took his machete and chopped fragments of wood from the log. By the time we were leaving, you could see the formation of Mary holding Jesus coming out of the grain. I asked Robert how many pieces he would do in a week. He told me at least 5 small one a day, and 3 large ones in a week. Each Sunday he goes to his booth in another part of town to sell his carvings. The money pays for his home and food, but it also pays for the other street kids around.
This Sunday we had the chance to go to the home for street boys that Robert and some of the other uncles have started. The home is about the size of a master bedroom. 8 boys sleep in bunks on one side and then the floor is open on the other for homework and crafts. Outside is a chicken coup which provides food and a little income. The boys come to live and get to go to school, for which the uncles raise the money for their school fees. They don’t force them to remain, and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they don’t know how to go back to living in a structured environment. But the uncles keep trying. Robert told me the landlord is doing something new with the building so they are out at the end of December. He is happy about that though. “I want to get a new house with more room, away from the slums. I don’t like it that they see the slums each day, cause it reminds them of where they are, not where they can be.” Robert told me in the future they want to be able to house 50 boys. I asked him when the future was. He told me he didn’t know, but 30 boys will come first. I smiled and laughed at him as we dreamed together.
Robert is one of many people I have met, who have been taken from the streets to make a life, only to return to rescue those still there. His hands are huge. He uses them to carve wood, but God uses them to lift street boys to freedom.
Robert came to the streets in 2002 when both of his parents passed away. At the time he was 16. He found his way to the Abaana Street Reach, where he learned about God and His love for others. After a year on the streets he was able to receive support to enter into secondary school (high school). While he was in school he began to understudy with a teacher who taught him how to carve wood. However, his teacher and mentor passed away before he could finish. Robert again found himself looking for a way to finish his education. Again someone locally stepped forward and in 2006, Robert was able to become a licensed carver.
Due to his time on the streets battling and struggling each day, Robert knew he wanted to do something to help those boys who still found themselves on the street. So he decided to use his gifts to raise money for the boys and teach them just as he was taught. Today, Robert works 5 days a week with a group of former street boys from Abaana in a group they call Never Lose Hope. Each day they meet with the boys in the slums and teach them English, math, life lessons, teach them about the Bible, play games, and generally help them have a hope that they can overcome the streets. When he finishes each day he heads over to his workshop in the slums.
Tuesday, I had the chance to visit the workshop and spend some time with my friend. Since it was the last week of the month, Abaana Street Reach was not taking place, so Robert was hard at work. Several of the street boys were there. Why? Because Robert has taught them how to make bracelets and necklaces from the beads that the other uncles make. He then sells them at the market and uses the money to buy them food. The workshop is hidden amongst the slum buildings. Winding through the cardboard and aluminum of homes and down passageways you reach the 8 foot by 8 foot area. Cardboard crammed among old tree limbs make the walls and wood chips make up the floor. Fishing line hangs from the walls to be used for the jewelry. A line also runs across the room where finished pieces hang to go to the market. A wood stool sits in one corner where unfinished carvings lay waiting to be polished and then stained. Robert tossed some of the beads on the top of a can and laid them in the middle of the room for us to get busy making necklaces. After awhile I decided that I wasn’t going to finish a necklace, and I was getting pretty hot in the poorly ventilated area. As I was walking out I grabbed one of the unfinished pieces to inspect it further and then Robert came around the corner. He grabbed the stool, a piece of wood, the chisel, and then said, “Here, you try.” Robert carves little huts that look like the straw huts you see in the villages. He showed me how to chisel it down and I got started. Robert watched me with a smile on his face and then disappeared to go work on something else. Ten minutes later he came back and laughed. He took the chisel in his hands and told me to grip it firmly. Then he started carving and in 30 seconds did more than I had previously done. I started back to work as Robert started working on a log that he brought back from his storage area. “Oops!” I had just messed up the roof. Robert looked at me, smiled and held out his hands asking for the chisel and the hut. He quickly fixed my mistake and shaped the rest of the house into something familiar. He handed it back to me with a “You are doing good.” After I gave out another oops, again for messing up the same roof, Robert took it from me and in three minutes had the piece finished and ready for the detail work. He never complained, just smiled. He looked over and saw the smallest scratch of blood on my knuckle and asked if I was alright. “Yeah,” I said. My knuckle was fine, but the blisters on my hands were hurting. I watched as he took his machete and chopped fragments of wood from the log. By the time we were leaving, you could see the formation of Mary holding Jesus coming out of the grain. I asked Robert how many pieces he would do in a week. He told me at least 5 small one a day, and 3 large ones in a week. Each Sunday he goes to his booth in another part of town to sell his carvings. The money pays for his home and food, but it also pays for the other street kids around.
This Sunday we had the chance to go to the home for street boys that Robert and some of the other uncles have started. The home is about the size of a master bedroom. 8 boys sleep in bunks on one side and then the floor is open on the other for homework and crafts. Outside is a chicken coup which provides food and a little income. The boys come to live and get to go to school, for which the uncles raise the money for their school fees. They don’t force them to remain, and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they don’t know how to go back to living in a structured environment. But the uncles keep trying. Robert told me the landlord is doing something new with the building so they are out at the end of December. He is happy about that though. “I want to get a new house with more room, away from the slums. I don’t like it that they see the slums each day, cause it reminds them of where they are, not where they can be.” Robert told me in the future they want to be able to house 50 boys. I asked him when the future was. He told me he didn’t know, but 30 boys will come first. I smiled and laughed at him as we dreamed together.
Robert is one of many people I have met, who have been taken from the streets to make a life, only to return to rescue those still there. His hands are huge. He uses them to carve wood, but God uses them to lift street boys to freedom.
A new perspective
Last weekend I had the chance to go to Gulu to visit the Abaana schools there. I had been wanting to go to Gulu for many years and was excited to get the chance. For those who do not know, Gulu was at the center of the war with the LRA in Uganda. In 2005 or 2006 I learned about everything going on in the northern region through an organization called Invisible Children. IC told the story of thousands of children who would walk for miles to come to Gulu each night to escape the abductions of children in the villages. Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA, would abduct children and force them to become child soldiers by any and all means. Millions of people were forced from their homes and lived in displacement camps in the Gulu area. Many of you may have heard in the last two weeks that President Obama has sent 100 US advisors to help train the Ugandans in an attempt to finally catch Kony for good. This is very exciting as the LRA has been terrorizing Northern Uganda, Southern Sudan, and the Congo for over 20 years. So, I have always wanted to visit Gulu ever since.
The trip from Kampala takes around 5 hours if you don’t have much traffic. Gulu, itself, is quite worn down from the years of war and from living in fear. Within the last 3 years, as the LRA has been forced into parts of the Congo, people have returned to try to begin their lives again. Still, many of the buildings in town are empty. We arrived around 4 on Sunday afternoon and had a meeting with Robert, who is the Abaana staff member who work in Gulu. After eating dinner and talking about our plans for the next day we headed to a café. It is odd to find this place tucked away on the streets of Gulu. It was opened by a European and has that type of feel to it. We enjoy the internet while passing time before going to our hotel. During the night, the rains came.
The nest morning was quite cool, probably mid to lower 60’s, to start the day. Everything was soaked including the dirt/mud road we would be using. We headed out to the north to go and visit the two schools Abaana has and another they are in talks with about building. This is the main road that leads to southern Sudan and it was packed with people walking about. A few miles outside of the city we passed the hospital made famous by IC where the thousands of children would pour into each night to try to feel safe. As we continued to drive, I kept thinking about seeing the movie so many years ago. As we passed by so many people I kept thinking of how hard their lives had been and still are. It took about 45 minutes for us to reach the turn off to head through the bush to the first school. I do mean through the bush. The pathway or “road “ was no larger than the truck at its widest points. We shifted into 4 wheel drive to get through the mud and basically skied our way through until we popped out at the school. Dr Andrew McCovy was one of the first schools in the area to be built after people began to return. It was finished in 2009. Abaana wanted the school to be self sustaining and so it is built on 10 acres of land. They have fields of corn, potatoes, ground nuts, and lots of other crops that I could not name. The Gulu area has more of a grassland/savannah type of feel to it and standing on the soccer field looking in all directions, I felt like I should see herds of elephants or giraffes going by. While we were there we checked on the progress of the roof repair, damaged in a storm, and the construction of the new sleeping quarters for the teachers. I of course went into the classes and stirred up the kids until the teachers wondered back in to find out what the noise was from. After we delivered a health kit we were on our way. The school is very nice and organized and I am looking forward to coming back to stay in three months to run camp.
After our drive back through the bush and onto the main road, we continued north to head to our next school, Ayila. The funds to build Ayila were raised strictly through 5 pound donations of people in the UK. The goal was to find 10000 people to give 5 pounds. Therefore, Ayila is also known as the 5 pound school. As we were driving we came to a gulley in the road as it crossed over a stream. The opposite hill was especially muddy. As we shifted to 4 wheel drive and headed up, the truck continued its slide to the right and eventually off the road. We were stuck. We decided the only way out was to try to push it back down the hill to where we had come because at least the tires might get back on the road. After 30 minutes of pushing, collecting rocks, rocking the truck back and forth, and trying everything we could, we had succeeded in moving the tuck 15 feet and now both right side tires more than halfway in holes. We laughed as every other vehicle, whether they had four wheel drive or not, slid back and forth and made it up the hill. Trucks and NGO’s and everyone just drove right passed us, until finally a truck from the United Nations stopped. Another NGO stopped behind them, but it think it was because they couldn’t pass. Eventually there were 20 men out arguing about how to get the truck out. After telling us we should get a lift back to town and buy rope, we eventually convinced them to let us use the rope they had had with them for the last 10 minutes. We tied the “rope,” it wasn’t much more than string, up to the truck and prayed it wouldn’t break. After two of the four strands broke we were finally out and able to continue our journey.
Ayila has around 500 students and they are still meeting under their straw roofs and under trees until the first half of the build is complete. Again, I had the chance to run around and stir up trouble in the classrooms. One of our purposes on the trip was to give an entire village mosquito nets, and this is the village that was chosen. We had all the children come out of class and I gave them a talk about Malaria, what its effects were, and how important it was not only to them but to the community that everyone sleep under a net. Ryan finished by showing them the proper way to put one up and how to sleep under it. We gave nets out to 188 families. As the kids ran back to put their nets up at home some more of the villagers came to receive their nets. We walked over to one of the huts to make sure it was being done properly and scarred all the infants who had not seen white men before. Soon we were back in the truck and on our way. We decided to not stop in on the other school in order to make it back to Kampala at a reasonable hour. As we drove back I thought about the differences of opinions we faced within the same country. Many of the people in Kampala don’t believe that catching Joseph Kony is a big deal. They don’t think what happened in the north is that important. Some believe the troops the US is sending are coming to spy in Uganda because oil was just discovered. However, in the north their lives revolve around what has happened. They frequently mention the LRA. They are trying to put the pieces back together and start a new life, one that is not lived in fear. It made me think about how quickly I can blow off someone else’s struggles as no big deal. Don’t we all do that sometimes. Since, we ourselves are not going through the hardships we don’t understand why they are struggling so much. Sometimes it’s the passing away of a family member or friend. Other times it might be the loss of a job or a struggle with an addiction. Maybe all of us should slow down and give a little more patience to those who are going through things. Maybe we should see things from their perspective. Jesus was the ultimate example of coming and walking in someone’s shoes. Isn’t he our example too. I encourage you to be patient with those who are struggling. Consider seeing things from a new perspective. I know I will try.
The trip from Kampala takes around 5 hours if you don’t have much traffic. Gulu, itself, is quite worn down from the years of war and from living in fear. Within the last 3 years, as the LRA has been forced into parts of the Congo, people have returned to try to begin their lives again. Still, many of the buildings in town are empty. We arrived around 4 on Sunday afternoon and had a meeting with Robert, who is the Abaana staff member who work in Gulu. After eating dinner and talking about our plans for the next day we headed to a café. It is odd to find this place tucked away on the streets of Gulu. It was opened by a European and has that type of feel to it. We enjoy the internet while passing time before going to our hotel. During the night, the rains came.
The nest morning was quite cool, probably mid to lower 60’s, to start the day. Everything was soaked including the dirt/mud road we would be using. We headed out to the north to go and visit the two schools Abaana has and another they are in talks with about building. This is the main road that leads to southern Sudan and it was packed with people walking about. A few miles outside of the city we passed the hospital made famous by IC where the thousands of children would pour into each night to try to feel safe. As we continued to drive, I kept thinking about seeing the movie so many years ago. As we passed by so many people I kept thinking of how hard their lives had been and still are. It took about 45 minutes for us to reach the turn off to head through the bush to the first school. I do mean through the bush. The pathway or “road “ was no larger than the truck at its widest points. We shifted into 4 wheel drive to get through the mud and basically skied our way through until we popped out at the school. Dr Andrew McCovy was one of the first schools in the area to be built after people began to return. It was finished in 2009. Abaana wanted the school to be self sustaining and so it is built on 10 acres of land. They have fields of corn, potatoes, ground nuts, and lots of other crops that I could not name. The Gulu area has more of a grassland/savannah type of feel to it and standing on the soccer field looking in all directions, I felt like I should see herds of elephants or giraffes going by. While we were there we checked on the progress of the roof repair, damaged in a storm, and the construction of the new sleeping quarters for the teachers. I of course went into the classes and stirred up the kids until the teachers wondered back in to find out what the noise was from. After we delivered a health kit we were on our way. The school is very nice and organized and I am looking forward to coming back to stay in three months to run camp.
After our drive back through the bush and onto the main road, we continued north to head to our next school, Ayila. The funds to build Ayila were raised strictly through 5 pound donations of people in the UK. The goal was to find 10000 people to give 5 pounds. Therefore, Ayila is also known as the 5 pound school. As we were driving we came to a gulley in the road as it crossed over a stream. The opposite hill was especially muddy. As we shifted to 4 wheel drive and headed up, the truck continued its slide to the right and eventually off the road. We were stuck. We decided the only way out was to try to push it back down the hill to where we had come because at least the tires might get back on the road. After 30 minutes of pushing, collecting rocks, rocking the truck back and forth, and trying everything we could, we had succeeded in moving the tuck 15 feet and now both right side tires more than halfway in holes. We laughed as every other vehicle, whether they had four wheel drive or not, slid back and forth and made it up the hill. Trucks and NGO’s and everyone just drove right passed us, until finally a truck from the United Nations stopped. Another NGO stopped behind them, but it think it was because they couldn’t pass. Eventually there were 20 men out arguing about how to get the truck out. After telling us we should get a lift back to town and buy rope, we eventually convinced them to let us use the rope they had had with them for the last 10 minutes. We tied the “rope,” it wasn’t much more than string, up to the truck and prayed it wouldn’t break. After two of the four strands broke we were finally out and able to continue our journey.
Ayila has around 500 students and they are still meeting under their straw roofs and under trees until the first half of the build is complete. Again, I had the chance to run around and stir up trouble in the classrooms. One of our purposes on the trip was to give an entire village mosquito nets, and this is the village that was chosen. We had all the children come out of class and I gave them a talk about Malaria, what its effects were, and how important it was not only to them but to the community that everyone sleep under a net. Ryan finished by showing them the proper way to put one up and how to sleep under it. We gave nets out to 188 families. As the kids ran back to put their nets up at home some more of the villagers came to receive their nets. We walked over to one of the huts to make sure it was being done properly and scarred all the infants who had not seen white men before. Soon we were back in the truck and on our way. We decided to not stop in on the other school in order to make it back to Kampala at a reasonable hour. As we drove back I thought about the differences of opinions we faced within the same country. Many of the people in Kampala don’t believe that catching Joseph Kony is a big deal. They don’t think what happened in the north is that important. Some believe the troops the US is sending are coming to spy in Uganda because oil was just discovered. However, in the north their lives revolve around what has happened. They frequently mention the LRA. They are trying to put the pieces back together and start a new life, one that is not lived in fear. It made me think about how quickly I can blow off someone else’s struggles as no big deal. Don’t we all do that sometimes. Since, we ourselves are not going through the hardships we don’t understand why they are struggling so much. Sometimes it’s the passing away of a family member or friend. Other times it might be the loss of a job or a struggle with an addiction. Maybe all of us should slow down and give a little more patience to those who are going through things. Maybe we should see things from their perspective. Jesus was the ultimate example of coming and walking in someone’s shoes. Isn’t he our example too. I encourage you to be patient with those who are struggling. Consider seeing things from a new perspective. I know I will try.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Sleeping on the streets
The evening started with a meeting to make sure we knew what we needed to know, which included where we would sleep, who was there to help, and what the exit strategy was in case something went wrong. We loaded up the car with our coal bags, these are a little more than large plastic bags that the boys use as blankets, and our scraps our cardboard to sleep on and headed into town. It was a rather funny attempt to get to where Peter, an Abaana staffer, had set up for us to met him, including several drives the wrong way on a one way street, being at the wrong gas station, and running through the streets. Eventually, we got the car parked and walked down to meet the boys they had already found for us to sleep with. We were just a half block from the taxi park and on a major road, but it was where we had good lighting. The police and the army had been informed that we would be there and were bribed to keep an eye on us. When we got there power was out, so it was quite dark. Our uncles with Abaana street reach had been gathering up street boys, but us just being on the streets was also drawing a lot of attention and word was getting out. Soon there were all kinds of boys surrounding us, and it was a bit unnerving. Many of you may know that a lot of street boys sniff gasoline to get high and help them go to sleep. So add to the dust and exhaust from the cars, the smell of gasoline all around you. I quickly began to have a head ache. While we continued to be surrounded by boys, I began to notice the younger kids and how uneasy they felt or at least looked. So feeling like I was in the same boat, I thought I would get near them to sort of protect them from the older boys and the ones who were high. Not to mention it gave me something to do to keep my mind of my growing uneasiness. After several meetings with the uncles, Peter ran off to buy food and drinks for all the boys. When he got back we handed it out and did our best not to start any fights. Robert, who is one of the largest uncles, began to ask some of the boys he had rounded up to leave and sending those who showed up to be fed on their way. This definitely helped with the atmosphere.
A zoo animal and Invisible children– One thing is for sure. I know what it feels like to be stared at. It is not considered rude to stare at people here, and being white gives people a reason to do it. So as it turned to after midnight and all the people where moving around the streets, everyone would gather around and just stare, boda drivers, business men and woman, people just walking the streets, and anyone else the crowd would draw. They would just stand at our feet and stare. Five minutes was about the amount of time for someone who stopped, but there was the occasional ten minute person. Again it was quite bothersome, and I didn’t feel as though I was getting a true picture of what a night on the street was like for the boys. I put the hood of my sweatshirt on so I wouldn’t have to see what all was going on and try to get a little sleep. While I was trying to become invisible, I noticed the boys around me were well on their way to sleeping. I realized that every night they became invisible. They would sleep right below people’s feet and conversations, and those people would never take a second glance at them. They would not stop and ask if they needed anything. In order to be able to sleep with so much commotion, they had to know that people didn’t see them in order to even go to sleep. I thought about what that must do to them mentally, to shut yourself down from being a person every night. I thought about the ones who had been there for years and how it must play with their identity and self worth. I looked around and saw those boys were already asleep. Then I noticed all the others who were still rolling around where boys who had not been on the street long, maybe less than 6 months, and they were not having an easy time falling asleep. That change in attitude is a critical part in the rescue of boys on the street. As soon as they begin to become comfortable and think there is no way out or have no hope for something better, or start to feel invisible, they are hard to rehabilitate and to even get off the street whether they like it there or not. It becomes a part of them. Therefore, it is very crucial to get to the boys who are new and help foster the drive in them for something better, as we work to get them off the streets. One boy we talked to, who was 10, came to the city with his brother and then his brother just left him on the streets. There was no reason and he had no way to get home even though he had been very happy there. Joshua was his name and this had happened a month ago. We decided that we could get him transportation home and so the next morning we took him to the New Life Homes and then our social worker checked in on his family. Monday he is headed home. He was so happy. He looked like a new child when we went to visit the homes later in the day after we had gotten some sleep. That’s one boy rescued from this life!
A new friend – While I was sitting there trying to be left alone and avoid the stares of everyone on the street, I looked up one time to see one of the boys starring at me. He had a rather rough look to him. He was quite a bit older and was just giving me the eye. I tried to go back to being invisible, I looked again 10 minutes later and he was leaning down trying to see under my hood. He leaned back and said hello. I responded. I asked him if he was tired and he said no. Great, I thought, he is going to stare at me all night. He then asked me how I was doing, and I said I was fine. I knew this was actually my chance to engage in a real conversation or end it with the next question so I jumped at it. “How are you doing?” “I am suffering,” was the response and I knew I had all I needed. When you find the ones who aren’t happy they are the ones who can be ministered to more effectively. I perked up and we started to talk. His name is Steven. HE came to the streets in 2003 we he was 11. His mother and father were both dead and his brothers had left. He asked him what he wanted me to do and he said anything, but mostly he wanted a job. I asked how he got food during the day and he told me he had made friend with several people who work in hotels. He would go and help or do odd jobs and they would feed him out of the kitchen. He told me he wanted to be either a doctor or a pastor. He spoke rather good English so asked him how far he had been in school. He had made it to P3 before he was forced to the streets. He told me that he would love to go to school because he couldn’t do anything without being educated. I then told him about Frontline at Calvary Chapel and about Abaana street reach where he could come get food, learn some more, and get help. I made him promise to met me on Tuesday at the soccer field and he told me he would if we could (side note when we got up the next morning and were leaving I said I’ll see you Tuesday, and he said I will see you later today at church. I smiled and told him I would not be at frontline today but he should go. He assured me that we would and I can’t wait to see him on Tuesday) He laid down beside me with his head resting on the concrete. I had taken my sweat shirt off since it was hot and so I moved half of it under his head to use as a pillow. He smiled at me really big. It didn’t take long before he was asleep. During the night we was rolling over and curling up to get warm so I gave him the sweat shirt to wear and then in the morning I told him he could keep it. He stood around me until we left with a big smile. I can’t wait to see him again and I pray he shows up so we can try to help him out of the situation he is in.
There were other stories and other friends. Like the boy who was kicked out of his house because his family was Muslim. Another was a great soccer player before he lost his family and came to the streets. He had only been on the streets for a little over a month and was worried someone would steal his shoes. He didn’t sleep until about 4 am when he saw that I was going to be up. He asked me if I would watch his shoes. When I told him yes, he went to sleep. Then there was Musha. He was 21 and had run a shop on the street in Tanzania selling phones. He came to Kampala two years ago to get a better deal on phones. He was mugged and had everything stolen. He has been stuck on the street ever since. He wears a big smile and asked if he could sleep with Scott. The next day when we were searching the trash and the streets for bottles I remembered the words to “We Fall Down” in Swahili,the language he speaks, and began to sing it. He got a huge smile and started to join me half way through. When it was over, he gave me a big hug. It made me think about when the spirit came at Pentecost and everyone heard the message in their own language and was in awe. Acts 2:5-8
It’s where you would have found Jesus and I did – One thing during the night that was quite interesting, were the times when people were yelling at us stupid muzungus for sleeping on the street. They would stop and stare and then yell at us for being there and sleeping on the streets. I thought about the reception Jesus got from the Pharisees and teachers of the law when he was found eating with the tax collectors and sinners (Luke 27-32) or even from His own disciples when people brought children to him. (Matthew 19:13-15). I imagine it was much the same. People were confused and didn’t know what to make of it. But I’m guessing it felt just right with him. Although I wasn’t comfortable it wasn’t because of how I felt about being there. I knew that was where I should be. During the night at 4am one of the little boys at the far end woke up and stretched. His eyes were barely open and then he looked at me. His eyes shot open. I smiled at him. Not a full smile, one to let him know I saw him. He then put a huge grin on his face and so did I. The look lasted about 5 seconds. He laid his head back down to go to sleep with a big smile. I could help but feel Jesus was smiling at me for being there at that time.
As the night went on and I still didn’t get any sleep. I thought about all the kids who do this every night, not just once. I thought about all the boys who sleep at the street reach programs and how it is frustrating. I thought about the uneasiness I felt and why I didn’t sleep. I realized that I should be more thankful for the boys who sleep at street reach. They know they are safe and are loved. What a great place to fall asleep and such a contrast from the streets. Where they are beaten and ignored. Finally it was time to get to moving. We wanted to know what the boy’s life is like so we asked them what they would do. Most of them walk the streets and collect bottles or scrap metal. They then take the bottles and metal to the slums to trade them in for money. So we took our coal bags that we slept in and started walking. We searched through the sewers and trash looking for bottles. It became fun to watch the boys enjoying the fact that we were helping them. After walking around for about two hours we made it into the slums to get the money. We then headed back to the cars to leave. We were all pretty tired and sore, but it had still be worth it. It means so much to gain a better understanding of what the boys we work with everyday go through. It meant a lot to them to see us doing it. I know it meant a lot to me. If you wanna help us continue the work we do with street kids you can go to ww.abaana.org to learn how you can be involved.
If you would like to read more from another prospective you can chack out other team member blogs Katie http://findthefield.blogspot.com Ryan http://beingrenovated.blogspot.com Malloory http://mountainhighvalleylo.blogspot.com
A zoo animal and Invisible children– One thing is for sure. I know what it feels like to be stared at. It is not considered rude to stare at people here, and being white gives people a reason to do it. So as it turned to after midnight and all the people where moving around the streets, everyone would gather around and just stare, boda drivers, business men and woman, people just walking the streets, and anyone else the crowd would draw. They would just stand at our feet and stare. Five minutes was about the amount of time for someone who stopped, but there was the occasional ten minute person. Again it was quite bothersome, and I didn’t feel as though I was getting a true picture of what a night on the street was like for the boys. I put the hood of my sweatshirt on so I wouldn’t have to see what all was going on and try to get a little sleep. While I was trying to become invisible, I noticed the boys around me were well on their way to sleeping. I realized that every night they became invisible. They would sleep right below people’s feet and conversations, and those people would never take a second glance at them. They would not stop and ask if they needed anything. In order to be able to sleep with so much commotion, they had to know that people didn’t see them in order to even go to sleep. I thought about what that must do to them mentally, to shut yourself down from being a person every night. I thought about the ones who had been there for years and how it must play with their identity and self worth. I looked around and saw those boys were already asleep. Then I noticed all the others who were still rolling around where boys who had not been on the street long, maybe less than 6 months, and they were not having an easy time falling asleep. That change in attitude is a critical part in the rescue of boys on the street. As soon as they begin to become comfortable and think there is no way out or have no hope for something better, or start to feel invisible, they are hard to rehabilitate and to even get off the street whether they like it there or not. It becomes a part of them. Therefore, it is very crucial to get to the boys who are new and help foster the drive in them for something better, as we work to get them off the streets. One boy we talked to, who was 10, came to the city with his brother and then his brother just left him on the streets. There was no reason and he had no way to get home even though he had been very happy there. Joshua was his name and this had happened a month ago. We decided that we could get him transportation home and so the next morning we took him to the New Life Homes and then our social worker checked in on his family. Monday he is headed home. He was so happy. He looked like a new child when we went to visit the homes later in the day after we had gotten some sleep. That’s one boy rescued from this life!
A new friend – While I was sitting there trying to be left alone and avoid the stares of everyone on the street, I looked up one time to see one of the boys starring at me. He had a rather rough look to him. He was quite a bit older and was just giving me the eye. I tried to go back to being invisible, I looked again 10 minutes later and he was leaning down trying to see under my hood. He leaned back and said hello. I responded. I asked him if he was tired and he said no. Great, I thought, he is going to stare at me all night. He then asked me how I was doing, and I said I was fine. I knew this was actually my chance to engage in a real conversation or end it with the next question so I jumped at it. “How are you doing?” “I am suffering,” was the response and I knew I had all I needed. When you find the ones who aren’t happy they are the ones who can be ministered to more effectively. I perked up and we started to talk. His name is Steven. HE came to the streets in 2003 we he was 11. His mother and father were both dead and his brothers had left. He asked him what he wanted me to do and he said anything, but mostly he wanted a job. I asked how he got food during the day and he told me he had made friend with several people who work in hotels. He would go and help or do odd jobs and they would feed him out of the kitchen. He told me he wanted to be either a doctor or a pastor. He spoke rather good English so asked him how far he had been in school. He had made it to P3 before he was forced to the streets. He told me that he would love to go to school because he couldn’t do anything without being educated. I then told him about Frontline at Calvary Chapel and about Abaana street reach where he could come get food, learn some more, and get help. I made him promise to met me on Tuesday at the soccer field and he told me he would if we could (side note when we got up the next morning and were leaving I said I’ll see you Tuesday, and he said I will see you later today at church. I smiled and told him I would not be at frontline today but he should go. He assured me that we would and I can’t wait to see him on Tuesday) He laid down beside me with his head resting on the concrete. I had taken my sweat shirt off since it was hot and so I moved half of it under his head to use as a pillow. He smiled at me really big. It didn’t take long before he was asleep. During the night we was rolling over and curling up to get warm so I gave him the sweat shirt to wear and then in the morning I told him he could keep it. He stood around me until we left with a big smile. I can’t wait to see him again and I pray he shows up so we can try to help him out of the situation he is in.
There were other stories and other friends. Like the boy who was kicked out of his house because his family was Muslim. Another was a great soccer player before he lost his family and came to the streets. He had only been on the streets for a little over a month and was worried someone would steal his shoes. He didn’t sleep until about 4 am when he saw that I was going to be up. He asked me if I would watch his shoes. When I told him yes, he went to sleep. Then there was Musha. He was 21 and had run a shop on the street in Tanzania selling phones. He came to Kampala two years ago to get a better deal on phones. He was mugged and had everything stolen. He has been stuck on the street ever since. He wears a big smile and asked if he could sleep with Scott. The next day when we were searching the trash and the streets for bottles I remembered the words to “We Fall Down” in Swahili,the language he speaks, and began to sing it. He got a huge smile and started to join me half way through. When it was over, he gave me a big hug. It made me think about when the spirit came at Pentecost and everyone heard the message in their own language and was in awe. Acts 2:5-8
It’s where you would have found Jesus and I did – One thing during the night that was quite interesting, were the times when people were yelling at us stupid muzungus for sleeping on the street. They would stop and stare and then yell at us for being there and sleeping on the streets. I thought about the reception Jesus got from the Pharisees and teachers of the law when he was found eating with the tax collectors and sinners (Luke 27-32) or even from His own disciples when people brought children to him. (Matthew 19:13-15). I imagine it was much the same. People were confused and didn’t know what to make of it. But I’m guessing it felt just right with him. Although I wasn’t comfortable it wasn’t because of how I felt about being there. I knew that was where I should be. During the night at 4am one of the little boys at the far end woke up and stretched. His eyes were barely open and then he looked at me. His eyes shot open. I smiled at him. Not a full smile, one to let him know I saw him. He then put a huge grin on his face and so did I. The look lasted about 5 seconds. He laid his head back down to go to sleep with a big smile. I could help but feel Jesus was smiling at me for being there at that time.
As the night went on and I still didn’t get any sleep. I thought about all the kids who do this every night, not just once. I thought about all the boys who sleep at the street reach programs and how it is frustrating. I thought about the uneasiness I felt and why I didn’t sleep. I realized that I should be more thankful for the boys who sleep at street reach. They know they are safe and are loved. What a great place to fall asleep and such a contrast from the streets. Where they are beaten and ignored. Finally it was time to get to moving. We wanted to know what the boy’s life is like so we asked them what they would do. Most of them walk the streets and collect bottles or scrap metal. They then take the bottles and metal to the slums to trade them in for money. So we took our coal bags that we slept in and started walking. We searched through the sewers and trash looking for bottles. It became fun to watch the boys enjoying the fact that we were helping them. After walking around for about two hours we made it into the slums to get the money. We then headed back to the cars to leave. We were all pretty tired and sore, but it had still be worth it. It means so much to gain a better understanding of what the boys we work with everyday go through. It meant a lot to them to see us doing it. I know it meant a lot to me. If you wanna help us continue the work we do with street kids you can go to ww.abaana.org to learn how you can be involved.
If you would like to read more from another prospective you can chack out other team member blogs Katie http://findthefield.blogspot.com Ryan http://beingrenovated.blogspot.com Malloory http://mountainhighvalleylo.blogspot.com
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