Saturday, June 16, 2012

Another leap of faith





Working with street children is beautiful. It is exciting, and challenging, and just makes your heart want to explode from love.

Today we brought two sweet and precious boys into our home, Briggan and Solomon. They have relatives, but no one that loves them, no one that cares where they are or where they go. Being at "home" was a nightmare for them, they were tied to chairs and trees and beaten mercilessly. They were abandoned by their mothers. In our street programs over the last couple of weeks, both of them would ask me continuously to come home with me, to get off of the street and go back to school. Today, praise be to God, they are going to be able to!

There was a third boy that we had planned on taking home today, but David had felt that he needed to talk to him just one more time before bringing him in into our home today. He asked the boy if he engaged in sex with other boys (not as a victim but if he sought other boys out) and the boy admitted that he did on a regular basis, yesterday in fact. For the safety of the other boys already staying in our home, we did not bring that boy in today. So he went back to the streets where he will continue to seek out other boys.

There are so many boys that I have fallen in love with over the years, boys that for some reason have just grabbed my heart and never let go. The roughest, the toughest, the most angry and addicted boys on the streets. The boys that are known in Kampala as fighters. Boys that have never had a safe home or family, and boys that no matter how many chances they get, are unable to stay in a children's home, even ours. These kids are so smart and sensitive, that the injustice of their situation just enrages them, they are princes of a King, they are precious, yet they are treated like garbage. These kids if not helped are going to be dangerous men. However if they are... they are going to be the future leaders of Uganda. They are amazing!!!

 There are also a lot of boys that we are working with that are sexual predators. That through a long list of reasons begin sexually abusing other boys on a regular basis and harden their hearts against stopping. There are no homes for these boys in Uganda. There is no place for them to go where they can get the intensive counseling, structure, and help that they need while at the same time not victimizing the other children.

I feel as if God is bringing me back to the cliff, having me look down and whispering to me to jump.

To leap off of the cliff in faith.

David and I feel on our hearts that God is asking us to open a home for these boys.

To open a home for boys that are so unattached, strung out, angry, or sexually abusive that they cannot stay anywhere else. I am aware that a children's home for former street children is not exactly normal, but for us it is. I don't like, I love our forever homes, I praise God everyday for His hand in creating them and bringing the caregivers and children that He has.

But this home will have to be different, very different. I don't even know how exactly, I mean we have a lot of ideas. But David and I are so ridiculous undeserving and unfit to do this its unreal. God is going to need to give us grace, a whole lot of grace, and a lot of wisdom and direction on what to do.

Going back through my livejournal I saw so many of the boys I would love to take: Sharrif, Joseph, Andrew, Sabote, and Yahaya. I have always felt in my heart that God specifically wanted Yahaya in our home, but I just didnt see how it was possible, because the longest he has been able to stay in it before running away was 24 hours. But maybe this home he could...

I just wanted to share with you all, to please pray with us, to please stand behind us. If you have any thoughts, wisdom, encouragement or advice to share, please do.

Thank you so much to every single one of you who stands with us through prayer, love, encouragement, or financial support on the streets of Kampala to fight the injustice of that our beautiful children go through.

2 comments:

  1. I am praying for Y'all! God bless you for your leap of faith! Janet

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  2. Praying for you and David! And all the boys of course. You are exactly right that they WILL grow up to be dangerous men...BUT with God's grace and mercy...He can heal. Completely HEAL! Then they will be able to help others that have been in their situation. God Bless you for your willingness to leap! Even when it is scary! God likes to put us in places where we are totally dependent on Him...I think you will be right there with this new home!

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