(Two) Second Chances

Kato

Kato listening to music

Kato

Kato

Now, because this is a blog, and the general impression of blogs is that they are where people are... honest about their feelings and their lives, I am going to be as honest as possible. Sometimes it's hard to admit my faults in public, but I think sometimes it's important.

I love street children, I really do. I love them to pieces. They bring so much joy and excitement and heartbreak into my life. No matter how wild or crazy or troubled they are, God has just given me a special love for street children!!!

The ones that do drugs and fight- no problem!

The ones that have attachment problems and say I love you when I come and then how much they hate me whenever I have to leave- yep, love them to pieces

The ones that are "tough" and aloof- love them too!

But there was a boy in our programs who manipulated, lied, stole and complained, and that child, that child I had a really hard time loving. He drove me crazy! He had actually been in our home when it had first opened. He had been in the home a few hours before stealing a large sum of money from a house uncle and running away with another boy from the home. Once back in our street children programs, if we gave him a t-shirt he would complain that we hadn't given him a pair of jeans too, then he would turn around and sell the t-shirt and brag to everyone about how he had gotten money out of us. He refused to bathe or change his clothing, so much so that all the boys called him "insecere" or "body lice"

It was so hard for me to love this child and I felt extremely guilty for disliking him. I was a Christian- a missionary! I should love every single child in our programs just like Christ did! Although Kato was frustrating, I knew he was really hurting too. He was so shut down. On his request we had taken him back home to his mother. As soon as we got there she told him and the uncle resettling him that she didn't want him, that he should just return to the streets because she wanted nothing to do with him.

I knew that the way I felt about Kato was not right and I asked several people to pray for me, that God would give me a heart for Kato like His, that I would see Kato through the same lens that Christ did.

In my own strength I was weak but after much time and prayer, God gave me a deep love and compassion for Kato. I saw the hurting child in him, the boy that felt forgotten and hopeless.

Kato went in and out of homes, slums, and our programs for over 3 years. After some time, I began to see a slow and steady change in him.

His heart of stone that he protected from everyone that had shattered into a million pieces time and time again, began to come back together. The boy who had stolen from our home became one of the most trustworthy boys in our programs. If I ever wanted to play soccer but needed someone to carry my purse, I began trusting Kato to do it. He would hold my bag/backpack/money, whatever it was as if it were his child, on his stomach with his arms wrapped firmly around it- desperate to prove himself and to show that he was a good boy. He knew that he had a special place in my heart.

Kato lost the small glitter of hope that used to be in his eyes, and although he was sinking, he put his trust and love in a God that radically changed his life.

God put Kato on my heart as well as others in our ministry and on Monday, Mama Joyce (my mother-in-law the mama of the younger boys home) came to Kivulu to tell him that he was coming into our home. The moment he was told this and he saw me he came running up to me and nearly knocked my over with a hug of excitement.

"Auntie Babirye! Auntie Babirye! I AM GOING HOME! I AM GOING HOME TODAY!!!" Kato shouted jumping up and down.

"I know Kato, I am so happy for you! We love you so much, and God loves you so much and we want you to be home with us!"

He then looked at me seriously and said,  "Auntie Babirye, back in the day, when I went into the home, I stole a lot of money and I did a lot of bad things that I shouldn't have but I am not like that anymore..."

"Kato" I told him, "That was in the past, all of those old things, we are putting them behind us, we are throwing them away forever. In Christ you are a new creation, you are a new, a good boy, and that is the boy that we know now. Kato what are you?"

He looked up at me with a grin, "Auntie, I am a new boy"

"That is right Kato, and I know that you are going to be good mannered, because you are a good boy."

Kato just looked at me and grinned with the biggest smile that I have literally ever seen on his face. He had something there that I have never seen before on him, joy. Pure joy!

It reminds me of the parable of the lost sheep. I KNOW that there is rejoicing in heaven of one boy who first found his way to Christ who then showed him into a home.

There was a second boy that we also brought home that day. A tattered, quite boy in a huge blue shirt. Enoch. My precious, wild little Enoch.

Enoch was in the home only a few weeks before all of the trauma he had gone through caught up to him. Unable to cope with his past without drugs, he had run back to the streets. It was a long road, and it took a long time, but finally he was able to come to a place where he was ready to come back home. He asked us if he could return, and Mama Joyce, came promptly to pick him up. With tears glistening her eyes she told me how much she loved him and how she had prayed for him as he was gone.

We are rejoicing at our two boys that have come back home! Please pray with us that as God begins the slow and painful process of healing their hearts that they will be able to trust and love and stay home, no matter how scary it feels to risk being loved (because they think they may be abandoned if they trust anyone). 

Update on Moses

Hey all, soo... since some of you have been asking for an update, Moses is doing wonderfully! He went back to school last week and has just settled in so well to his Forever Home and his Forever Family! We love having him with us, he is SUCH a sweet child! Here are a few pictures of him from the last week! 

Moses on his new bed 

Moses Painting

Moses Painting

Moses painting a picture

Moses jumping on the trampoline

Juggling the soccer ball like a champ!

And also, the boy that we brought into the home before Moses, Ibra (nicknamed Engineer) is also doing great! Here are a few photos of him!

Ibra getting off of the swing

Ibra (with medicine on, he got chicken pox)

Ibra with his new watergun (thanks  Lauren!) blasting away Uncle Peter

Thanks Lauren for all of the pics! 

Day In The Life Of A Street Child, In Pictures

These pictures were taken by Michael Godbold as a glimpse into the life of a street child...

One of the entrances to Kivulu Slum, are programs are just to the right of this picture

 

Kivulu, Grace Fellowship Church, where our programs are is the structure on the right with different colors of sheet metal

Street kids hanging out at a local "pool hall"

Street kids gambling

A street child selling his scraps of metal that he has collected. Street children either collect metal or plastic bottles for money to survive

Older street boys selling "scrap electronics"

The electronics for sale

Selling mira, a local drug that is chewed

Place where street kids sell the bottles and scrap metal that they collect, it is weighed on a scale and purchased by the kilo

One boy hanging out as his two friends take naps below him

A street child huffing chenge

Uncle Abbey and Sabote, huffing chenge (an aviation fuel)

A boy bathing his legs at a pipe in a canal in Kivulu

A street child collect scrap in the evening. Street children collect scraps early in the morning and in the evening as their is less people around

A street child going through garbage for bottles and perhaps something to eat

Street kids at a local movie hall watching movies

Kids of the Street

Here are some prayer requests from some sweet kids in our programs

Hakim

Katamba Hakim, left his home because when his dad remarried his step mom, she would beat him, make him work, fetch water, and clean the house. She would not let him go to school and when played with his friends she wouldn’t feed him. He has been on the streets for one year. He sleeps outside; when he can’t get enough money to eat he eats from the trash, he collects scraps of metal to sell but when the owners find him they beat him. He grew up in Bombo Village. He wants prayer to be able to go back to school and to find a home. He is nine years old. He enjoys cleaning the vehicles in Wandageya. 

Robert

Robert Musinoguz, left home because his dad was always drunk and he would tie him up to beat him. He has been on the streets for 3 years. On the streets the police men arrest and take him to prison without a reason. He grew up in Katanga, Kampala. He is 12 years old. He wants prayer so he can go back to school. He wants people to pray for his safety. He likes collecting bottles and selling them.

Richard

Santongo Richard, left home because his step mother was a drunk and would burn him with metal cables. He has been on the streets for 2 years. On the streets he has been beaten and by older people and they take his stuff. He grew up in Kisasi, Kampala. He is 13 years old. A few months ago he drank acid by accident and came to our programs with a white, burned mouth, shaking and extremely sick. We rushed him to the hospital where the doctors said he would need an immediate operation. The next day, before he was going to be operated on, they put a camera back down his throat for a final check and found that he no longer need it. We  praise God for healing Richard! Richard sometimes goes by the nickname now of acid because of the incident.  He wants prayer to find a home. He likes to go to the Kikubo to get food.

A Legacy

Mom and I

My mother and mother-in-law

Beautiful mamacita in Tanzania

Mom and dad

A picture of David and I in Tanzania!

To my loving and wise mother
My humble, strong and godly father
My kind-hearted and bold brother
and my passionate and loyal sister...
I love you. 

 Women hold up families in Africa. There are so many courageous women here in Africa. David's mom, my mother-in-law is one of them. She is a "force of love" as my mom calls her and is just one of the best, most loving (yet strict) mothers out there! 

A few weeks ago my mom and dad were able to come to Uganda to visit our ministry (the kids of course love them to pieces!) and to then go with David and I for a week and a half to Tanzania to rest, spend time together as well as to see other ministries. It was such good time together and soooo restful! For my dad's birthday we were able to go on a little hike on the base of Mt Kilimanjaro. We were also able to walk downtown, see a cultural centers and a reptile exhibit. 

Being able to spend time with my mother was so renewing. I look up to her so much, the wisdom and courage that she has and the way that she loves everyone that comes across her path. When working with the boys, so often I have to stop and think, "What did mom do with us when we did .......?" or "What would mom do right now?" She gave me a perfect script for loving children unconditionally while at the same time requiring the best out of them. My mom has always been there for me and through this crazy journey of my life, she has been with me every step of the way.

 I can still remember sitting outside and crying as overwhelmed I talked to my mom about how big and scary and crazy it was that God had had me open a children's home full of a bunch of wild street boys (that I loved), or the times I have called her when terrible things had happened to the boys and I had no idea what to do. I remember telling her how in love I was with a man named David Kakeeto and the day that I sat her down with my dad to tell her that I felt called to be a missionary in Africa.  

My mother has taught me to be a godly woman, to love passionately and to care for the hearts of everyone around me, especially the man and children that I love.

It was also so good to spend time with my father. 

I have also heard that the girls will look for a husband who treats her the same way that her husband did. Luckily for David, my dad always treated me like a princess and so I, for everyday of my life have expected nothing less! I also grew up with an amazing twin brother who was my best friend in the world and also treated my like a princess. My dad and my brother grew up as men of integrity who not only treated women well but fought for them and protected them. In so many ways, they protected my heart until the day when I met the amazing man who was to be my husband. 

It is generally known in economics that if you want to help a developing country rise up economically, that the first thing that you must do is educate and empower the women. If it is men oppressing women, than it requires men to make the way for women to rise up. I am so blessed to have an amazing father who does this for women. He is not only a father to me but to so many other men here in Africa. I love the heart that he has in developing young men and for protecting women.

  I also love how close he and David are. 

All in all, it was a wonderful time in Tanzania with my parents and David. We got a lot of much needed rest, David and I had great time together and we also had a great time talking with my parents and planning for the ministry that God has ahead of us in the year to come. It also made me miss my (twin) brother Luke and sister Liz a lot as well, I am so close to them. It feels difficult being so far from them physically when we are so close in our heart, spirit, and the ministry that we all do, but I am looking forward to seeing them this coming Christmastime.