Street Boys - Ambo

The remainder of our week was spent with boys who live on the street. Again cultural relevance is important. In America we do not have any population that resembles the street boys. The boys are not like homeless people that you may see on the streets of large U.S. cities. These boys range from all ages beginning at about. Each one of them have a story. There are many reasons why these boys live on the streets. The have been orphaned by the death of their parents, they have been kicked out of their homes because their family is too poor to care for them or they have fled their homes to be spared of physical and sexual abuse that is occurring in their homes. The only common denominator is that these boys live on the streets and as terrible as life on the streets is for them it is better than their other options. As a result these boys have become their own family. They take care of each other, live together, work together and try to survive together.

We fed the boys, taught the boys English, played games with them, taught them how to play kickball and had a bible study with them. I really struggled the day we had the bible study with them. It is so hard to reconcile these worlds and how they all work together. One of the girls on our team did a great job telling the story of Phillip and an Ethiopian man. The hard part came later. When explaining the work that Christ has done on our behalf so that you may no longer have seperation between you and God. She explained that sin seperates us from God and that some examples of sin are stealing, lying, cheating, etc. I looked at these boys in the face and all I could think of was I wonder what they are thinking. What are these boys supposed to do. They probably have to steal and cheat just to eat at night... to help them survive. How does this work? I am not doubting God's providence, absolute truth or the ability to radically change a persons heart BUT what does it look like for these boys. Is it realistic for these boys to leave this lifestyle. Can they even comprehend what it would be to be a follower of Jesus? I have no idea. All I know is I have to keep praying. It is not up to me to understand or comprehend. God does not have to explain Himself to me but I would love for it to make sense. It was a good but hard day. It was hard to reconcile these worlds and it probably always will be. It is not right for these kids to be on the street. It is not ok. It is not ok that maybe the only meal that they will have this week is the one that we fed them. It is not ok that fights broke out between boys over scraps of food that remained on the plates. It is not ok that older boys were threatening the younger boys to give them his food. It is not ok that a little boy was crying so hard that he could barely eat his food. It is not ok that I had to grab the older boys by the arm and push them away and stand to protect the younger boy so he could eat a meal. It is not ok. We live in a fallen and sinful world and it is not ok. It is hard, it does not make sense, it is not fair and there is nothing that I can do to fix it. All I can do is pray for these boys and share with them the truth that God has redeemed His children. That may not be enough for this world but it is enough for eternity. I have to remember that we were not made for this world. We were made for something greater. These boys were not made for this world. I pray that they will someday know that they were made for something greater.