There is an unbelievable number of street children in the world today: an estimated 100 million. They are living on the street, with no protection, no security, and no love. They steal, sniff glue, have sex, fight and rummage for food. However these things don’t define them. That is not who God intended for them to be or where God intended for them to live. They come from broken families all over: slums, middle class homes, and even Christian homes. God wants them to have loving parents and a safe home. These are children, between the ages of 0 and 18…living on the streets, sleeping on cardboard, and scared for their lives. When it comes to hope, they have none. They find themselves sniffing glue to take care of the emptiness in their lives. When it comes to love, they are alone. So they end up having sex with each other to make up for that hole in their hearts.
They are taking care of themselves. That was never supposed to happen.
Our speaker Mati is based in Recife, Brazil where he has leadership of the YWAM base. Their focus is ministering to the street children. Over the years they have seen the work develop and make a real difference in the lives of many children.
One thing Mati said this week that really stood out to me was, “With knowledge comes responsibility. When you see light, you are responsible for the light that you know. ” Once we are faced with knowledge of these situations, we have a responsibility to do something. Satan has a lot of ways of destroying children. We can see that through what is happening to these kids on the streets. One of the ways Satan destroys children is through the apathy of those who can help those kids. I think it’s important to take a look at what is holding us back from helping children all over the world and children in our own neighborhood. Is it apathy? If so, we need to kick ourselves in the butts. Kids need us.
We talked this week about following your calling and taking a risk to follow God even if we can’t see where we are going. Moses took the Israelites out of Egypt without having any idea where he was going, how he was going to feed all of them or where they would sleep. He had no idea what he was doing, except that God told him to do it. And he followed God’s lead to wherever it took him. Do I have that kind of faith, where I will step out and do something God tells me, even if I don’t know where I will sleep, where I will get food or where I’m even going? I don’t really know. I have had the faith to come here and believe that this is where God has taken me. But in some ways, I feel as though this is a safe place. Would I be able to step out and go somewhere else? To follow God, even if I can’t see where I’m going? I’m trying and striving and moving forward. I think that’s a good place to start.
We talked this week about following your calling and taking a risk to follow God even if we can’t see where we are going. Moses took the Israelites out of Egypt without having any idea where he was going, how he was going to feed all of them or where they would sleep. He had no idea what he was doing, except that God told him to do it. And he followed God’s lead to wherever it took him. Do I have that kind of faith, where I will step out and do something God tells me, even if I don’t know where I will sleep, where I will get food or where I’m even going? I don’t really know. I have had the faith to come here and believe that this is where God has taken me. But in some ways, I feel as though this is a safe place. Would I be able to step out and go somewhere else? To follow God, even if I can’t see where I’m going? I’m trying and striving and moving forward. I think that’s a good place to start.
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