Seeing

People always say you should be careful what you wish for.  It’s the same about prayers.  Be careful what you pray for.  Because God might just do exactly what you ask.

Like that prayer we prayed as a staff at the beginning of this year: Give us eyes to see and ears to hear.  Seems like a simple enough prayer.  But having your eyes TRULY opened?  That’s not simple at all.

The first month and a half of our internship was mostly focused on working with the boys in our residential program.  We’ve loved it.  Building relationships and investing in their growth.  So fulfilling.  But two weeks ago our outreach programs began.  Outreach is a whole other ballgame.  The residential boys are the “after” to a VERY long process.  The “before”?  It’s way more messy; but still beautiful.  We do outreach in three different ways:

(1) Mayompapa.  This is every Tuesday.  We go to town, pick up 40-50 boys and bring them out to our land in Garneton.  They have time to bath, wash their clothes, play games, have a Bible lesson/prayer time, do some educational activities and have a giant lunch. 

(2) The Learning Center.  This is every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  We meet the boys in town (usually between 12-18 show up) and split into small groups to focus on basic literacy and math skills.  We also give them a small snack of buns and juice.  This is where we really get to know the boys and spend the most time with them.

(3) Night Outreach.  This is every other Friday night.  We really just go and hang out with them on the streets.  We just want to spend time in their world and let them know we’re here for them.

Now, back to what I said about dangerous prayers.  God has most definitely begun opening our eyes to what HE sees when He looks at these children.  You see, the more time you spend with “street kids,” the more you see how precious they are.  You hear their stories.  You get to know their laughs.  You realize that they’re just kids.  Sure, they might make bad decisions and seem broken beyond repair, but each one of them has a God-given purpose here on earth.  Which is why it breaks your heart a million times to see them in these situations.

 

The other day, Chris was walking in town after the teaching at the Learning Center and he saw two boys sleeping in the corridor.  It was the middle of the day.  People were passing all around.  Most ignored them, but as Chris got closer, he realized they were two of OUR boys.  He went over, woke them up and began talking to them, getting lots of stares from the others walking by.  After telling me this story he said something I’ll never forget: “I can never unsee them now.  I can never look at a street kid the same way again.”  THAT’S what it means to have your eyes opened.

A few months ago, street kids were just another part of life in Zambia.  We would often walk the streets without noticing these children all around us.  If we DID see them, we probably just felt pity (maybe even annoyance or fear).  But that has all changed now.  Now we actually go into town looking for them.  When I’m riding in a bus or taxi, my eyes are looking in all directions to see if I can spot one of our boys.  We often hear cries of “Uncle!  Auntie!” when we walk through the market place.  They know us, and we know them.  We love the confused looks people give us when we stop to talk with one of these precious children.  Because we know they can’t see what we see.  They’re looking through foggy glasses.  To them, it doesn’t make sense.  But God has started giving us new eyes to see.  And so far, what we see is beautiful.