Mwaiche.

Mwaiche.  The term for a young child in Bemba.  Most people use it to refer to their younger siblings, especially the last born.  You can also use it to call the smallest person in a group of people.  It’s even a cute term of endearment Chris uses for me sometimes J

But today it meant something different for me.  Today it was a reminder that the age of our street boys keeps getting younger and younger.  We had 42 boys at our Mayompapa program.  We always split  the boys into 3 groups based on their ages.  Group 1 is our “little boys” group, meaning the boys are all under the age of 16.  It’s USUALLY our smallest group.  Except for today.  Today, 19 of our 42 boys fit into the “little boys” category. 

I’ll be honest; playing with the little boys is usually more fun than trying to play with the 20-somethings who have been on the streets for over a decade.  They’re so darn cute.  They make you laugh.  But as I sat back and watched them all line up for lunch today, I was heartbroken.  The numbers keep increasing.  Almost every week, Chris has to do a profile for a new boy who has come to town.  One of the questions is, “Why did you leave home?”  The most popular answer, especially for little boys?  Tapali.  No reason. I’m sure this is just them protecting themselves.  Refusing to open up and share the deep hurts that caused them to run away.  But even after spending weeks and months with some of these boys, the answer is still the same.  “Why don’t you want to go home?”  Tapali.  No reason.  I simply can’t accept that as an answer for why a boy is sleeping outside in the dirt.  I need to justify it somehow.  I need it to make sense.  But that’s the hard reality we face with street work: most of it doesn’t make sense.

Yesterday, I went into town with Mama Mary, the house mother for one of our residential homes.  We were making our big monthly trip to buy groceries/supplies for the house.  While we were in the market, a group of our little boys walked up to greet us.  They were so cute and full of smiles; so excited to see us and help carry our vegetables.  They followed each other through the market, laughing and goofing off as they went.  They were the closest thing to the Lost Boys that I can imagine.  You know, the rag tag group of boys from Peter Pan.  The Neverland boys who want to play all day and never grow up.  That’s what I see when I look at this ever-growing number of boys on the streets.   

Life on the streets for a little boy can be a grand adventure in the beginning.  They tend to make easy money just begging, compared to the older boys who have to work hard all day carrying things or fetching water to earn a dollar or two.  People who sell things in the market often “adopt” them, giving them coins, food or clothing every now and then.  As I’ve already said, they’re adorable, so people want to help them.  In fact, they’re almost always the first ones to be taken by residential centers or other NGO’s who work with street kids.  But the problem is that they go to these centers for a “holiday.”  They stay for a few weeks, eat well, get some clean clothes, enjoy having a bed and then run away when they get tired of the rules or want to smoke some sticka.  Unlike Abba's Heart, most centers give boys chance after chance, no matter how many times they run.  Seems like a good thing at first, but really it’s just teaching the boys that they don’t actually have to change.  Centers become vacation homes instead of a place of restoration.

Another thing that broke my heart today was the fact that, from our 19 little boys, we had FOUR pairs of brothers.  The youngest boy, aged 10, showed up in town back in May.  He said he came all the way from a village in the far northern part of Zambia.  One day, about 3 weeks later, his older brother (12 years old) arrived.  He told us that he had been sent by their grandmother to find him and bring him home.  But what happened instead?  The little brother convinced the older brother to go to Lusaka.  They were there for about a month and then the older brother came back to Kitwe.  Now they’re both in town, with seemingly no plan to go back home. 

Stories like this are a dime a dozen on the streets.  Almost ALL of our boys have left at some point, only to show back up a few weeks or months later.  Every week we have to do a recount of which boys are at centers, which boys are back home and which boys are in town.  It’s frustrating.  Heartbreaking.  Sometimes you feel like you have no answers for them.  They’re still in the “fun” phase of living on the streets.  No one telling them what to do.  Hanging out with their friends all day instead of going to school or doing chores.  Making their own money and getting to spend it on whatever they want.  It’s a dream come true for most young boys.

But we adults know what the cost is for these children.  We know what they’re missing out on.  We see the way their futures are being destroyed.  The way their attitudes and behaviors are being shaped.  One of the major forms of bondage for these Lost Boys is sticka.  I can’t even explain to you how badly it affects the little ones.  Yes, it’s bad for everyone, but seeing a young child high on inhalant is one of those things that gives you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach.  You can just see their potential being stripped away.  Their gifts and talents.  Sometimes I just ask God, “Is THIS what you created them for?” 

Every week at Mayompapa, we take time to pray for each boy individually.  Pretty much every time I pray for a boy, and especially when it’s a young one, I pray that God makes town un-fun for them.  Not that I want it to be dangerous.  I pray for their protection, of course.  I want them to be safe from every kind of harm.  But I also want them to get to a point where they get sick of just playing around and decide to do something different.  For some of them, going home might not be an option.  But I pray that they decide to STAY at a center if they get another opportunity.  I pray that they start coming consistently to the learning center.  I pray that they stop following their friends and make decisions for themselves.

Today, I just felt a burden to share some more about these young ones that keep popping up in our lives.  Hopefully you have a better idea of how to pray for them, and for us as we try to reach them with truth and love.  Please continue praying for wisdom, patience, compassion and grace.  And pray that our Lost Boys wake up and decide to make better decisions for the precious lives they’ve been given.  Thank you soooo much for supporting us every step of the way!

                           (Here is a pic of some of our Little Boys from today's Mayompapa.)