“Wanting to get well!”

As we work with street children in Kenya, we have noticed that it is critical to keep in mind the psychological effects of living on the street.  Some boys don’t want help.  They’ve become hard and comfortable with their situation in part because it is easier for a passerby to just hand out 5 shillings and avoid the boy than to show love and concern.  Taking the time to engage the boy in conversation means getting personally involved

There are many things repulsive to the senses about a street boy.  Their clothes are filthy, their hair has lice, their skin may be infected with scabies and the glue then inhale gives off a very pungent odor.  There is nothing to attract someone…nothing except their needs.  Once you have mustered the courage and fortitude to go past the visibly repulsive things, it takes another effort to actually care about the boy as a person, not just as an object of your pity.  Pity seldom in fact does any good at all.  What is needed is a willingness to care about what this boy thinks about himself and his circumstance.  Is he ready for help?  Does he want help?  Does he even know what the best thing for him even is? 

Wanting change is the most critical step to effecting change.  This is one of the insights we have learned since we came here in October of 2002.  If a street boy doesn’t want to change, then the clean bed, daily food and education of Agape won’t benefit him.  First he must want to get well, just like the man by the pool. 

When you meet a boy on the street, our first impulse is to scoop him up and take him to Agape.  This is seldom the wisest move.  In fact, most recently, one young boy I told you about--Mourice--who was brought to Agape after he was hit by a car is a perfect illustration of this.  Mourice was in a cast for two months while his leg healed.  The day after the cast was removed at the hospital, he ran back to the street.  Yesterday we spoke with him on the street.  Every impulse within us was to take him by the hand and lead him back to Agape…but we didn’t.  Something inside Mourice didn’t want help.  Discovering this through discussion and allowing him to decide to come on his own was the wise move.  In the coming days, Lebaus will be talking to Mourice, counseling him to weigh the circumstances of the street and the opportunities at Agape.  In time he will share with Lebaus why he returned to the street.  Only then will the obstacle be overcome in Mourice’s own mind. 

This past week we had the opportunity to visit another place named Bethesda.  A young Swedish girl named Rakel has started a ministry to street children in Nakuru.  Patty and I took our management team there to discuss her work.  We were keenly interested in her experience with “home based care.”  She has already begun to reintegrate children from the street into their rural home by using her national staff to investigate the circumstances in their home that may have led the boy to run to the street.  She has 11 boys who stay at her Center. 

We have been doing our homework on reintegration and we have learned some very important principles.  One of the chief elements in successful reintegration has to do with this “Wanting” principle.  The parents have to want the child and the child has to want to go home.  Leading the family and child to this conclusion can take many visits and discussions.  Only then is the obstacle which led to the child’s running away uncovered and dealt with.  If the root cause of the circumstance is not discovered, reintegration is impossible.  That is also who Patty and I will NOT be doing the field work in reintegration.  Quite frankly, the family would never share with us the root causes.  They would cover up the root cause and see our white skin as an opportunity to ask for something.  We’ll keep posted as we begin to develop a plan to reintegrate some selected boys at Agape and the ones who are on the street.  Making this program successful is not only what is best for the boy, it also helps to curb the problem at its source.  A successfully reintegrated boy into his home is a deterrent in that community for other children to run to the street.  The testimony and example of that family will be worth its weight in gold in that village.

News and Notes:

1.  Patty recently became a Rotarian.  At the last meeting of the Rotary Club of Kisumu, she was inducted as a member.  She is the only female member and will certainly bring some “beauty” to the club.  One of the members even commented during the introductions, “Welcome to the men’s club!” 

2. We are in the process of conducting some training and orientation meetings with our house parents and guards.  We have added two new house-parents and moved Mama Margaret into the role as House Mama.  She will care for the smallest boys, insure that their clothes are washed and they are ready for school in the morning.  She will also bring a motherly element to the dormitory which is much needed.

3.  I encourage everyone to attend the CD release concert this Sunday of “He Knows My  Name”.  This CD features many of our boys and will be presented by ThreeFour:One at a concert at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Elk Grove.  Call the Agape office for directions.  All proceeds of the sale of this CD will go to Agape.  A music video was also produced and will be shown at this concert.

Prayer list

1. Praise that Ambrose has recovered from malaria and is adjusting to his new school schedule at Agape.

2. Safe travel for Tom and Marg Tucker who are on a plane as I write these words, winging their way back to Africa.  Praise that Tom’s physical ailments are now healed.

3. Blessings on all our supporters in the US.  We continue to sense the Lord’s calling here and are feeling more and more “at home” in this ministry.

4. Intervention on a governmental level as we apply for duty free status in the coming weeks.