The Lord is a Miracle Worker

Tuesday, August 2nd

On Tuesday we made our way to Eastleigh to spend some time with the community through a ministry called Made in the Streets or MITS. This ministry was created to take kids off the street and create a new life for them which is rooted in Jesus Christ. If the street kids come to the MITS headquarters on Tuesdays and Fridays to learn about God and have a true desire to change their live, then MITS will send them to a place called the farm. At the farm they have a place to live, eat, worship the Lord, start an education, and learn a skill which they can us throughout their life to keep them from going back to the streets. The kids are allowed to stay at the farm until they are 18 years old and then they help them find an internship or something similar which is related to the job skill they have learned.

Once we were in Eastleigh, we had the chance to go to the bases which are small areas in the community where street kids meet to talk to MITS people about God and hopefully one day change their lives. These bases consist of around 30 to 50 kids with ages ranging from 5 to maybe 18ish which congregate for protection, very similar to a gang. Many of the boys suffer from drugs and are often high off sniffing glue. The team split into two groups in the morning, one group would go out to the bases and meet the street kids, the other group stayed at the MITS headquarters and worshiped and played games with the street kids that had decided to come to MITS that day. I was part of the group that went out to meet the street kids at the bases.

Enter the Eastleigh community was such a shock and wouldn’t have been possible unless we had a team member from the MITS ministry with us. The area is not a slum but is still in a great depression of poverty and in need of God and His presence. 90% of the population there is Muslim and it isn’t necessarily a safe place for Christians to be, however, they typically don’t bother believers. Our team consisted of Francis our leader who was an ex-street kid that has now been saved through Jesus, me, Trenton, Erika, and Renee. We made our way to the first base and as we walked through the streets of Eastleigh there was definitely a difference then walking through the slums. I actually felt less safe in the streets of Eastleigh then the slums and many people compared the community to those run down cities you would see in war movies like Black Hawk Down.

We came to our first base which was down this small alley way that was completely covered in trash. About half way down we came to a place which had about 12 street boys. Many of the boys had their bottles of glue which they were sniffing and it was obvious that the boys were high. Francis started to talk to the boys and said that we were here to bring them the word of God. It kind of caught us off guard because in the past our leader would just share a short message and then we would just be there to offer a blessing, but this time it was us that needed to give the message. Trenton, Erika, and I all gave sharings about Jesus that was almost like a small sermon. The boys seemed to listen intently and I could tell that they were very happy to have visitors in the streets. As Trenton was giving his message we heard something squeak and fall in the trash behind us. It gave us all a scare and when we turned around to see what it was, there was a small kitten that was barely alive. The street kids we were talking to said that the people on the other side of the wall threw it over and one of the boys walked over grabbed it by the tail and just threw the kitten back over the wall. This experience is something I will always remember and it really showed me how deadened to life and death these boys really are. After we were done there we said bye to the boys and made our way to the next base.

The next base had a larger number of people compared to the first base we were at and also had a few girls. This was the base which Francis had come from and it was great to see more of the street kids. We gave our message to them and then asked if we could take pictures. Wow, they exploded with joy and wanted us to take pictures of them all… it was actually quite overwhelming since I was the only one with a camera. I could feel myself being pulled in 5 different directions and everyone was saying my name wanting me to take their picture. After taking many pictures we made our way to the next base. Here there were a good number of street boys and there were two there who had remembered seeing Trenton the year before. We gave our message there and they were so thankful to hear from us and have us there. I just pray we made a difference in their lives and that they will now be one step closer to wanting to know Jesus. The one thing I made sure they knew before I finished my sharing was to let them know that Jesus loves them and wants to be with them. From here we started our journey back to MITS and came across one last base where we introduced ourselves but weren’t able to share. We came across one boy that was just sitting on the side of the street and it was obvious that he was high on glue. We wanted to invite him the MITS but I don’t even think he could stand up. One of his friends who was another street boy we had spoken to said that he would bring him, I prayed the Lord would make a way for him to get to MITS.

Once we were back at MITS we had lunch and spoke with the rest of the team about their experiences. We then proceeded to have a worship time with the boys that were at the headquarters and then broke up into small groups. I was in charge of leading one of the small groups and it was such an experience. The boys shared about why the left home and how they came to live on the streets. It was amazing to hear their stories and many of the things that happen to these boys should never have happen to anyone. It was encouraging when I asked what they wanted in life and most of them wanted to get an education and have the opportunity to go to school. Once we were done with small groups we came together to do worship again. I then noticed the boy that we had seen on the side of the streets had made it MITS but he was so high I am not sure he would even be able to tell where he was, but at least he got to eat a meal and be in the presence of the Lord. We then said bye to the street boys that had come to MITS and that completed our day at Eastleigh.

John