One day I went on bike ride. As I was getting on my bike I
noticed that my phone was hanging out of my pocket so I reached over and tucked
it back in. After I reached my destination I soon realized that my phone, my
IPHONE, had fallen out! Frantically I rode back home and searched for it along
the way. When I reached home I asked our worker to help me in searching for it.
By this time, I was pretty upset and was riding my bike up and down the road looking
for it.
A few hours later our worker came back with some neighborhood
street kids. Since we don’t speak much Kinyarwanda, communication was very
limited. Here were several kids sitting outside our gate with a growing group
of bystanders trying to help get the phone back. It was apparent that these
street kids had the phone, or at least at one point they had it.
These kids were young. They appeared to be around 4-7 years
of age. There were 6 of them. Everyone was saying that they were thieves and
that we needed to take them to the police. I kept thinking…how could such young
children be thieves? How can these young children walk around all day without
adult supervision?
As I was sitting at our gate looking at these children and
watching them lie about the phone, my heart broke for them. The whole situation
made me very sad. I was saddened because they seemed to be getting in trouble
with all of the bystanders who had gathered. I’m thinking the whole time, “They
didn’t steal the phone!” They were walking on our road and found it in the
sand. It wasn’t their fault that they found it. Now, at this point, they knew to
whom the phone belonged and they still weren’t willing to give it up, but they
didn’t steal it. Even after talking with them for hours and taking them to the
police they still were not budging.
The question that kept coming to my mind was, “How could I
love on these children that are called thieves?”
A few weeks after the phone incident, these kids were still
on my heart. I felt convinced that God wanted me to help these boys. God has
called us to feed the hungry and love the unlovable, right? So… I sent our
worker looking for the boys.
It took him days of searching to find them and
all the while communication was still difficult. At first the boys refused to
come. I am guessing they were too afraid we were going to take them to jail.
Finally the day came and 6 of the boys came to
eat lunch – 3 ½ hours late. We made them rice, maize, carrots and green beans
and meat. They all ate until they were full. It was such a great sight
for me. I had been praying all day they would come, and finally they had come.
I am hopeful they will come back next Friday and then the next and then the
next.
Matthew 25:37-40
37 “Then the
righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes
and clothe you? 39 When did we
see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I
tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters
of mine, you did for me.’
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