Thirsty...???

What are you thirsty for??

Below looks like a bottle of water?? But it's not ... it's what's destroying the bodies of these kids on the street. It is paint thinner, the kids buy it and sniff it.. breathe it in (usually through the mouth) and live in a stupor.

On a Tuesday morning we have what we call 'Open House'. We use a room in a Church building in the centre, close to where the kids hang out. We go to wake up the kids and invite them to the church. There we offer breakfast, activities, dramas, and a 'word' for the day. This week was a particularly difficult week as each of the kids that came were very high on drugs (they had probably been sniffing all night). We found out two of the boys had bottles full of the paint thinner that the kids use (like the bottle above). Usually the kids have a bottle with a tiny little bit in the bottom of the bottle or they use a rag or the end of their jumper or tshirt - they soak this in the thinner and sniff on it. But it was obvious the boys had somehow got their hands on a lot of thinner and therefore were completely high.

They stayed in the church for a while (they are not allowed to bring their thinner in whether it be a bottle or a rag. But after about an hour they left. But they didn't go. They went out the front of the church and started to sniff again and buy and sell more thinner. these boys were 11 to 14 years old.

First the negotiate a price and amount.

Usually R$1 (about 38p) for a little bit

in the bottom of their bottle.

Then it is bought / sold.

It is so sad to see the desire for more and the arguments that can start through this... one takes their take of thinner but doesn't pay. Another is unhappy with not enough thinner for the R$1 or another took too much for the money he paid. With these boys already in a drugged stupor, the fights start easier and evolve quickly. When everything is settled they start sniffing again and return to their stupor:

It is heart breaking to see the kids in this state, and this is usually how it is with them. Especially in the evenings, so I was shocked to see how high they were at this time of the morning. These kids are so broken and destroyed that they spend their days like this... for them it is better to be like this than to face the reality of their lives.

I was reminded of being thirsty, these boys are thirsty to sniff this thinner to live a life of stupor. These bottles of thinner just look like a bottle of water, water which quenches thirst. I was reminded of what God says:  

“Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come;

let the one who desires take the water of life without price."

Revelation 22:17

What we offer these kids is "water of life." These kids are thirsty, it is obvious, and God offers water of life - something to quench their thirst and he offers then 'life' and it's free. They don't have to come with their R$1 to buy it. The problem is they are so blinded by the 'things that quench' of the world, but these things only quench for a short time.

Pray with me as we try to reveal to these kids that there is one greater to quench their thirst and they can go to Him, without paying, and it will quech their thirst for eternity. Pray that these kids will open their hearts to experience Our God, the Living Water.

Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the LORD is good; 

blessed is the one who takes refuge in him."

Not fit for animals!!!

I guess you could call it... 'The Devils Playground' or 'The Dump.' There aren't many positive words that would describe where I was today. We recently found out that the kids on the streets have found and are kipping down in an abondoned house in Savassi. Savassi is a very upper class area... so the irony is huge.

Often when we go to their usual hang out space in the mornings, we have been finding hardly anyone. We hold an 'Open House' for the kids on a Tuesday morning in a room in a church building close to their usual hang out space (a time where they can come for breakfast, play some games, colour in etc). But when we arrive to call them to come, there hasn't been very many around. When we ask; where is everyone? The response lately has been: 'They are up in the shack!'

On Saturday evening Helen and I found this 'shack' with the help of one of the boys. The house was behind metal gates and all locked up. All the windows in the house were broken and it smelled of urine. But if it was not abandoned it would be a very nice house. We did not enter...

...until today. We were on the streets today looking for a boy to do a family visit (Peterson). Not finding him on the streets we went to this house. As we arrived at the front we were hit with the smell of urine. again We called some names of the kids but noone repsonded. So Gilberto (our Brazilian volunteer) climbed over the locked gate and slowly made his way inside the house  He found 4 of the smaller kids sleeping there in a room upstairs.

Helen and I entered aswell - yes, by climbing over the gate! As we walked down the side of the house the smell of urine only got stronger. On entering the house the smell was nauseating (urine, excrement and dirt) and the mess was disgusting. As we walked around the house it was shocking to see. The floor was covered in grit, glass, rubbish and grime. This place is "NOT FIT FOR ANIMALS!!!" And there among this disaster, sleeping peacefully 3 kids (one had woke up to greet us). To me, this place was worse than the streets; more dirt, more grime, more urine and more excrement. There are no positive words to describe this 'shack' in fact there are no words to describe it.





        As you enter the house, the first thing you see is this 'entrance hall.' The floor is covered in glass, from the once glass doors, among rubbish and dirt.

 

                      

  Opposite this is the stairs - you

                          can see the 'rubbish tip!

I guess this is the Kitchen!!







Judging by the smell and the dirt on the floor and the walls, this room has become the Bathroom.





 Bedroom number one... 

... and bedroom number two, where we found the four kids sleeping. There were other bedrooms too that they were using but without mattresses.

 I don't know if the pictures tell even half the story.  But this is the way these kids are living, To me, I think they are craving normality - living in a house and not on the streets and it is so so sad that this is what the choose rather than their own homes. It breaks my heart to see them this way.

Please pray for these kids and this situation. Pray for wisdom that we can use this situation for good - pointing out that they have other options, living like this is not the way God ever intended. God didn't even expect animals to live in this way. Pray for good to come out of the bad.

Broken Spirits

I have recently been reading through Proverbs and Oh Boy! have my eyes been opened... our God is a WISE God! I am learning so much, it is awesome!

One verse I wanted to share with you that struck me like a big truck hitting me and brought me to tears because it related so much to my work on the streets. The verse is:

Proverbs 18:14

"The will to live can get you through sickness

but noone can live with a broken spirit."

 

These Kids are living on the streets with broken spirits. You never find a kid on the street who has come from a nice family with a mum and dad, brothers and sisters all from the same parents. They don't have nice homes, or live in nice areas.... their lives before the streets are horrendous. You can't imagine! As we do visits to their homes it opens your eyes to why they are on the streets, most of the time as soon as you arrive or after talking with a parent and seeing their situation you don't have to ask anymore,

'Why are you living on the streets?'

It is so obvious. These kids have gone to the streets because they have nothing better. The majority of them have been abused, neglected, used and their spirits are BROKEN.

 

"Noone can live with a broken spirit" ... these kids are not living, they are surviving. With this new perspective, I am approaching these kids with more love, acceptance, with a desire and motivation to heal their broken spirits. I pray daily that God will show me how.

God revealed one way.... through a hug! I LOVE giving hugs! So I am always giving hugs especially when there is nothing more I can say or do in a situation. Yesterday I heard a testimony of a converted top drug dealer (an AMAZING, GOD GLORIFYING STORY). But the change in his life started with.... a hug! This made me cry as so often I give hugs and I haven't been realising the power. This was a confirmation to keep hugging and praying that God will be my arms and that these kids' BROKEN SPIRITS can be healed and that it may start with a hug!

Pray with me for these kids, that God will move in their lives and heal their spirits that they will start living as God had intended and God desires for their lives.

Thank you for reading and for your faithfulness to pray and support me.