Brian. That’s the name of the boy who
stole my heart this past week. This isn’t something I foresaw but I
should have known. Let me give you a little background on the events
prior to connecting with Brian.
I arrived in Kenya just over two weeks
ago. My first day on the town I met Brian, Junior and David the only
street boys I’d see thus far. I’m quite familiar with children who
don’t have parents, kids who have been beaten, neglected and never
experienced love. In fact, my heart completely shatters upon an
encounter with orphaned children. These kids are a little different
though, a lot of the time they chose to leave. Their lives are so
awful, they see the street as a better life than their homes. What
kind of home is that?
Meanwhile, my mind is racing and I
know that I can’t speak with these boys for too long- if I do I’ll
want to take them home and love on them forever! I don’t have time to
love on them forever or impact their lives because I’m only in this
town for two and a half weeks. Well, that’s what I told God at least.
Here I am, conditioning what God can do even though He brought me to
Africa in a day’s notice. Who am I really? For all that He’s been
doing in my life alone, can I not trust Him with my heart?
Welp, I asked myself that exact
question about 10 days after I first met those boys. Yes, I did break
down in tears because I ALWAYS DO and I opened up my hands- I said:
“God, here’s my heart. I trust You with it all, Your will be done.”
The next day of course was ‘street children ministry.’ Yea, yea
ripping my heart out and among the 85 street children who completely
shattered me into pieces was Brian.
Ten years old, only been on the street
for about 8 months. He came from Busia which is on the border of
Kenya and Uganda. He hitched a ride on the back of a truck and hopped
off in Bungoma. He left behind an alcoholic mother and a father who
was never present… what set him off was the death of his brother.
It was hard to concentrate on the words Brian was speaking through
the strong scent of glue. (Almost all of the street boys I’ve met
carry a bottle of glue with them, nothing like getting high when
you’re too poor for food. This helps them sleep at night and curves
their hunger, or so they think) Yet my love for him only increased, I
love this boy merely because he’s a child of God and I know that’s
how our Father sees him.
Since that day, I’ve been wrecked.
I’ve been wrecked for Kenya and all the street children I walk past.
Every day I smell glue, feel hands reaching out to touch my shirt,
see these beautiful faces and I ask God for more hope. So faithful is
He, every time I’m in town I ask God to bring Brian to me and He
does. I give Brian bananas or juice and ask him to come to church. As
I depart from my home in Kenya, I trust God will reveal Himself to
this boy in a divine way.
