Waves of Love

A couple weeks ago we had our first “church service” in a park, in the middle of Recife. This park has a lot of street children in it; some homeless, some child prostitutes. Every Tuesday evening we’ll go back to have a “Waves of Love” service, this is what we’re calling our church. One week we took sandwiches and juice, the next a hot meal and art supplies. The people, both young and old, saw our bags full of food and came straight to us, quickly we realized we didn’t bring enough. Nic started playing his guitar, the rest of us handed out food and drinks, started conversations, and prayed with most of them, AND that was church. Yes it may have looked a little messy, but that’s ok. 

As each night went on, we had friendships forming, and with repetition of going back, we’re excited to see the change God will bring to the city with His love :)

One girl, in particular I was drawn to. As long as I’ve been in Brazil, I’ve never met anyone like her, (my prayer is to meet more like her though). She wants off the streets. What makes her different from the rest? she’s ready to leave it all behind. I want so badly for our rescue home to be open and available now! I fully believe she’ll be in our house someday soon :) In our conversation with her, she couldn’t stop smiling and laughing, all she wanted was to sit and talk. At times, she would just sit back and observe everything that was going on around her. This girl is so wise and has a great future in front of her.

I asked for her permission to share her story with you all, I told her people would be praying for her and that while we’re waiting for our rescue home to be open, we can all be praying together for the paperwork to be finished soon, that brought a huge smile to her face :) So here it is:

This precious girl is 16 years old and lives on the streets because she didn’t get along with her parents and sisters. She mentioned that her brother sometimes comes to visit her on the streets. But even through all of it, she talked about still loving them. Everyday she goes to a school that’s open for street kids. She told my friend, Aline, and I her dream someday is to have a job and family. Most people we meet, sadly, don’t have dreams anymore. We are so blessed to have met her, and I can’t wait to see her again. She doesn’t want the street life anymore; she wants to learn how to have a family and more. Someday she will be in our rescue home, then later down the road, she will have her own home :) I’m telling you, this girl has a great life ahead of her and it’s starting now! Sadly, we haven’t seen her since the first night, but that doesn’t mean I’ll quit looking. Aline and I are continually praying for her and we know we’ll see her again!

So, on our way to the car one night, we ran into some boys that we had met before in the park, these kids all run together. Every time we see them, they each have a plastic water bottle, full on glue (they get high off the glue and they’re all addicted to it). Through relationship with these little guys, we pray they’ll trust us enough to leave the streets and find it in their hearts to know God wants more for them. Something fun we’ve learned is that they love having their pictures taken, then looking at them over and over again. Nic got his guitar out and let them play with it for a little while, they loved that too. 

We’re starting another street church, aka Waves of Love, behind a McDonald’s. Nic and Rachael have seen these kids begging from behind the drive thru, so what better place to have a church then there for them :) We went to have the service today, but they weren’t there. It was the first time we haven’t seen them there. One difficult part about having these street churches is that sometimes, the people move. It’s ok, we’ll keep going back :)

There’s an aching in my heart due to the fact that I don’t completely understand everything the people we meet are going through. This lifestyle is all they’ve ever known, they know no other way to live. The normalcy we know and live, is foreign. I ask myself, what do I have to offer them? Because in their minds, this is it for them, for the rest of their lives. Think of it this way, someone coming up to you and telling you, there’s more to life than the way you’re living and the way you grew up. I mean to an extent, with some of you this may be true, but try telling a little boy/girl who has never been in school, who doesn’t have a family, and the family they do have is on the streets with them, oh and they are continually getting high. Do you see where my heart ache comes from? Back to the question, what do I have to offer them? Honestly, it’s God’s love. Going to the streets with this love, is absolutely all I have to offer. Sometimes we don’t even mention the name of Jesus, and just by the love we are to them, they ask if we’re christians. Nic spoke this past weekend in a church and said this, “people don’t fall in love with the name, but the character of who Jesus is.” If you call yourself a christian, I encourage you to reveal the character of Jesus through the way you live, and that’s to love.