I Have a Dream
I HAVE A DREAM
The Call to Serve the Poor Children
My heart will not rest until every child I meet knows that they are loved and treasured by God. As I sit here on an airplane, destined for Haiti, I cannot help but think about the poverty of the Ivoirians who live an ocean away from me. On a distant continent there are children running through the streets of Abidjan, many of them selling chocolate or fruit. Some of these kids are in the slave trade. Others have been forced to work long hours in order to feed their families, while still others are just orphans with no where to go.
I can’t forget these children. I see their faces when I close my eyes. I can almost hear their cries for mercy as I recall my last visit in November. These children, each with a unique soul, touched my soul so deeply that I will never be the same. I didn’t believe I could love a stranger as much as I have the children of the street.
These children are so trusting and so loving that I am humbled by their love for me. I have no great resources, no great buildings to offer them shelter, just a little food to eat and a hand to hold. These children crave attention and the touch of a stranger, even one as far as the United States brings hope to those who have never been told they are loved.
Adjame Market – City of Street Children
As I am reflecting on my last trip, I want to take you with my spiritually to the Adjame Market, where I dream of building not only an orphanage, but a place for children to go during the day when their mother works in the market. I dream of a place that has a center for vocations for women and men as well as a small clinic to help those in need. I dream of a chapel that would be open to all to come and prayer, plead for mercy or give thanksgiving for answered prayers. I dream of a shelter for children who have nowhere to lay their head. This place would be a safe haven of mercy for children who have known nothing but hunger, abuse and loneliness. Education would not only include the essential elements of reading and writing, but the knowledge that God exists and heaven is worth fighting for. Virtue still matters and sacrifice for one’s neighbor is a sign that life must go on. I dream of people coming from all over the world to volunteer in this little “city of the poor”.
A Run-Down Building; The Vision of Hope
We have a building that has been donated. It’s huge. It resembles more of a parking garage than a refuge for the poor, but I can’t see that when I walk the dozens of concrete steps to the 3rd floor. The ceiling is made of a tin roof and there are no windows, just open air separation between the floors (truly like a parking garage). Why do I love this building so much? I don’t love it for what it looks like, but for what it could be. For if I judged the building by its current state I could easily say, it’s too difficult, needs too much work or it costs too much.” But I don’t look at this building with the eyes of my flesh. I see it in the spirit of mercy.
The building is like a street child to me. On the exterior, all one can see is dirt and tattered strings, but on the interior, I see Heaven itself. For in transforming this building, it will be the instrument to transform the lives of thousands of children through the hands and feet of those who see the same goodness in each child.
What is so beautiful about this building is to see its location. Located in the heart of the Adjame Market, it is in one of the cities poorest areas. Children roam aimelessly through the streets seemingly forgotten.
Just the few short times I was in Adjame I felt like I belonged there. I yearned to meet these children, shake their hands or stoop down to hug them. I yearned to look into their eyes and see the face of Christ and it was exhilarating to feed them.
These children made me see how truly good God is and what a precious resource food is. These children taught me that the greatest gift we can give each other is empathy. They need to know that somebody cares. They need to know that life is precious and that they too, have a plan for their life.
I miss Abidjan so much my heart aches as I write this letter. The cost to build this city of the poor will be substantial. But I know that God is the God of mercy and that He who has given me a heart to love and to serve will also give me the means to complete this task.
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