In response...

I got an interesting comment on my blog last night. It leaned a little towards the snarkier side of things, so I just deleted it. As soon as I did though, I wished that I hadn’t. I wrote a reply there, but as I laid in bed last night, I started thinking more about what the person had written and I decided to respond.

My blog is certainly written for a predominately Christian crowd. Which is fine. But not all my friends are Christians. I’m sure that there are a few people out there who read the blog and just kind of roll their eyes. Which doesn’t really bother me. I get that we come from different places and not everyone is going to agree with or even understand what I write. I’m just throwing my experiences out there for whoever is interested.

What bothered me last night about this person’s comment, wasn’t that it was a bit sarcastic. I’ve written a few sarcastic comments myself. My problem was what this person was implying.

They were commenting on my story of taking my street kid friend to the hospital the other night. Essentially they wrote that maybe I should have shown him a little humanity and not just talked about God. Something along those lines (in all honesty it was late and I don’t really remember their exact words). I suppose it’s because I just dropped him off afterwards and didn’t take him someplace to sleep or whatever and then wrote that only God could change the situation.

Maybe this is partly my fault.  I didn’t provide all the back story about my friendship with this kid. There’s too much there to put into a short blog entry. It would have turned into a novel...even more than normal... =)

I’ve known my friend for about ten years now. I’ve seen him when he’s doing well, and I’ve seen him when he’s a mess. I’ve tried many, many times to help him over the years. I’ve taken him to get help. I’ve rented rooms for him to live in. I’ve given him money...bought him food...been to the doctor with him more times than I can count.

One of the funniest stories was when he contracted an STD (that’s not the funny part). I took him to the AIDS/STD clinic to get him checked out. As I sat there in the waiting room, I looked around and suddenly realized that it was him and me and about forty prostitutes. And everyone was staring at us. And THEN I realized what they were thinking. I probably went ten shades of red and started sweating like I can’t even tell you. I basically announced to everyone and anyone that I was a missionary helping this kid out. It was the first thing out of my mouth every time I had to talk to someone, “Hi, I’m a missionary! And this guy needs some help...”

I once went to a TB clinic with him, thinking we were going to see a doctor. We sat around in a group for an hour playing games with a couple of nurses and then we got a bag of food (rice, pasta...some cooking oil) and then we all went home. I had NO idea what had just happened. I just went with the flow. Turned out he was there for his medication and that was how they got people to show up. Games and food...

So...as I said...I’ve seen this guy through a lot. I’ve watched him play guitar for people (he's a gifted musician) and show compassion to other younger street kids at the home where they were living. I’ve sat with him in hospitals when he was sick and on street corners with him when he was high. I’ve run to the streets in the middle of the night when he’s called and needed help....and I’ve talked and talked and talked to him. About his potential, his future...how destructive this lifestyle is for him...all of it.

And no matter what I do...this young man chooses to return to the streets. No matter how many opportunities he’s given (and he’s been given a lot) he chooses to return to the drugs and the stealing and the hopelessness of the streets. I don’t know why. There have been times when he’s been off the streets for a couple of years or more....clean and healthy. And I’m happy for him. Then I hear that he’s gone back again.

So in the light of all of this...what does it mean to show someone “humanity”? I assume by “humanity” that commenter was meaning compassion and mercy. How do I show compassion and mercy?  How do I show that I care? It’s something I’m confronted with every time I leave the house. Little kids begging on the streets...moms with their babies slung over their backs asking you for a coin...people living under bridges and in sewage canals. I see it every single day.

And I’ve learned that it’s complicated. I give a child a coin and it helps him continue living on the streets for another day where he’ll be drawn deeper and deeper into a lifestyle that will eventually destroy him. But I give him that coin because he’s cute and I feel sorry for him. And maybe I feel better.

I give a young girl a coin because she has a baby in her arms because I feel sorry for her and raising that child by herself must be incredibly difficult. But then when I ask her the name of her baby, she doesn’t know and I realize that it’s not actually hers. It’s been given to her by other adults to help her beg. She’ll never see that coin I just gave her.

My young friend is skinny so I give him money for food...and he buys drugs. So I buy him food and he gets angry when I won’t give him cash. His clothes are dirty so I give him clean clothes and he sells them for drugs. I rent him a room where he can sleep and he just goes back to the streets.

What’s the answer?

I can’t solve all the problems here. I can’t give money to everyone who asks. All that really does is perpetuate the problem. All I do is make it easier for an eight year old to continue to live on the streets or teach a child that begging is the right way to make a living.

As difficult as it is (and it is incredibly difficult) I choose to think long term instead of short term. I volunteer with an organization that is effectively working with street people to provide job training and a support system as they leave their street lives behind. I do what I can to help a couple of children’s homes and a drug rehab home I know of. And I guess the big one would be that I chose to move to South America and open a home for ex-street guys and help them get an education.  =)

All of these organizations are run by Christians, people who believe in the difference God can make.  Interestingly enough, there are very few (if any) non-religious groups here working with street people. It’s predominately an evangelical/Catholic crowd. And believe what you want, I see God moving and working through these groups and individuals. I see God bringing emotional and spiritual healing. I’ve talked to former drug addicts who are now being great dads to their families...former prostitutes who are being great moms to their kids. They’ll attest strongly that it was only with God’s help and God’s strength that they were able to experience that restoration. Every day I see people who’s lives are being transformed.

Okay...so much for this not turning into a novel. Hopefully some of you made it to the end. And I hope that my friend who commented made it to the end of this as well. Hopefully you understand a little more of what went into that story I wrote and that I am trying to show humanity. In the end, though, I believe that God is the ultimate answer. I can provide as much as I can for a person’s physical needs, but if their spiritual needs aren't dealt with, it doesn’t help much.

So I took my young friend to the hospital when he called.  Then I dropped him off on a street corner.  When he calls again, I'll go again.  And someday maybe he'll call and be ready to leave all of this behind.  But that's a choice he needs to make.  I can't make it for him. 

And I continue to pray for him.