On Wednesday evening this week (28th Jan) I (Dave) went out with the street team from 'Rescue House' to meet some of the street kids. We also joined up with a team called 'The Masters Commission' who were doing some of their outreach phase with YWAM in Belo Horizonte. So, all in all there were about 15 of us. Initially, to me, it seemed like there were too many of us but after some walking about we found a group of about 20 children, ranging from around 10-18 years. Four of them were girls, 3 of whom were pregnant. We broke up into smaller groups and played Uno, sang Christian songs with them, chatted and played a game of throwing an American football around. It was a really good evening, being able to spend some quality time with those children.
These particular street kids were at a stage of not permanently living on the streets yet because many of them had houses in the favelas where they could go and sleep if they wanted to so it is an important time to work with them to prevent them from continuing along that road. This does not just mean working with the kids but also the families from where they come. Not an easy task.
These kids were all high on glue or paint thinners, dirty, smelly and uneducated but lovely at the same time. Spending time with them really gave me a sense of compassion for them. The Rescue House team normally go onto the streets once or twice a week but at the moment are unable to because they do not have a man to go with them, so I am likely to be regularly joining them working with the street kids as well as my other work at Luzeiro. But I need wisdom about that so will spend time seeking God about the way forward in that area.
The girls house in Belo Horizonte has had to close down due to lack of staff so if you hear God calling you to work in this area then send YWAM Belo Horizonte an e-mail (CLICK HERE FOR CONTACT INFORMATION).