What are we doing in Africa?

Every Monday Capstone hosts an outreach for street children. It is at the Capstone Youth Center or CYC for short. To get the boys to come, we provide soap and water so they can take a shower and wash their clothes. Some boys have gone over two weeks before their last bath. There is bread and juice for them, but not enough to satisfy their hunger. We don't want to make life too easy for them on the streets so that they would want to stay.
Here, the boys are away from the distractions of the street and we can give a Bible study and encourage them to go home to their families. The message today is about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and being thrown into a fire by the King (from the book of Daniel). When the King looks at the hottest part, he sees a fourth person, Jesus, who is protecting them and rescues them from the destruction of the fire. These boys are in the fire every day. Jesus has protected them from starvation, severe diseases and even death for this long. He now wants them to be rescued and return home to their families.
When asked, "How many of you want to go home" four out of nine raise their hands, but they are just being polite to our request. These boys that came today have been on the streets for a long time, some over 11 years. They come with knife scars, aggressive attitudes and hardened exteriors. But, if you look long enough, you can catch a smile. They look like men, but they are still boys at heart.
 Why do these boys live on the streets? It's a different answer for each of them. Some like the freedom of not having to listen to anyone else but themselves. Some are lazy and don't want to work because their parents made them work at home on the farm. Some have family problems and don't want to go home. Others are addicted to sniffing glue, which makes them forget about their horrid situations. Most often, these boys are on the streets because of what the Bible calls "sin." Sin is the breakdown of relationships, with God, parents, friends and any other person in our lives. All their answers come back to broken relationships that need to be restored with forgiveness, the forgiveness that Jesus taught us. This is what Capstone does; it helps bring forgiveness and restoration so that street boys can return home to the families that love them.
Today, there will be no boys returning to their homes. The only thing we can do for these boys is pray for them that God would protect them and lead them to want to go home in the future. The power of prayer works, but some times God is being patient. Last week God used Capstone to help rescue one child off the street. It doesn't sound spectacular by numerical standards, but it is exactly what Jesus meant when He said, “'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent (Luke 15:4-7)." Give thanks to God for He is good! ~Joel

Check out our morning at the CYC below.