Meet My Kids!

For our three and a half months here in South Africa, we're partnering with a local pastor.
He's a former boxer and picks us up for ministry at 7am every morning in his 1969 Volkswagon van.
We drive about 10 minutes to a school he started, and that's our main ministry.
It's a school for kids with fetal alcohol syndrome.
They're from extremely poor families in nearby farm towns and squatter camps.
They're abused.
They're neglected.
They're beyond angry.
[And they have every right to be.]
These kids have all heard more, seen more, and experienced more in their short lives than anyone ever should.
[And that's the school in general.]

I've been assigned to the special needs kids.
[who aren't your typical special needs kids.]
They don't have learning disabilities.
They have loving disabilities.
Because they've never seen love.
ever.
I have 6 kids in my classroom.
and by classroom, I mean old shipping container that was found in a garbage dump and added onto the school.
I've been with them for 2 weeks now, and piece by piece, I've been learning their stories.
and they've been breaking my heart.

Here's a glimpse into the lives of the kids I work with every day: 
 

Simoney

Simoney is 11 years old. Two years ago she was raped 3 different times by 3 different men in a timespan of 3 months. She hasn’t received any counseling and refuses to talk to anyone about what happened. She’s extremely touchy feely and extremely needy. She's terrified of being alond in public. She's often the one attacked by the other children, which causes her to shut down quickly and become discouraged. She cries a lot and generally doesn’t retaliate much. She’s not very motivated to learn in a group, but one-on-one, she opens up and really begins to try.
 

Simonthemba

Simonthemba is 13 years old. She has also been raped multiple times. Unlike Simoney, though, Simonthemba has opened up about it and is really trying to move forward. She has been in and out of countless foster homes and institutions, but currently lives on the street with her alcoholic mother, whom she takes care of. Simonthemba is smart and catches on to things rather quickly. She has decent focus, and desires to learn new things.
 

Samantha

Samantha is 13 years old as well. She lives with her mom and dad in the nearby squatter camp. Both of her parents are extremely abusive. Her dad forces her to sleep with him each night, and her mom does not allow her out of the house for any reason other than school. Therefore, as you could probably guess, Samantha is lacking in imagination and social skills. Considering her circumstances, though, she is doing quite well. Her writing and her math are advanced, and she has a desire to make progress.

Mariana

Mariana is 12 years old. She lives on a farm, with her mom, dad, and siblings, who grow vegetables for a living. She is verbally and physically abused by her dad, and cries in my arms every morning as she tells me about what happened the night before. She, too, is very abusive. Marina is a bright girl; the fastest learner in the class. She loves telling time and doing addition and subtraction. More than anyone else, Mariana really does want to learn and improve her behavior and she's trying so hard.

Geraldine

Geraldine is Mariana's cousin and is also 12 years old. Geraldine has a pretty severe case of FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome), which causes often outbursts of anger and rage. She is clearly underweight, and lives in the same farm town as Mariana, taking care of her irresponsible, alcoholic mother and younger siblings. Geraldine is often the one being picked at and hit by the other students. She would rather do things alone than with the others. I often find her sweeping the floor and wiping the tables after recess. She really enjoys writing on the board and singing worship songs.

Keenan

Oh, Keenan. Keenan is only 10 years old. He lives with his family in a room the size of a closet in the extremely impoverished squatter camp. His brothers are alcoholics, drug addicts, and gang members. His parents are extremely abusive. His face is covered in burn marks from cigarettes, just one of the ways his parents punish him. Keenan is terrified of men. He has never known a man that didn’t hurt him. Therefore, Keenan is a terror to all of the girls. Anything he can think of to instigate a fight, he will do. On the outside, he’s very abusive and aggressive, but inside, he’s an extremely sweet boy, who just needs to be loved for the first time.

and that's the bottom line-
that's all any of these kids need.
just love. 
and it works out nicely,
because that's all I can give them.

this job is hard.
physically, emotionally, and spirtually.
it's exhausting.
but it's so worth it.

here's my request:
join me in prayer.
i need patience.
i need peace.
 and i need to be filled up.
i need to be filled up
so i can pour out.

but even moreso,
these kids need love.
these kids deserve love.
and these kids are going to experience love.
the love of their Savior.

please pray for their hearts.
pray for their parents' hearts.
pray for thier neighborhoods.
and their homes.
pray for the abuse to stop.
and for the love to spread.

it can happen.
it will happen.
and i know this, because it is already happening.