Stories from the Streets

Last week I went upcountry to visit the YFC orphanage. It has been 2 months since I've left the city, and I was thrilled for the breath of cooler air.

The drive up country is always interesting... and typically dangerous. We usually have one "Thank you Jesus" moment, and this trip was no different. Semi-trucks coming around the corner in the wrong lane, but Freddy is a great driver, so I just sit back and enjoy the scene outside the window.

More than half way into our journey we turned the corner to find a man laying in the middle of the road with his bike tipped over, and a pool of blood gathering around his head. We stopped and I looked back to see if he was moving. Slowly people from the shops along the road gathered to help him and eventually move him out of the middle of the road. Convinced he was dead I prepared myself to go pray for the dead guy. Great news... he wasn't dead yet. Freddy waited until another car came (because bystanders could say we hit him, and then we'd be responsible for the medical bill...), then I jumped out of the car to go pray and help out. Somehow the guy had fallen off his bike, and hit his head so hard it knocked him out. At first everyone said they didn't know him (so they wouldn't have to help...) but after we loaded him into the car and drove him to the nearest clinic, the guys who came with admitted he lived near by. To cut the story short, we got him to the hospital and found out the next day he was okay. Hooray!

Later as we approached the orphanage Freddy quickly recognized a little boy walking along the side of the road. He looked about 3, but when he spoke you could tell he was much older. This little boy's name is Amani.

Last year Freddy was showing the Jesus film up country somewhere outside Gitega. At the end of the film he felt a tug on his trousers and a little voice saying "Director, Director." Looking down at the tiny boy Freddy said, "who are you?" "I'm Amani" He replied. When Freddy asked where he lived Amani told him he lived on the streets. His parents had divorced and neither wanted to take him. That night Freddy placed him in his sleeping bag, and thus the story of Amani began.

Every time Freddy returned to Gitega, Amani would appear. They'd have a chat, and Freddy would try and help him in whatever way he could. Amani had found himself a place to exist... a little shack along the side of the road leading to the orphanage, where he helped an old man by fetching him water, or gathering enough money to buy a drink. There wasn't any food.

Determined to change the situation, Freddy was eventually able to talk with Amani's mother and found out that her new husband's other children did not want Amani in the house because they were afraid that he would one day want their father's land. The headmaster at the newly constructed school was eventually able to speak with each of the father's kids (who are much older) and convince them that this would not be the case and YFC would look after Amani, as long as he could live at home. Finally they agreed and Amani now has a home... one year after Freddy and Amani met. (I still need to find out what happened to the old man...)

Amani really got to me. This little being, was extremely mature for a 7 year old. He held adult-like conversations and is really loved by the kids in the orphanage. During the songs he closed his eyes and cried out love songs to Jesus while the other kids giggled or joked around. There is a tiny little spirit in him that sparked the heart of God who aligned things to change His situation. I know we're all God's favorites... but Amani is really one of God's favorites.

I know that there are millions others in this world like this.

I know that there are countless stories that turned out different.

But for me it is just a reminder that I can help the person in front of me. As Mother Theresa says... "I can't help everyone, but I can help my neighbor".

Rather than thinking about all the things I can't do... I hope to always be a person who does what I can. To change a situation that is in front of me, and never walk away when more can be done.