"I'm afraid to die."
That came out of the mouth of a
10-year-old little girl named Kayla that I met doing Vacation Bible School in Washington, D.C. last week.
Kayla is about to be a fifth grader. Fifth graders should NOT be worrying about dying.
But in Kayla's neighborhood - a ghetto just outside of D.C. - dying is a reality.
My group of fifth graders for the week; Kayla is in the middle with the white bow
This place in DC was truly dangerous. And I was not just a frightened Southern Belle exaggerating the situation.
- One boy saw an old man killed: two teenagers had asked the old man for cigarettes but the man lied, saying he didn't have any so when he turned his back, they stabbed him... just for some smokes.
- A local lady who worked in the neighborhood told us the first day as we were handing out flyers that we should NOT walk around there, that it was too dangerous and even she ran to her car every day when she left work. (Despite this, many of these children walked home alone because their parents never came to pick them up.)
- A man who worked with the center where we held the VBS told us that statistics show most of the children in that neighborhood - most of the kids we met at our VBS - would NOT LIVE TO BE 18.
And these kids know that.
Kayla knows that.
Death is a reality for them.
They grow up losing family members. They don't make many friends because they lose those too.
Most depressing: they don't have dreams because they probably figure they'll lose those as well. Most kids have the cliche dreams of growing up to be a firefighter, a ballerina, a singer, etc. These kids in D.C. did not know what they wanted to be. They had not let their minds wander that far down the road. They did not have anyone in their lives encouraging them to think that far into the future.
So I tried to.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
- Jeremiah 29:11
But they could not grasp the concept of hope.
They. Had. No. Hope.
They did, however, have HURT.
Every single one of my 10 year olds had been hit or hit someone within the previous month.
When I suggested they hug instead of hit they looked at me as though I were crazy. BUT, I understand why: I come from a different culture. I come from a place where neighborhoods are safe, where people don't die for a pack of cigarettes. I have never hit anyone (other than my brother.... but siblings are kinda a given, right?).
Still, I was hoping they could understand the concepts of mercy, forgiveness, and love:
"But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love."
- Nehemiah 9:17
Ultimately, though, these children were angry. They were afraid.
They have lived a hard life and, according to statistics and stories, most of their lives will be cut short. So, like Kayla, they are afraid to die.
In a last ditch effort to give them some hope in a way they could grasp it, I told them
how NOT to be afraid to die: heaven.
I told them about heaven being a place full of love and laughter where they could be safe and surrounded by friends and family who believed in Jesus WHERE THERE WAS NO HURT. And that they could get there by asking Jesus into their heart.
That broke MY heart.
The best that I could offer them beyond the free meals and hugs for a week was a better view on death:
"He [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever."
- Revelation 21:4
"There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears."
- Isaiah 25:7-8
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Through my heartbreak of bringin' the Gospel to the ghetto, I realized I am living in a bubble.
A bubble of comfort.
A bubble of blindness to others suffering.
A bubble of limitation on my Christianity.
This mission trip BURST MY BUBBLE.
And I am sooooooo grateful for that because before this trip I was not doing this:
"Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people."
- Psalm 82:3-4
"Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
- Matthew 19:21
"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
- 1 John 3:17-18
Those are only a few of
many verses that call for Christians to care for the poor.
I hope reading them - and perhaps even this post - helped to burst your bubble of comfort and blindness and limitation.
"Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." [whether it is in D.C., on the other side of the world or in your own neighborhood.]
- Isaiah 1:17
