Dodging the vendors, and children running across the street begging for food, we drove our children to school. We had seen it before in South Africa, in our time of ministry there; but we didn’t think we were, so immediately after arrival, to delve into this “street†children ministry yet. We drove on, preoccupied with thoughts of Christmas Season and worship, and where to focus energy in the beginnings of our ministry here in Zambia. As we moved into our new life we started, as we must, to become more aware of culture and customs and what was going on with the rest of Zambia outside of our home, church and children’s school. As we sat at a traffic light one day, we were approached by some children. We had fed these children on several occasions, giving them bread, milk, and breakfast meali- nshima (ground corn meal, similar to grits). On this particular day, instead of the usual refrain of “Madam, Uncle, no food today,†we heard the unusual request of “Madam, Uncle we want to go to school.†We were still praying for direction as to how we would live and minister in our new mission field. We filed the request away in the back of our minds. It was several weeks after Christmas, when we saw these “street†children again and they asked again “to go to school†instead of asking for food. That was when we realized our prayers were answered about what we were to do as part of our ministry here- that was when we really heard them. You see, these children beg on the streets for their daily meal. They were living with their grandmother after their mother died and begged on the street to bring food home for the 5 or 6 of them living in a 2 room house. The grandmother died just before the Christmas holiday, but our own busyness kept us from hearing their heartfelt plea.
We take the same route everyday to take our children to school, so we would see these children almost everyday. Barefoot, in tatters and dirty, always dirty, these children would beg on the street, day after day. After we stopped and really talked with them and got to know their names, we really understood their story. Theirs is a story that can be found a hundred times over in Zambia and many cities in Africa, America and throughout the world. Their mother died of HIV-AIDS at a very young age; their grandmother raised them until she could no longer manage and died. They are raising themselves on the street the best way they can, by begging.
So, one day, we piled the children into our little station wagon, took them to the school that would be nearest to where they could walk to, and enrolled them. While the grandmother was alive, they went to school sporadically. So for these children, this was a re-enrollment after not being in school for months or even years. The headmistress of the school was happy that the children would be sponsored and, at least, be off the streets. We bought them their school’s uniform, school shoes and socks, backpacks, school notebooks, and pencils. We also had to purchase a towel for each along with soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste. The children had not bathed in a while so we wanted them to be able to clean themselves up and fit in with the other children. Their “basic†school has an enrollment of about 3400 children and the students attend school in a platoon fashion. Some attend from 7am-10am, others from 10am-1pm, while still others attend from 1-3pm or 3-5pm. The school is understaffed and has little in the way of furnishings or equipment, teachers have few supplies, and students have no desks or textbooks.
With so many children and with no government help, it is no wonder that the children have no cafeteria-type lunch and must bring food from home if they eat at all. The children we enrolled are ages 10-13 and packing school lunches from home is financially impossible. Besides, they are in a child headed household, and the task of managing this household fell to little Mary, only 12 years old. We made arrangements with the head mistress to have a warm meal for “our†children on a daily basis. We gave her enough money to prepare meat, nshima and veggies and this has proved to be an added incentive for “our†children to attend school everyday.
We try to check in with the headmistress or the children on a weekly basis, sometimes more frequently, to make sure all is well. We look over the children’s school work and encourage them to continue to study and to go to school daily. We have worshipped with, and preached at, the Baptist Convention of Zambia (our national partner’s) church in the compound (the informal shanty settlement area, without running water or electricity) where “our†street kids live. We have met with the leadership of the BCZ church, nearest to where “our†street kids live, to discuss expanding the churches’ ministry by incorporating the visiting and caring for, not “our†street children, but “their†children in “their†community into their local church outreach program.
Despite a country’s social, political, or financial short comings “caring for the motherless and the widow†is Christ mandated. However, before venturing into this arena of Christ-like missions, we spoke with our national partners, the BCZ. We wanted to know how the government would perceive the church intervening in this situation. We also wanted to know if this was a project that we as IM missionaries, and they as the national church, could venture into together. We asked them to pray with us about how we would walk together, through the support of the ABC and BCZ churches, into this ministry among “the least of these.†Unfortunately, it is still “political†even in the church, for the church to minister to “certain types†of vulnerable and exploited persons (particularly HIV/AID infected an affected, and women and children who have been trafficked and forced into being sex workers). The BCZ has been fully supportive of our efforts in education ministry to “street†children (Orphaned and Vulnerable Children- OVG) and towards our Bible study and business empowerment ministry among ex-prostitutes. We have identified and enrolled other “street†children and are planning together how some of the BCZ churches in the Lusaka area could nurture and disciple our groups of “street†children in several different compounds and schools, and have the congregation members act as surrogate parents, mentors and provide godly council.
With your help, through your International Ministry (WMO) mission giving and STEP (Student Tuition Expense Program) funds contributions, we have been proactive in sharing the love of Christ, rescuing and keeping 15 children off the streets, and giving new hope and opportunity for a better life. When there is no intercession and intervention in a situation like this, Zambian youths, as youths in all parts of the world, get caught up in drugs, prostitution, human trafficking, exploitation and crime. Thanks to your prayers and faithfulness, we have interceded and intervened in the lives of these children and fulfilled the mandate of caring for those in need.
We need your continued support to keep these little ones in school, fed, clothed and warm. The winter months are approaching and they literally have no shoes, other than the school shoes we bought them and the clothes you see in this picture. We are working on ways that, once they are older, they will be able, in a sustainable manner, to support themselves without the help of an outside organization, but this can only happen one step at a time.
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,†but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17.)
