Ministry to Children

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Let us Linger at the Foot of Cross

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.-John 19:30

Its Friday…. but Sunday’s coming. However, it was the longest Friday for the first disciples. They lingered at the foot of the Cross for a while. We don’t need to rush to Easter. Good Friday is an invitation for us to linger at foot of the Cross. It is our opportunity to attend to the invitation of our Lord.

My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me. -Matthew 26:38

The foot of the Cross is our place until Easter comes. Our thoughts should be directed to the Man who hung on the Cross on this day. His death makes a difference in how we perceive ourselves and the world.

Many people tried to tarry with him in his final moments but they failed. Some were absent at the foot of the Cross. Some felt that they failed him. Some benefitted from His death. Some couldn’t care less. All these attitudes are still with us today.

There was Judas. He wanted to do something for Jesus and himself. His betrayal wasn’t about the thirty pieces of silver. Many speculate about his motivations. Some think that he wanted to speed things along for Jesus’ kingdom. The outcome was not what he expected. He wanted Jesus to react, perhaps violently against the authorities but Jesus just remained silent. He did not understand that this world was not His kingdom. Judas wanted to see some concrete results but he only saw what he perceived as a failure. Things did not turn out according to his expectations. He could not manipulate the King to act in tandem with his desires. His desires led him to his demise. If he had lingered at the foot of the Cross, maybe he could have learned something different or maybe not. We will never know. He did not linger around for the Cross.

Then we have Pontius Pilate. It was a strange choice for the gospels to portray this man as being sympathetic to Jesus. He was a brutal governor. He was not known for his clemency. Despite his despotic tendencies, he was not able to convince the crowd to do the right thing. It just reveals how impotent tyrants are when it comes to doing what is right. They can only do things that are detrimental to themselves and those around them. The evangelists did not make Pilate out to be a good man. They revealed his true nature. He was a weak ruler. He washed his hands of all responsibilities. He did not want anything do to with the Cross.

Barabbas benefitted the most from Jesus’ passion. He escaped a certain death. We don’t hear anything about him after this. He must have been grateful to the religious authorities who manipulated the crowds to save his life instead of Jesus. It did not seem to bother him that an innocent man died instead of him. He never sought Jesus or his disciples. He never bothered to linger at the foot of the Cross. He was most likely afraid. This is understandable but he still could have sought out the disciples later. Maybe he did but we will never know.

The good thief had nothing to gain. He did not choose to be at the Cross. However, he did choose to acknowledge Jesus’ lordship even on the Cross. He knew that there were no more possibilities for him. It is doubtful that he even understood the words of Jesus when He said, “Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”(Luke 23:43) However, it did not matter. They were spoken to him by a Man whom he recognized as different and special. The only thing he could cling to at that moment was the words of this wonderful Man who shared his pain and death.

The centurion saw everything and was became frightened. He realized that this was not a regular execution. It was something that would change the way we understood our existence. He watched everything from the foot of the Cross and he proclaimed the only thing he could say, “Truly this was the Son of God!”(Matthew 27:54)

Finally, we come to the women and the disciples. The women and John were at the foot of the cross. The disciples observed from a distance. They watched the only person who made their lives real and wonderful expire on the Cross. They stayed and watched every moment of it. The disciples wished that they could have been closer. None of them ever wanted to be apart from Him. They lingered in spirit with the women at the foot of the Cross. They saw what the centurion saw and experienced with one major difference. They wanted to be there. They wanted to be there with Him and partake in His sufferings. For those who lingered at the Cross, the message of Easter meant a new beginning. It wasn’t just a happy ending to an otherwise tragic tale. It marked the Beginning of understanding life and death.

We tend to rush to Easter. Apart from the Catholic and Anglican churches, most evangelical churches don’t observe Good Friday but they have a celebration for Easter. Easter without Good Friday produces an inadequate theology. The Cross is something even our children in the streets can identify. I brought an illustrated Bible to the streets once and one of the boys turned to the page on the crucifixion and asked Mary to read to him. He wasn’t interested in Easter. It is too foreign to him. The Cross is something that resonates with him. It is the moment that most human beings can identify. It was a moment of despair and hopelessness. Jesus never avoided it. The disciples were forced to confront it. The women stood and wept at the presence of it. The miracle of Easter is only powerful when we are willing to linger at the foot of the Cross and face the greatest fear of humanity. Jesus faced it without any protest or attempts of self-defense. He faced it in order to reveal a greater power hidden within the message of the Cross. Those who lingered at the foot of the Cross discovered this power. We need to linger there to discover the more profound meaning of Easter.

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A Letter from Florida

Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.-Matthew 18:5

I have been carrying a letter in my bag for the past couple of days. It was sent about two months ago. We have been waiting for the right moment to share its contents with Ruan. There are several reasons for the delay. Our month of absence meant that we needed to reacquaint ourselves with the children. The children have a unique way of perceiving prolonged absence. Living in the streets changes the way they sense the passing of time. Everyday is the same for them. There are no holidays or weekends. They build relationships with people based on familiarity. The more they see someone, the stronger they bond they forge with the person. Familiar faces become their sense of security. We are part of this secure environment. However, our absence disturbed this fragile construction and they eventually begin to think that we are not part of their social fabric. As a means of self-preservation, they get accustomed to our absence and move on with life. Our return requires them to make readjustments once more. There is not much resistance to this but it still takes time. To help this process, we keep doing the old activities we did with them to assure them that nothing has changed. It was crucial that nothing radically new is introduced at this time. This is why I have kept this letter all this time. This letter as simple as it is is going to introduce new dimension into our relationship. It is important that it is presented at the right time.

Ruan was nowhere to be found. However, we did find the others and we went to the courtyard nearby and sat there and just talked. We have been having more moments like this for which we are immensely grateful. Then, out of nowhere, Ruan appeared. He wanted to be included in our activities immediately and it did not matter what we were doing as long as he could be part of it. Most of us have grown accustomed to Ruan’s childish demands and everyone just laughed and told him to wait like the rest. He did not mind. He just wanted to announce his presence. He then proceeded to take a bottle of paint thinner and started to sniff it. We told him not to do its because we wanted him to have a clear mind when he is with us. To our pleasant surprise, he put it away and sat down with us. This was the first time he has done this.

Mary was playing a game of checkers with one of the boys. Ruan wanted to play the next game with her. I took this opportunity to take him aside. I told him that I had something for him but there was need for some explanation. Ruan knows that we are from the church but he never asks too many questions about us. Recently, he has been more open about his feelings towards us. He does not hide the fact that he likes being with us. Last week for instance, he spent a few hours with us even though he was itching to go out and beg for a snack. However, he knew that once he left us he would get too distracted to return. He stayed until his hunger pangs got the better of him and then he took off, promising that he would try to return. He never did. It doesn’t matter. It was good enough for us to know that he wanted to spend as much time with us as possible.

I shared about the churches in the States and the people who are praying for him, not only him but for the others as well. It was the first time I shared this with any child. Not because they would disapprove but we wanted them to understand that the prayer was a first step towards relationship building. Ruan wouldn’t have understood what I was saying several months ago. Our relationship with him has opened the doors for him to have relationships with others in the church. The letter, I continued, is a fruit of this prayer. It was written by a grandmother in Florida. To be precise, it was a Christmas card but it didn’t matter to Ruan. He has never written or received a Christmas card in his life. I asked Ruan if he wanted me to translate the letter. He nodded in approval. I could see in his face that he was processing everything that I have just said. The author of letter shared how she received his name and what prompted to pray for him specifically. She made it plain and simple that it was the Holy Spirit. The Spirit stirred her heart to her connect with him. In closing, she asked if she could pray for Ruan as if he was her grandson. Ruan listened intently to what was written. I asked what he thought about this grandmother praying for him like a grandson. He became a little timid at this point and nodded his head to say, “yes”. I take it that it meant ‘yes’ that he wanted her to pray for him in this way. It was a short letter and it said everything that was needed to be said. I kept the card in its envelope and asked him what I should do with it. He wanted me to keep it for him because it would be safer. However, he stressed that he wanted it back one day so that he could keep it safely in his house. Ruan usually goes home for a few weeks a year. Even though he hardly stays at home, it was a symbolic way of saying that this letter is going to be one of his treasures. Then he asked where was this person living. When he heard the words, “Florida”, it dawned upon him that this letter came from thousands of miles away. His face lit up and immediately he transformed before my eyes from Ruan the street kid to Ruan the little boy. His eyes widened and there was huge smile on his face and he said, “You mean someone all the way from Florida wrote to me!” I guess that when I told him about churches in the States were praying for him, it did not register. They sounded abstract but the letter was something real and concrete. It showed the reality of the connection between him and Florida.

I asked him if he would like to write a letter to her. He said, ‘yes’. However, it wasn’t a convincing affirmative. Then I realized that Ruan comes for generation that perhaps has no clear understanding what is a letter. I haven’t received a written letter ever since e-mail came into the picture. Ruan never lived in a time where there was no internet. I rephrased my question. I asked him if he would like to say something to her some time. He smiled and nodded his head. I told him that I would help him. Ruan was visibly happy and he stayed longer than usual with us this day. We were playing a game when a man in a wheelchair passed us by. Ruan then told us that his step-father was a paraplegic as well. I already knew this from another source but this was the first time I heard it from Ruan himself.

I was initially planning to write a post about doing ministry beyond the idea of success and failure. Then I read the letter to Ruan. I think that this interaction with him would better describe why any Christian ministry cannot be defined on success and failure. These standards are imported into the Christian ethos from the world. They look at temporal results. The gospel deals with eternity. Our goal is help the children be conscious of an eternal reality. A simple letter opened up Ruan’s world, but not just his world, but also the world of it’s author. A grandmother who perhaps will never meet Ruan in this reality has gained a grandchild for eternity. The world does not possess the vocabulary to express the beauty of this reality. It cannot define it in its narrow view of success and failure. It goes beyond what is imaginable in this world. The gospel does things like that.

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The Temptations of Jesus: Not by Bread alone

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.-Luke 4:4

I don’t know why I chose this text to meditate upon. In a sense, I did not choose it but it chose me. I am reading the gospel of Luke for my personal devotion and this text appeared to be relevant not only to my personal life but also to our ministry. We have moved to a new stage in our relationship with the children. They have become our children. We have adopted them but not in the traditional sense. They do not want a family in the traditional sense. The Holy Spirit is moving in our hearts to become the kind of family that is most fitting for the understanding of the gospel. One of the things that a family should do is to prepare the children to live in the world. I found the temptation of Jesus as the first step towards a better understanding of the world we live.

The temptations reveal two distinct world views and they are not compatible with each other. These temptations are a symbolic representation of the temptations Jesus faced throughout His life. There was never a moment where he was free from these temptations. Those who want to live full and complete lives have to confront these temptations. Our children living in the streets need to confront these temptations; we need to confront these temptations. No one is exempt. The answers Jesus gives are scandalous not only to the devil, but to the world. The arguments of the Devil have the appearance of wisdom, but only if we live according to the standards of this age. We need to move beyond the worldly wisdom to understand the way Jesus lived in this world.

Jesus was hungry. This overlooked detail is the premise of the whole text. He was hungry not because of lack of planning on his part but due to a spiritual exercise of fasting and prayer. It wouldn’t be wrong for him to reward Himself and use His power to transform stones into bread. The devil was not asking Jesus to do something immoral. It could even be considered as a prudent use of his powers. This temptation is not restricted to Jesus. It is an universal temptation. Naturally none of us have the power to turn stone into bread. However, we have gifts and resources given to us by God. As Christians, the very first thing we need to acknowledge is that nothing we have comes to us by our own merit. We can argue that we have gained things by our own hard-work but the situations and circumstances to make this possible are given to us by God. If we claim that something belongs to us and only us, then we are not really a Christian.

But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee-
1 Chr. 29:14

The first temptation is about using the resources God has given us to satisfy our own needs. The devil’s argument is simple. He wanted Jesus to take care of Himself first and then He can use His powers to do God’s work. This argument comes in many shapes and forms. We should use all our resources to take care of our own family first before helping others. We must think about our own neighborhood first before reaching to others beyond our borders. The list can go on and on. All the arguments end with the results. God gets the leftovers after we have served ourselves. On the other hand, It is hard to argue against this reasoning because it makes sense. Jesus did not try to argue his way out of it. He plainly set forth another principle that is superior to this argument and mindset. His answer distinguishes humanity from the rest of animal kingdom. Jesus simply responded, “Man does not live on bread alone.”

Bread is a symbol of our physical sustenance. Humanity does not live and function only for its physical needs. Animals act according to their physical needs. Even among them, some are able to go beyond their basic needs and we adopt them as pets mainly because this trait. It is our human tendency to identify this in animals and yet many times we ourselves fail to act beyond our basic needs. It is not our human nature to base everything on our physical needs. This does not mean that we neglect our physical needs. Jesus did not do it. He enjoyed Himself, maybe a little too much according the Pharisees (Luke 7:34). However, our needs should not define how we use our God-given resources and talents in this life.

The things we consider as needs or necessities in our society might be luxury in another. This does not mean they are not necessary. In most developed countries, internet access is a necessity. People might miss job opportunities if they don’t have access to internet services. It is not a frivolous accessory by any means. It is important but it is not essential. However, if fulfilling our needs becomes our priority in life, then we will never get out of the desert and discover the world that the gospel impels us to go and discover. If needs are the only priority, then the drug dealers in impoverished neighborhoods are justified in engaging in criminal activities because this is the only way to meet their needs, well at least according to them.

Many things can be done or left undone by using this argument. The world thinks that no one should be deprived of what they consider to be basic needs. However, there is no clear understanding of what we really need in this life to be fully human. Jesus wasn’t concerned about filling his stomach. He was interested in living an abundant life. In other words, He was interested in being fully Human.

The gospel of Matthew gives a more complete answer to the argument of the Devil. Jesus says that man lives on every word that comes from God’s mouth. I started this post saying that the Spirit is moving us to a ministry of adoption. However, it is not an altruistic motivation on our part to do this. It is a participation in the movement of the Holy Spirit. We cannot impose adoption on the children. They have to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as well. They have to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. The author of Matthew’s gospel distinguishes the living word of God from any reduced concept of it. It states that humans live on the living word that comes from God’s mouth. It is the living word of God that gives us the strength to overcome the lies of the world trying to rob our humanity. St Paul tells us that “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’.”(Galatians 4:6) The world has no access to our hearts. The devil cannot speak to our innermost being. God speaks eternal truth that transforms the way we understand the world.

Jesus listens to the living words of God and it becomes contagious. People were drawn to Him because He lived by every word that came out of God’s mouth. Our children realize that they are adopted when they meet people who believe that God has adopted them. Jesus made tax collectors and fishermen look deep into their souls and discover their true calling. Those who live by every living word that proceeds from God’s mouth motivate others to listen to this voice as well. Thankfully, God speaks to those who are willing to listen but we need to first discern that there is another voice in this world as well. It is a lifelong journey of discerning the false wisdom from the life-giving words of our God.

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We are Your Church

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.-Matthew 18:20

It seems like we walked into an intense discussion and without missing a beat, Caio turned around and asked us whether it is more important to know what is in-between the covers of the Bible than to have a pristine Bible. It was a strange question. Then it became clearer when we saw a worn-out Bible without any cover in his hands. He found it in the streets. I am sure that the tattered Bible had a story to tell which may never be known. I told him that he was right; it was more beneficial to know that the content of the Bible than to have a beautiful unread Bible. His face lit up with a bright victorious smile. I did not know that my word would settle this whole argument. Caio then turned his attention to us. He wanted to show his find. He pointed out that the Bible included a hymnal. He then started singing some of the hymns. I must admit that Caio is a strange fellow but in a good way. He is 21 and he has been in the streets since he turned fifteen. We hardly know anything about his family. Occasionally I ask him about whether he has siblings and he never replies although he still manages to be polite about his reticence.

Over the past few months, we noticed Caio’s growing interest in all things religious. His tattered Bible is not his first by any chance. He has had several ones in the past. He confided in us that whenever he sniffs paint thinner, he tends to lose them. He thinks that there is something spiritual about this. He also once shared that his favorite book was the Psalms. He thought that it addresses the real issues of life and it was full of hope and peace. He told us that he does not have any systematic way to read the Bible. He just opens it up and reads whatever text that is before him. He is not bothered by the fact that he does not comprehend everything he reads. According to him, the Bible makes him feel connected to something greater than what he sees with his eyes. It is interesting that he never mentioned anything about leaving the streets or having hope to have a better life. These things are not his concern. Caio is happy to be connected to something greater than him. For him, this alone is joyful and sufficient. I can’t help but think about the people who think that the poor find religion appealing because of its false promises. Here we have a young man who is interested in the Bible solely because it speaks about God and nothing else.

From one of our many conversations, Caio found out that I was a parish priest before I started working in this ministry. He wanted to know if I was pastoring a church in the city. I explained that I gave up parish work so that I can put all my energy into the street work. He turned around and said that this was not true. I was a little taken aback by his answer. He looked me in the eye and said, “we are your church now.”

Caio is very sensitive to the movement of the Holy Spirit. I have seen him listening to crazy street preachers who jump up and down and shout curses at those whom they think are condemned to hell. Most people avoid them or just sit there and stare in disbelief at their behavior. I am somewhere in between depending on my mood. Caio actually sits and listens attentively to these preachers. Then he is able to decipher from all the craziness something profound and good. He admits that most of the time he does not know what these preachers are yelling about but occasionally he hears something that makes his heart burn with joy. It is not the crazy yelling and hellfire threats but it is something true and joyful. Caio takes whatever he learns and shares it with the other children.

Caio hungers to know the Truth. Jesus said that He will send the Spirit to guide and reveal the Truth to us. However, Jesus also said that we need to be a like a little child in order to enter the Kingdom of God. As adults, we tend to restrict the source of our truth. We only listen to people who think and act like us. Even when we think about the children Jesus is talking about, we tend to picture nice and well behaved middle class children. However, Jesus took a child from his circumstances and said this is the kind of child that we should strive to become. God has place us among children. We are surrounded by little children in all shapes and sizes. None of them are naive or innocent like children of our imagination. Our children are street smart. They have experienced some things that most adults fear. They have seen things that no one should see. They are able to discern who wants to help them or who is going to be detrimental to them. They know who is sincere and honest. Caio does not want to be like those preachers. However, he knows that the Truth can be spoken by whomever the Holy Spirt wishes to inspire. We don’t dictate how the Holy Spirit should work. Caio opened himself to listen to the Truth and he heard it. He saw an old Bible without covers thrown into the streets. For most of us, it would be just trash. He saw it as an opportunity to read and know about the Truth. He was able to see in us a new way God is bringing the church into streets.

The thing that Caio said is what we sense in our spirit is taking shape in the streets. God wants us to be a church. We don’t have to build any buildings. We don’t have to operate like we operate in a regular church. We have to learn to be a church in the streets. In the same, Caio is learning to discern the Truth while living in the streets. We need to discern what it means to be a church in the streets. The first step of this discernment process is prayer. St Peter, in Acts 10:9-16, was praying on the roof when the Holy Spirit revealed to him a new way of being a church. He realized that the gospel is not just a Jewish gospel, but it was for all those who hear and respond to the Holy Spirit. This revelation changed the way the apostles understood the meaning of the gospel. In the same way, our understanding of the new things God is doing must begin with prayer. Prayer guides us to be in a place spiritually to receive and understand the Holy Spirit’s movement in our midst.

A Church is a spiritual community. It is a family brought together by the Holy Spirit. It is a community that must be first willing to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit before acting. When I saw Caio with the tattered bible, I could have bought him a brand new Bible. I had the money in my pocket. However, he did not want a new Bible from me. He was quite happy with the one he found. He wanted to know if the Truth is still relevant even though it came from a Bible without covers. He wants to know how to discover the Truth for himself. He wants to be part of a Church that would teach how to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit. This perhaps would be most powerful thing that we can offer to Caio.

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A Boy and His Dog

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works-Hebrews 10:24

Felipe is about six feet tall and is always seen with a huge backpack in which he carries all his life possessions. However, despite his height, he still looks and acts like a young boy. This is not to say that he is naive or childish. He is a survivor and street wise and at the same time, he has managed to maintain his innocence. He is perhaps one of the boys who has spent the most time in the streets. He has been living in the streets since he was nine and he just turned twenty a couple of weeks ago. When he saw us after a month of absence from the streets, he ran up and gave us a big hug. Even though it felt good for our own self-esteem, we were still surprised. Felipe is usually quite reserved and does not express his emotions openly. We had a gift for him this day. It was a framed picture of Felipe with his faithful companion, Ursula the dog. Filipe is never seen without her. However, today he was alone.

Felipe had a special relationship with Ursula. It isn’t unusual for the children to have a pet but none of them can be compared to Felipe. He was a very attentive pet owner. He would give up or forego things for the sake of the dog. Felipe was never involved anything illegal whether stealing or dealing in drugs. It wasn’t in his nature do such things. He also did not want to risk being caught and leaving Ursula alone to fend for herself. He found her when she was a puppy. Someone had abandoned her mother and all the new-born puppies in the streets. The mother was too weak and eventually died. Felipe managed to rescue all the puppies and he found homes for the rest and kept Ursula. Ever since that day, Felipe made sure Ursula was never left alone or wanting for anything. He became her father. Felipe gave her everything that he never had.

Felipe is a very private person. He hardly speaks about his family. We know that he returns home at least once a year during the Christmas celebrations but he never stays beyond a week. He is the kind of boy that every parent would desire to have as a son. He is very considerate and trustworthy. Unfortunately, he sniffs paint thinner but not as often as the rest of the children. All the teenage girls say that he is a very respectful young man and they feel safe with him. It makes us wonder why such a pleasant and kind young man would find his home so intolerable that he would prefer to live in the streets. We never met his mother although some of the children told us that she usually comes at the end of the year looking for him. He usually returns to his home with her.

Felipe has yet to come around and tell his whole story. Occasionally he gives little snippets of his family life. So far we have gathered that his biological father is in prison and he does not have a relationship with him. His mother is remarried and he was two younger brothers. However, he is hesitant to say anything beyond these basic things about his family. Perhaps, his silence reveals more about his relationship with them. Felipe has grown accustomed to being alone in the streets. However, this does not mean that he is closed to relationships. For some reason, he is just not open to living with his family anymore.

When Felipe saw his picture with Ursula, he hugged us and started to cry. He told us that Ursula died while he was at his mother’s house. The public transport in São Paulo does not allow pets. He has to take at least three buses to his mother’s house. He usually leaves Ursula with another homeless friend. Ursula was pregnant and she died while giving birth to her third litter of puppies. It was unusual for Felipe to show any emotion but this time he could not control himself. He cried and we consoled him. We could sincerely say that Ursula was well loved by him. These words brought relief to his pain. He asked if we could do an activity with him. He sat with us and played a game. Felipe did not have much to say to us but he wanted to be with us. The games helped to do this. He spent the whole afternoon with us. Then he gave us a hug once again and thanked us for the photos.

Felipe has his own group in the streets. They are a small group of boys who take care of each other. Sometimes they welcome girls into their fold. There is a certain interesting characteristic about this group; whoever joins them tends to adopt a more considerate and caring posture. There is a newcomer to the streets. She is an adult who has some serious mental illness. She was going around pestering all the homeless people including our children to give her paint thinner to sniff. Unintentionally she was irritating the children and most of them tried their best to ignore her. Then one boy started yelling at her to stay away. A boy from Felipe’s group stood up for her and asked the others not to be so brusque with her. He said that she wasn’t fully aware of what she was doing. Then he spoke to her gently and told her that they did not have what she wanted. It was difficult for us to see this young woman in the streets. She was more vulnerable than the children. Felipe’s group were able to see that she was worse off than them and they tried to help her as much as they could.

I don’t know why Felipe is in the streets. However, there is something happening in his life. He is able to influence the children for the better. I saw him once reading the Bible and he said that it is helping him to make right choices. God is forming a small group in the streets. It is a spiritual oasis in this urban desert. The children are learning that they can still be compassionate and loving even though they did not experience these things in their family life.

I am grateful for the hug I received from Felipe. I look forward to spending more time with him.

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Sufficiency of the Gospel

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.- Galatians 1:8-12

The street where Christian used to live is in one of the worst neighborhoods in São Paulo. He was a recent arrival to the streets and one of our team members thought it was a good idea to visit his mother. We decide to venture out together to this infamous neighborhood.

In another time, this would have been considered a beautiful neighborhood. There were many historic buildings with intricate patterns and designs adorning their exteriors. However, now they are in various stages of deterioration. These buildings are known as “cortiços” which is just another word for urban slum. The houses are divided into tiny rooms and rented for exorbitant prices. Most of the tenants are very poor and without choices in terms of housing except for these places. As we entered the street, we were “greeted” by a group of teens who asked us what we wanted. They thought that we were there to buy drugs and they wanted to let us know of their wide range of stock. We told them that we were here looking for Christian’s mother’s home. They knew her and they pointed us to one of the buildings. We were informed not to knock on the doors but to just wait outside the door and they would eventually let us in. Only the police knock on doors in this neighborhood. We did not want to find out what would happen if we knocked. The street was filled with people sitting outside and children of all ages running around. They stopped their conversations and stared at us distrustfully. We stood in front of a building where the dealers pointed out and waited. It took a while before the door was opened. The drug dealer looked suspiciously at us at first and then he relaxed when we told him that we are from the church. He smiled and said that he would call the mother of the boy. The atmosphere was tense. We could feel everyone in the neighborhood scrutinizing our every move. It was one of our most intense experiences working in the streets.

Much later we had a discussion with a group of Christians about the challenges our children face growing up in these neighborhoods. Someone suggested that it was asking too much from our children and teens to be Christians while living in these kinds of neighborhoods. This sentiment was just not just the conviction of one person. Almost everyone in the discussion agreed. They argued that the temptation was too great for them to be involved in crime. I understood their sentiment but at the same time both Mary and I were greatly disturbed. The implications of this argument should disturb any Christian because it is saying that the gospel is only good news in a certain context and it is inadequate in another situation. If this is the case, then I am afraid that we have nothing relevant to say to our children in the streets. Then the gospel is not powerful enough to do anything for them unless they change their circumstances first. This argument implies that those who have the misfortune to find themselves born into extreme poverty are beyond the reach of the gospel; that they first need to change their social status to fully reap the benefits of the gospel. This gospel is a gospel that depends on certain social and economic circumstances to be effective. Thanks be to God that this is not the gospel of the Bible. It is the other gospel of the world that St Paul so vigorously argued against in his letters.

Our children have heard this other gospel preached to them all their lives. None of our children doubt the existence of God. They love to hear church music. They even have memorized some of the modern choruses. They even sing them with gusto if asked. However, there is something missing in their belief system. Their faith is a sentimental feeling and God of this gospel is incapable of bringing about any significant change in their lives. The children heard this gospel from adults. We discovered that we are no different from them. We have a limited idea of what God can do. We need to purge ourselves of this wrong concept of God.

When we went to the neighborhood I described above, we were only able to see the criminality and the darkness. We were impressed by the oppressive presence of violence but we failed to see God present in the neighborhood. We failed to see His Light in this place. We listened to the society’s judgement of the place and believed that it is the worst neighborhood in the city. We failed to see and acknowledge that despite its reputation, God has poured His spirit into this world. His Spirit is present in all places. God’s Spirit has only one task and this is to guide us to the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus said that the Truth will set us free. We have a choice before us. Either we believe this to be true or we don’t think that Jesus knew what he was talking about. For Christians, the latter is not an option. However, if we are not fully convinced of the former, we can never effectively share the gospel. Our message of hope will be tainted with social reforms based on ideologies that are not compatible with the gospel.

I don’t know how to live in a neighborhood that is riddled with drugs and violence: it is a world that is foreign to me. However, just because it is foreign to my reality, it doesn’t mean that it is impossible for anyone to live a full Christian life there. St Paul met the Living Christ on the road to Damascus. This experience with the Resurrected Jesus changed his life. He gave him the confidence to preach Christ to all people regardless of the circumstances they found themselves. Not just Paul, the early church went out to distant lands and preached to Christ to peoples with different cultural practices and beliefs. Some of them were grossly adverse to Christian ethics and morality. They discovered that the gospel is still the gospel in every situation. It has the power to enable people to triumph over their circumstances. Our confidence in the sufficiency of the gospel perhaps reveals more about ourselves than the message of the gospel. Perhaps we need to ask ourselves in the light of the biblical revelation if our understanding of the gospel is truly good news for all peoples in all circumstances or it is just a cultural religious sentiment. The latter has no relevance to the world. The power of the gospel has to first be experienced in our own souls. It is this confidence that will enable us to see victory when we are confronted with utter hopeless.

“For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”- 1 Cor. 1:22-24

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The Tale of Two Sisters

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.-Romans 8:5

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.- Romans 12:2

There were two girls who ran away to the streets before they turned ten. One was an orphan and her parents died when she was five. She and her brothers were placed in an overcrowded state orphanage. Her brothers were the first to run away to the streets. She did not want to be separated from them and followed suit. However, by the time she got there, her brothers were caught for stealing and put in a youth detention center. The young girl ended up all alone in the streets.

The other girl’s mother did not want her the moment she gave birth to her. She was despised and abused from the day she was born. She suffered physical and sexual abuse by those who were supposed to love and protect her. The day she ran away to the streets was one of the most joyous occasions in her life. She was finally free from abuse and hatred. She ran away to the streets because it was safer. In the streets, she found herself to be all alone armed with the determination to survive not matter what it took.

Both girls were in the streets at the same time. They were never friends or enemies. They shared the same life experiences. The streets was a safe haven for them. It was a place where they were exposed to all dangers of society and yet, compared to what they have experienced in life, they found it be a place of freedom. However, both girls realized that freedom was not enough. Being free from an oppressive situation brings comfort, but freedom needs to lead to something better. They wanted to have the freedom to choose life. All they had experienced so far was death and they knew that they were meant for something better. They never met and yet they were sisters. They were bonded by a common experience and pain. They belonged to the same world of the street life.

We knew these two young girls in the streets. Now they are both mothers and wives. They found a way out of the streets. One struggles to pay the bills every month. She never has been able to keep a steady job. She finds it hard to persevere when the situation gets tough. Even though she has been out of the streets for ten years, the temptation to give up everything and return to the streets is strong. She knows how to survive there. Her husband is a good man. He works as odd job laborer. It is hard for him to find steady employment. Life is a long and uphill journey for them. They are determined to survive.

The other girl is also married and has a child. Her first husband left her and she struggled as a single mother for a while. She never felt that she was a good mother and her ex-husband took full custody of her child. She did not fight it. She has remarried. This time her husband is a lawyer. He is much older than her. He treats her well and encourages her to better herself academically. She is studying law and hopefully in the next year she will graduate. She had nothing when she went to the streets and now she lives in a luxurious apartment and drives a fancy car. She has even been to Europe on several occasions. Looking at her now, it would be hard to imagine that she actually lived in the streets until she was eleven. Both girls came from the streets but now their lives appear to be miles apart from each other. However, they are still sisters.

Whenever I share the stories of these young women, I usually get applause for the achievements of the young woman who is graduating from Law school. People do not know how to respond to other woman’s present status. Both women are only different because of their financial status. This is a superficial difference and it is not relevant. However, if we judged them according to the standards of the world, one would be classified as successful and the other would not be classified as anything. No one would consider her a success. The standards of the world are cruel and superficial. They separate people into classes of winners and losers. Even if we try to avoid classifying people as losers, the applause is always reserved for the winners. Unfortunately these worldly standards are found in the thinking of the church. The way we preach the gospel has been influenced. It is not the gospel of Jesus. It is more like the gospel of the middle class where success is based on economics. We need to move away from gauging success in this manner: we have to change our standards. This can only happen when we allow the Spirit to transform our way of thinking. It is not pretending to see something different from the world. We cannot pretend to set our minds on the things of the Holy Spirit. We can pray and wait for the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds. The perspective of the Holy Spirit makes the all the difference in our ministry. It helps us see the true treasure in the lives of these two sisters.

I refrain from using names for these two sisters because they are both are very dear to us. We have known them for almost twenty years. We see and speak with them often. One even addresses us as “mom” and “dad”. We are proud of both of them. The one who struggles financially also struggles with her faith. She does not doubt God. She does not doubt His presence in her life. She doubts her own worthiness. She wonders if she will ever amount to something good. Her saving grace is her daughter. Her daughter is giving her the strength to persevere even when everything seems to go wrong. She is discovering her meaning in this life. She is aware that the life is hard and the struggles might never get easier. However, she also knows that despite her doubts God will guide her through it.

The future lawyer has all the luxuries of this world at her disposal but she shares the same struggles with her street sister. She doubts her own self worth. Years of abuse and neglect have made her doubt own self-worth. No one can convince her that she is worthy of love. She needs to be constantly renewed by the gracious love of our God to realize her worth for herself. She struggles daily and struggles alone like her sister. Both sisters know that no one can truly understand their fears and loneliness except for God who knows them better than they know themselves. They are fully aware of this Truth. This is what we consider as success. We hope all our children and teens living in the streets will share this conviction. We would be happy and satisfied if we could contribute to their awareness of this Truth. Both sisters are successful because of this knowledge. They will survive in this world regardless of the challenges before them. They might never meet again in this world but they share a God who knows and loves them more than we can ever imagine.

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Our Eternal Address

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” -John 1:47-51

We saw an older man talking to Dreyson as we approached the steps of the cathedral. We were naturally curious. The children are diehard gossips and we knew someone would eventually let us know what was happening. Sure enough, one of them blurted out that the man was Dreyson’s father before we could even sit down on the steps. It was then that we were formally introduced. The father must have been in his late forties but his hard life made him look older. The father was visibly upset. He had come to convince Dreyson to go home today but it was obvious that it wasn’t going to happen.

We met Dreyson about two years ago. I remember the day clearly. On his first day in the streets, he came up to me and told me his name. Then he asked me not to forget it. I made it a point to write it down. The next day he came up and asked if I remembered his name which I did. He smiled and then went away. He has been streets ever since and for two years no one has come looking for him. Today was the first time we saw anyone from his household here. Dreyson made up his mind that he wasn’t going home today. His father could not understand why his son would prefer to sleep in the streets. He kept telling us that in his house he has internet and video games and even cable TV. He saw no reason why Dreyson would not want to go home. I told the father that the only person who knows the answer is his son. The father thought that it was drug addiction. His son sniffs paint thinner in the streets. This was something he started using in the streets. It did not him bring here. His father kept insisting that Dreyson return to his home but his son started closing up and finally he just walked away.

I took the father aside and suggested that he try a different approach. I suggested that he come once a week to the streets and just take his son out for a snack and just spend time with him. He could talk about what is going on at home and his brothers and sisters. Perhaps bit by bit his son would open up to him. I was little taken aback when his father said that he wasn’t going to do this. He wanted his son to just return home today. Unfortunately, things do not work this way. He could force Dreyson to go with him but he knows that his son will just turn and around and return to the street. I was a little disappointed that his father did not want to take the time to rebuild his son’s confidence.

His father eventually gave up and left. The other children and teens were upset with Dreyson that he did not return home as well. They said that if any of their parents came looking for them they would go home. It was actually quite a sad revelation. None of the parents have come looking for their sons and daughters. Many have spent many Christmases in the streets. No one has ever come to see them during this time. I think this must be the biggest blow to them. They are forgotten even by their families. Dreyson was thirteen when he came to the streets. It took two years for his father to come to the streets. Apparently, it was a bit too late.

We were reading the above biblical text for our team’s meditation. We usually read a passage from the gospel of John before going out into the streets. It is part of our work ritual. I have heard preachers put a mystical spin about Jesus seeing Nathaniel sitting under the tree. The text itself does not say that Jesus had a vision of Nathaniel but it implies that Jesus literally saw the young man and noticed him. Jesus was able to see something in this young man that perhaps others had just ignored. Jesus saw a young person who was honest and sincere. The whole incident had an tremendous effect on Nathanael. He immediately recognized something divine about Jesus. It did not take much to impress this young man. Even Jesus was surprised by Nathanael’s reaction. His reaction reveals something about the culture of the period. It is not much different from today. Most people, then and now, go through life without ever being noticed. In the land of Jesus, it wouldn’t be unusual to sit under a fig tree. In fact, it seems like a most rational thing to do in a hot climate. Nathanael was one of the many but Jesus noticed him and now he is remembered after two thousand years.

Dreyson can appreciate what Nathanael felt. He wants to be noticed. He does not want to be lost in the crowd. All the children know his name. He is one of the few children without a nickname. Nicknames are common in Brazilian culture. I am known as the longed haired guy among the homeless adults. It is not usually offensive. It is something cultural. However, Dreyson wants everyone to know his actual name. It is not just Dreyson. All the children and teens want us to address them by their given names. They feel special when we remember their names. It means that they are somebody to us. They will respond positively to anyone who recognizes their personhood. As good and special as this seems, we cannot stop here. This is not why we are here.

The gospel is more than this. If we stop at just recognizing the personhood of Dreyson or any of the children, then we are doing a great disservice to them. There is something greater. Jesus thought that Nathanael was setting his standards too low. He did not just come here to notice forgotten people. He came to connect us to another reality, a reality that is going to give us a firm footing in this transitory world.

The image of angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man is a reference to an Old Testament story of Jacob. Jacob lost his home and family and was forced into exile. It was at this moment when he was completely lost and alone that he saw this vision. This vision was a message of hope for a man who thought that his situation was hopeless. Jacob was disconnected from the world but God connected him to a reality that is permanent and non-transitory. Our children in the streets live a transitory life. Everything changes on a daily basis. Their friends come and go. Their families don’t seem to be able to provide the sense of belonging that they desire. They want to belong to someone or something. They want to be part of something special. They are vulnerable. They are willing to give themselves away to anything that would guarantee some sort of permanence. This is why we have to be clear in our purpose. We are not here to just give a sense of personhood. There is something greater and deeper than our self-esteem. It is a new identity in the eternal reality and Jesus is the One who is going to connect us. The children need to discover through faith. It is faith that will help them see this new reality. The first step is recognizing that they are individuals. They have to know that they are not mistakes. Their names mean something special to God. The next step is help them draw closer to discovering this eternal ladder that connects them to an eternal address. Our children and teens, just like us, are looking for a place where their souls will feel at peace. This is the promise of the gospel. Jesus wants to connect them to a reality where they can feel secure and grow into the person God has created them to become. Our task is to help them move in this direction. This is why we are here.

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The Mystery of Prayer

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.- John 14:12-14

We walked around the square looking for the children today but no one was around. We know some of the places where they beg for money and went looking for them there instead. We found Breno and Filipe. They were sitting outside a bakery which sells artisanal bread. Breno’s face lit up when he saw us. He jokingly asked me for one dollar. I pretended to give him some change and then he pulled his hand back. He really thought that I was going to give him some money and he did not want any of it. He did not want that kind of relationship with us. He smiled when he realized that I was just joking. Filipe asked us to wait for them at the Cathedral steps. This has been our meeting place for the past month. We have been doing all our activities there.

We sat and waited for them at the steps and it didn’t take long before other children and teens started appearing. They asked to play a game of Uno. This has been our common practice the past few weeks. However, today, we did not bring Uno with us. This was deliberate. It was time for something new. Today, we wanted to just sit and talk with them and maybe do some art. At first, they were disappointed. Nevertheless, they remained at the steps with us. Initially they did not want to anything else. We took out a coloring book and started coloring instead by ourselves. Their curiosity perked and eventually one by one they started asking if they could join us in coloring. However, Dreyson did not want to color but he wanted to talk instead. He started asking questions about Mary’s childhood and Maine where she grew up. We have known Dreyson for almost two years. He ran away to the streets when he was 13. He hardly speaks to us, mainly because he is always high on paint thinner. We were surprised when he started asking things about us. He was also curious about our relationship and how long we have been married. He shared some about his experiences and the places he visited with his father once upon a time. Something happened between his father and him which caused him to run away. We know that his father was a crack addict. We asked him if he was angry with his father and he nodded his head. He did not want to say anything much about it. We did not push him for more information. It is his story and he will tell us at the right time.

Ruan was sitting beside us during this whole time pretending to be coloring but was really eavesdropping . He is used to be terror in the streets. Despite being only 13, he is really big for his age and he used his size to bully others. He stole our deck of Uno cards before and started yelling profanities at us when we asked him to return them. Today, he has changed in the way he interacts with us. He has become more tender with us. He even obeys us whenever we insist that he try not use any profanity in our presence. He apologizes to Mary whenever a swear word slips out. This is a big change for him. He was sitting next to us listening to our conversation with Dreyson and it was obvious that he was beginning to get a little jealous. He wanted some attention from us as well but he was willing to wait for his turn. This is itself is a miracle.

Gabriel appeared out of nowhere and asked for a game of Uno. He has been our constant companion in the streets for the past few weeks. He is about fourteen and we have known him for a little over a year. We told that there was no Uno for today. He did not seem disappointed. He asked what we can do together. We suggested just talking and he smiled. We spoke about a variety of topics. Soon everyone was just talking like a family. The topics ranged from Christmas to things we liked and disliked. They shared about their homes and family members. They shared about some good experiences they had with their families and the homeless shelters where they stayed. They asked about the things we liked and wanted to know how we celebrated Christmas. One of them even asked if we had spent anytime in prison. Everyone they knew has been to prison so for them this wasn’t a strange question. This was the first time in two years where we just talked with children and teens without any activities. We wanted them to know that we just wanted to spend time with them and they blessed us by doing this exactly. When it was time to go, they complained that we were leaving too early. We had been there for almost three hours.

There has been a change in our ministry. Our relationships with the children and teens have grown stronger. They have taken the trouble to learn our first names. They call us, “Uncle Estive” and “Auntie Merie”. Both our names are difficult for Portuguese speakers to pronounce. The children and teens whom we once considered to be tough and closed have changed their demeanor towards us. We set strict limits when they are with us. They cannot use any chemical substances or use profane language when they do anything with us. They struggle with it and yet they don’t mind when we insist that they follow the rules. The positive change is obvious. Perhaps it is just the time we have spent in the streets. One could say that our relationships have evolved through time. In reality, time is neutral. It does not make things better or worse. There are people who have worked in the streets for many years and still do not have good relationships with the children. I think the changes are a result of prayer.

In one of my newsletters to the churches, I suggested that people adopt some of these children and pray for them. The concept of adoption wasn’t so much in the sense of financially sponsoring the children and teens. We did not want any finance involved in this process. We wanted people who felt called to pray and correspond with these children. Some people and churches responded to this challenge. Some wrote to me personally and asked for the names of specific children. I always gave the names of the toughest children and teens. It was interesting to see the effect taking place in some of these children. I am not saying that everything is wonderful and these children are now our best friends. I am saying that there is a change in their hearts. Some might say that it is coincidence. William Temple had the perfect answer for such people; “When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t pray, they don’t.”

Jesus said that He will do whatever we ask in His Name. This verse has been abused and distorted ever since it was spoken. This is not a license to get what we want. His words are to meant to comfort our souls. Those who think such way have forgotten the preceding verses. Prayer is a gift to us to do greater things than Jesus did while He walked in this world. It sounds impossible because it is impossible. Only prayer can make this possible. Jesus never was able to touch the hearts of people thousands of miles away from Him when He walked this earth. Today, the church is able to do this through prayer. It is God’s way of helping us participate in something that seems impossible for us to do. It seems impossible to make a difference in the lives of people thousands of miles away. Those who have been praying for these little ones can be comforted to know that their concerns and compassion voiced to our Father are being honored. Anything done in the hopes of spreading the knowledge of God’s love is never in vain.

Ruan used to be a bully and disrespectful, but now he wants to spend time with us and is sometimes even willing to throw his paint thinner away to play games with us. Alan used to ignore us. Now he wants to spend time with us and asks about our lives. I could go on and on about the changes that have occurred. The most logical reason for these is prayer. This has been the major change in our approach since we started this ministry. More Christians are engaged with us in the streets through prayer. It is not magic. It is just the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to see His active presence in action. We are becoming more impressed with what God is doing. Prayer is opening our hearts and minds to God’s actions.

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Money in Ministry

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”-Matthew 6:24

Aline is 18 years old. She has been in the streets since she was ten. Before this, she and her sister were taken away from her family and placed in a State-sponsored orphanage. She always said good things about the place but at the same time, she knew that it would never be her home. The orphanages can only accommodate children and teens until they are eighteen. Nothing in the system provides shelter for them after this age. Some are sent back home and some end up in the streets. Aline has spent most of her teenage life looking for a permanent home. As strange as it sounds, Aline ran away to the streets in search for a home. She tried staying with her mother for a while but she did not feel that she had a permanent place there. She never told us her reasons. She just said that it wasn’t her place. Aline is looking for something and she doesn’t have an idea what it is. She never had anyone to guide or help her to navigate through life. In many ways, she is not much different from any teenager who has just turned eighteen. The only difference is that she is living in the streets but now she is tired of it. She wants a place to call home.

It is possible for someone like Aline to rent a place in the center. It would not be ideal in any sense of the word. It is usually a small room with shared bathroom in an house and usually they will ask for an exorbitant rent for what they offer but it will still be affordable for her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a permanent job. She has been doing errands for people and managed to get by with the little they give her. In the beginning of this year, she made up her mind to free herself from any substance abuse. We are proud to say that she has managed this. I have known Aline for almost two years. She has become quite special to us. On her birthday, Mary baked a cake for her and she came to our apartment to celebrate the occasion. We didn’t not realize that this simple gesture initiated a new phase in our relationship. She began to open up to us. Recently, she invited us to watch a movie with her and then quickly stressed that we each should pay for our own way. This was her way of saying that she wanted to spend time with us and not take advantage of our finances. Now, Aline needs some money to rent a room. She has never asked for money from us. She has been sleeping in the streets for the past few days. She left her bag of clothes in our apartment. They were her only possessions and she was afraid that they might stolen while she is asleep at night. She sleeps with the other boys we know in the tunnel. They look up to her as an older sister. This is something temporary. She is looking for a small room to rent. As I already I mentioned before she had limited income. We have the money to help her. However, there is a problem because money is always problematic.

We feel comfortable buying a meal for someone. We would give money to buy clothes for someone. We give to charitable organizations without any hesitation. However, we find it difficult to hand money directly to someone who needs it. We feel uncomfortable and annoyed when someone asks for money. We prefer to look the other way or avoid any eye contact when we see someone begging at the traffic light. In our mind, we have tons of reasons for not giving money to someone directly. Most of them are valid reasons. We don’t want them to use the money unwisely. However, we never question ourselves if we use our money wisely. If we make an inventory of the things we spent our money, can we say honestly say that we spent our money wisely? Well, most of us, including myself, think that our money is our business. No one has the right to tell us how we should spend it. It is our money and we earned it. In reality, we need to question the truth of this mindset. Maybe if we are atheists, then we can believe this way. However, if we are people who take our faith seriously, then we need to ask ourselves who is the owner of our money? It is a question we need to ask on our knees. It is not a political or idealogical question. It is a spiritual one that only God can answer in our hearts. However, we need to be willing to listen to Him. The danger is that we might not like the answer He will give us.

In Jesus’ time, the Jewish people were exposed to all kinds of idolatry. However, Jesus never once said anything about these foreign gods. He only addressed one deity that has an universal appeal to all peoples. He called this deity, mammon. There is no indication that among the Jewish tradition that money had been personified in such a way. What He said radicalized his society. In the Old Testament, money was considered a visible sign of God’s blessings. Abraham, Job and Solomon were considered blessed and material wealth was one of the signs. In the gospel, Jesus, as usual, scandalizes everyone by revealing that money is a destructive god trying to compete with God. It has the potential to dominate anyone who tries to have the best of both worlds. It is impossible to serve both God and Mammon.

Idolatry is about power. It is usurping power from God. Money has the capability of giving us power. Those who have much wealth have less reasons to depend on God. It is not uncommon for people in an affluent society to think that everything can be resolved with money. It is not just the rich that think this way. Both rich and poor can be seduced by this false god. Warnings about the dangers of mammon are not limited to a certain class of people but to everyone who thinks that money is the answer to their problems. However, we live in this world and we need to use money to function in this world. We need to be careful how we use it. We need to have the right relationship with money.

“Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”-Job 1:21

The was the attitude of Job in the Bible. It sums up the attitude of the righteous rich in the Old Testament. They were fully aware that their wealth did not belong to them. When it was taken from them, they did not put up a fuss and claim that it was their hard work and good business sense that helped them acquire their wealth. As Christians, we need to recognize that everything including opportunities to make and earn money comes to us through the grace of God. It has nothing to do with our personal merit but only the grace of God. Our money does not belong to us. It has been given to us to participate in God’s work. Even then, we cannot be foolish to think that money is a neutral force. Jesus did not think it was and this is why He identified it as a false god.

We hesitate to give money to the person begging because he might use the money for drugs or alcohol. This is a valid concern. However, it also good to consider the spiritual danger we are putting ourselves in if we refuse to give money away. If we keep the money for our purpose, we are exposing ourselves to greater spiritual danger. There is a spiritual force behind money that makes us depend solely on it. It has the tendency to make us think that we need money to have a secure and peaceful life. The more money we have the more we desire it. Eventually we will find ourselves pushing God in the corner of our lives where we go to Him whenever our money can’t do the job. This is the temptation money brings in our lives. Giving it away is God’s way of providing us a way out of this temptation.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.-1 Cor. 10:13

God might be putting someone in our lives (apart from our families and friends) to share our money so that we can be saved from the power of money. As Christians, we are citizens of another Kingdom that functions radically different than this world. This world uses money to buy favors and assert influences. The Kingdom of God works against this principle. One of the ways we can use money according to the values of the gospel is to give it away.

I am not suggesting that you should give your money to the church or even this ministry or any missionary endeavor. Jesus never mentions any of this as an alternative. Also we should not hand out thousands of dollars to the person on the street. This still remains a unwise thing to do. However, we can follow the words of Jesus; “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”(Luke 16:9) The basis of our giving should be to enhance our relationships. However, this does not mean that relationships should be based on money. It shouldn’t be a paternalistic relationship where the giver assumes a superior position over the recipient. Mammon is very sneaky and can use altruistic means to dominate our soul. The only way to defeat this false god is allowing our hearts to be guided by the true and living God. We need to pray that Holy Spirit will open the door for a relationship with the person begging at the side of the street. It means treating the person like a human being. Our giving can open to the door for us to say a kind word. We can give in way to show that we desire more than monetary relationship with them. However, none of this would be possible without prayer. Our giving can only transmit God’s love if we open ourselves to be used by God in this way.

We want Aline to know us as people who love and care for her. This takes time. We don’t want to use mammon to accelerate this process. It does not have the power to do this. Only God can help us develop this relationship. The hold of mammon is dangerous for us and we don’t want it to contaminate our relationship with her. We will use money in our relationship with her. We will pray for wisdom and guidance. We desire our relationship to be based on love and nothing else. We don’t want to give mammon any room to determine the direction this friendship.

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