Casa Asistencia Temporal (the CAT) is a government shelter for kids who have had to be pulled out of their home environments for one reason or the other. Maybe they are juvenile delinquents. Or they have been abused, neglected, raped, etc. All of these children are placed together in a government home. This theoretically means that the abused and the "abuser" could be placed in the same general location. Until things are worked out at home or an alternative place of residence is established, the kids stay at the CAT. Some kids have been living there for more than a year.
Growing up or even spending formative months in an institution can take its toll emotionally. Every week, Back2Back goes to the CAT to teach a Bible lesson, build relationships with the kids, sing some fun songs, play games, etc. We are currently only able to spend a couple hours there each week, but it is these couple hours that have become one of the times I most look forward to. Many mission teams that come down find going to the CAT to be a depressing experience, especially having to leave them after a lot of them have already been left by parents or other authority figures. But somehow every time I go I am filled with hope.
It is a bleeding hope.
It's the kind of hope that hurts, longs, and groans for resurrection. The kind that knows that the Greatest Good, the Greatest Love, is looking after these children and if they come to Him, He will give them unexplainable, divine rest. He will work through all the trauma to bring about something good.
Romans 8:22-27 -
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God."
I briefly mentioned one girl from the CAT in my prayer requests a few weeks ago. Her name is Jiramina (or something like that, I don't think I ever quite pronounced it right.) I met Jiramina on a day we went to the CAT to play soccer and basketball with the kids. The group split up, some going to play with the little kids, others with the teens. I made my way over to the teenagers. As I took a break from playing soccer, I noticed a girl on the bleachers. But she wasn't facing the field. She was staring through the bleachers in the opposite direction. She sat alone, staring into a void I cannot know. As I approached and greeted her, she turned, and I could see tears in her eyes. She was perhaps 13, which made the scene more stark somehow: she cradled a tiny doll wrapped in a blanket.
I began to talk with her, asking her the basics. What do you like to do for fun? What's your favorite color? Do you like sports?
We had a wonderful, thirty-minute conversation and played basketball for a few minutes. I hugged her several times and the next time I came to the CAT, other activities were going on and I only had time for a quick greeting and another hug. I told her I would be back soon.
I missed going there the next two weeks, because I wasn't scheduled on the team. This Thursday, she was not there, which is probably a good thing. Is she back home now? Is she in a safe place? I can only pray that it is true.
That is the entirety of my impact on her life. It breaks my heart that I cannot form a deeper relationship with her, but I hope she witnessed a slice of God's love by interacting with me.
In the meantime, I will love each kid I interact with at the CAT. There's Marisol, the four-year-old who clings to me, tickles me, and does front flips over my shoulder as I gently try to get her to pay attention to the lesson. There's Aurora, who speaks English and likes to play Xbox when she is at home. There's Wendi, a beautiful girl with bumps and bruises on her face from some unknown hurt.
This week for VBS at the CAT, the kids wrote down questions they wanted to ask God. Virtually all of them asked something like: "When can I get out of here?" or "When can I go home?" or "Can I see my mom?"
Wow. Writing all of that and reading it back, it all seems very depressing. Where is the hope?
Hope is in the fact that the shelter allows us to talk about Jesus.
Hope is Back2Back being a constant in their tumultuous, changing circumstances.
Hope is in the smiles and laughter of the kids as they belt out the lyrics and dance to songs.
Hope is seeing mission teams connect with the kids, hugging them close and silently praying over them as if they were their own children.
Prayer Requests:
- My energy level is waning physically, emotionally, mentally. I'm still very much enjoying serving here, but I'm tired! My brain is in a fog today. I got lots of sleep last night, but I feel like I just pulled an all-nighter. Pray for a supernatural boost of energy for me and the entire staff!
- That I would be able to finish support-raising videos I am putting together for the staff
- Future plans--what in the world am I doing after this?
Praises:
- I fell on my back on steps when I was running at a water park the other day (within the first few minutes--playing too hard!), and though I am incredibly sore, nothing seems to be seriously wrong. Could have been much worse!
- My voice is back!
- VBS and other programming attendance at the Tres Reyes community continues to grow. Word is getting around about the community center that will be built there, and at the last activity we did, there were over 55 kids there!
- God consistently vanquishes my fears through prayer
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| Several staff, mission team, and 3 families we work with at a water park together |
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