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| Mom and kiddo wave hi |
That's pretty far south. 19 hours on a bus, in fact. He's a long way from home and you can feel it. He climbs the institute walls, trying to live without boundaries, and the directors of the institute tell us how little they know what to do with him. "He just does whatever he wants!" they tell us.
Needless to say I was a little worried to bring him along with us, but I also recognized that it's precisely for boys like these that we are here. God's heart is all about the orphan; our eyes are to be directed in that way as well.
Both Rodrigo uno and Alan joined us today. The plan was to play foosball, but apparently the kiosk that has foosball got rid of it, so we went to a local shopping area and hung out for awhile. The boys really love going up and down escalators we found out (from last week as well), so we allowed them that freedom. I sometimes would go down one and hide behind a pole nearby to scare them. We all had a good laugh.
When it was time to leave however, we encountered a problem. As leaders, we are learning to set limits for these boys, and one of them is that if a child misbehaves, he can not come with us the next trip. Alan decided he did not want to come back. He did everything within his little 12 year old self to not return, including laying down in the middle of the shopping area. We calmly explained again the importance of behaving and he still would not budge. Rodrigo offered "help" by fighting with Alan while saying, "C'mon man, we gotta go!"
So I did the best thing I knew to do. "Hey Rodrigo, I'll race you back to the house!" His eyes widened..
..And we were off! It's only about 6/10 of a mile, but it was pretty hot. I figured if Alan wasn't being provoked by the other kid, and that there could be more attention with the rest of the leaders, maybe it would be easier to bring him back. The other leaders seemed to say it wasn't easy, but it was possible.
Javi was asked by the director point blank whether Alan behaved well. I watched as Javi struggled to say how hard it was to get Alan to come with us, to say that he will not be allowed to join us next week. You can tell how much Javi wants to show grace. And yet we must be firm.
The Bible tells us the the Lord disciplines those He loves. Even the apple of His eye* had to face the consequences of his sin**.
Before we had come to the institute, we had a meeting with one of the leaders of OM's TeenStreet. We asked advice on how to handle the anger and negative attitudes of these kids, and how to encourage the love of Jesus. The advice centered on our need to be loving and firm, and to set the best example of Christ with our lives more than anything else. What is usually the case is that these kids have no good thing going for them; we might be the most positive experience for them each week. But we also want our being together to be a privilege.
It will be important to counter the negative with positive. To be firm when we separate them during a fight, but then to show a loving pat on the back, and an expression of, "It worries me to see you act in this way." These kids have to know they are loved, and have to understand that boundaries in their lives are a good thing.
We received very helpful advice, even if putting it into practice is difficult.
*ahem, King David.
**ahem, the whole committing adultery and murdering thing.
Ahem indeed
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