We laugh because we never lose sleep about building a house for a family. In fact, building a house is the easy part. The following story is one of the hard parts of the ministry…
We knew this 13 year old boy’s mother was living in the states. We knew that she was trying hard to persuade him to come to the states. We also knew the boy wanted to continue living in Guatemala and going to our school. We had been talking to him about this for more than a year.
One day in February, the boy did not come to school. He lived in a very close-knit community. The 13 year old boy, his younger brother, and his teenage sister suddenly left in order to travel to the states. It is a very dangerous trip. Our teachers cried and prayed as they all knew that he would more than likely make it to the states. His friends from the community were upset because he did not even tell them good-bye. The boy called one of the teachers when he arrived in Mexico to give her an update. The family would not give me any phone numbers.
We do not encourage traveling to the United States. We are very blunt with our students and families about the correct way to travel and live among the world.
Weeks passed and we heard nothing. We continued to pray for his safety. We prayed that he would not be scared.
Last week, the boy’s sponsor sent me a message that simply said “He has made contact with me through facebook.” I was able to make contact with the boy to make sure everything was ok. He is enrolled in 8th grade at a local school. Please be reminded that our school year began in January so he actually only completed one month of 8th grade! As I figured, he would not provide me with any other information. I reassured him that we are here to help him in any way possible.
Will you please pray for this young boy? Pray that God sends someone in his life to invest in him. Pray he finds a church who preaches Truth. Pray for his future. His decisions have been made by adults in his life. However, he may be faced with future consequences as a result of the decisions.
Building a house is the easy part of the ministry…
Shining Light Abroad Ministries 