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Street Kid Ministry

This is Jon here and I wanted to share a little bit about a new ministry that we have recently started here in El Salvador. Ever since we moved here, I have been working really hard at building relationships with some of the street kids right down the road from the YWAM base. These boys live on the street 24 – 7 and have nothing. Some of these boys come up to you at this particular intersection and beg for money while others wash your windshield and even others just sit there and hope someone throws them 5 or 10 cents. While it has been a process to build trust with these boys,  I am finally feeling like I have some relationships being built with them. It all started by just rolling down my window and giving them a piece or 2 of candy or gum and making small talk with them while I waited at the intersection. It then turned into taking time to walk down to this intersection and talk with them and bring them some food or juice. While this was all good, I felt there had to be more. So we decided to try something. We decided to setup “stations” in the garage of the YWAM base. There is a station to take a shower, another station to get new shirts, pants, shoes, etc., another station to get your hair cut, another station to cut your fingernails, another station for minor medical treatment, a station for eating and another place to just sit and talk. While we opened up the gates to the YWAM base, we also went out in my truck, which all of the guys in the area know by now and we picked them all up and brought them back to these stations. The first time we did this, it still took a little persuasion to get into the back of my truck. It was a really neat and humbling experience. We then did this same ministry setup a few other times this summer when we had teams in and it went really well. With everytime we did it, we built more trust with these guys and when we came to the intersection and told 1 guy, we litterally had 7-10 other guys start running towards the truck. So we decided that we are going to do this every Tuesday afternoon. This past Tuesday we went out and got these guys and they were really excited to hear that we were going to do it reguarly. I even had 2 guys come to the base yesterday as they saw my truck there and ask for me to make sure I didn’t change my mind about this coming Tuesday! This past Tuesday we got some information from everyone who came in such as their birthday, information about any family, etc. We also asked them if they had any prayer requests and prayed with each one of them before they left.  I am not sure where this is going to go and what other things will be brought about by this ministry, but I know I serve a great God who is going to use this ministry and do unimaginable things through it. I will try to post some pictures over the next day or so, but please pray for these guys and even right now as I type they are on the street.  Pray for their saftey, their daily lives, that God would minister to each one of them and that He would provide for their every need. Please also pray for guidance and wisdom for ways to better serve these guys.

7 Responses to Street Kid Ministry

  1. Wow. Just reading this gets me choked up… because it’s clear that God is meeting the needs of these kids through you – needs that probably go unnoticed and uncared for much of the time. We will pray for you tonight before we go to bed – that God would continue to meet your needs… and for these kids, that God would meet their needs.

  2. What an awesome way to reach out to those so needy! Keep up the good work! The Lord will direct and guide you….He is all about relationships!

  3. Jon, this is really cool! I am going to begin praying for you guys every Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for sharing the heart God has given you for his kingdom! Can’t wait to hear/see more about it! Love you, bro!

  4. “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” St. Francis of Assisi

    I thought of that when I prayed for you today!

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