A Ministry to Street Kids…with a twist…

This weekend all CH kids and staff had an outing to Cagayan de Oro for Christmas shopping and caroling. Thanks to the amazing sponsors and supporters of CH, all the kids are able to receive Christmas presents this year, including the street kids, prisoners, and Badjao families! We are so blessed this Christmas.
Unfortunately, during the commotion of the day, one 15 year old boy was left in the city due to miscommunication. When all the cars arrived home and Ernesto was not there we immediately started searching for him, as he is not familiar with the city which is an hour and half away from campus. And, Ernesto is an orphan who grew up in the children’s home from birth, so he is also not accustomed to being on his own, especially in the streets.
I had finished my rounds on all the hospitals and my walk around the mall when our team met for lunch to make a new plan of action, there I started to cry as I prayed that Ernesto had something to eat for his lunch. He had been missing at that point for 20 hours, and we were beginning to think the worst like kidnapping or MILF recruitment. We continued our search while we waited for the news ads to appear on TV and radio. 23 and a half hours into our search for Ernesto we had exhausted every logical and abstract place where he could be. I was making my rounds at the most likely mall where he would be, when as usual a street kid approached me for money. As I walked and talked with the street kid it occurred to me that children are so much more perceptive then the adults, even the guards who are getting paid and had pictures of Ernesto. So, I decided to ask this street kid, BoBoy, if he recognized my picture. He immediately responded by saying, “blue tshirt?” And I said YES!!! Boboy and a few other kids told me the story about how Ernesto had eaten with them and was now in one of their houses with another street kid. I followed a small gang of street kids back into a very poor neighborhood and as I rounded a corner in the back I saw the bright blue CH shirt and big innocent smile I had been looking for all day!
We promised the community that we would return again and took about 10 street kids to McDoc with us to repay their kindness to Ernesto. These kids beg for money in parking lots near their homes, and bring the money back to support their families. When they met Ernesto and befriended him, they offered to try and make enough money for his fare home. They shared their small amount of food with him, and protected him through the night.
Christians’ Haven, a ministry to street kids… with a holiday twist! This time it was the street kids who took care of us! The Kingdom of Heaven really lies within these very special kids, tough and sweet, looking out for each other on the streets. Thank God for ensuring that our focus this holiday season be on the street kids and allowing the street kids to protect Ernesto!