Two Weeks In!

Hello Friends!

We recognize that it has been a long time since our last entry. Therefore, we will try to update you on our past week and what we are currently experiencing.

Our days here in Kathmandu are simple, yet exciting. We wake up around 8:30 AM and eat breakfast, typically with a game of Bohnanza on the side. At 10:30 AM, we meet our friends Dilip and Rina at a large field in the middle of the city called Ratna Park. Dilip and Rina run a ministry among the street children that live on the premises of Ratna Park. Dilip and Rina clean their wounds (usually self-inflicted or from a street fight), spend time with them and give them clean water. Yesterday we mixed things up and played soccer/volleyball with a few of the children. 

Our afternoons are open and free. We have made friends with the street children of Thamel (where we are staying) and so if we run into them, we hang out with them. We also travelled to Pashupati where we familiarized ourselves with one of the Mother Theresa homes—a place we will be serving throughout our time in Kathmandu. 

We are currently in a rough patch. Two nights ago, one of the street children saw us eating on the second floor of a restaurant. He came upstairs and we offered him some of our food. Once he got a bite of our food, he leaned over the balcony to show the rest of the street children that he was eating with us. Immediately all the rest of the children asked for food and we couldn’t give any more out. It was an awful feeling, and to be honest, the feeling hasn’t left.

After eating that night, we went down to the street to say hello to the children and say sorry that we couldn’t give everyone food. We were met with cold shoulders and sad faces. They wouldn’t look at us or speak to us. So far, this has lasted two days.

The problem we are facing is systemic. Street children live in hierarchical groups. There are two leaders in the Thamel group: Assish and Anil.  They make the cute younger kids take advantage of the heavily populated tourist area. The money made is pooled together to buy glue to sniff or food to eat. In the realm of street children, the Thamel boys are spoiled. They get the freedom of the streets and gifts from the tourists.

Because we won’t give them food, they won’t speak to us. We are discouraged, to say the least, but we are not giving up hope. Tonight we walked and prayed through the streets to show that even thought we can’t give the boys food and everything they desire, we are still there. We will not stop being a presence. Why? Because we love these boys so much that it doesn’t matter if they are mad at us. We will continue to pray for them when we see their faces.

We ask for your prayers. We have fallen in love with these street children. We are discouraged yet hopeful. We hold strong to the fact that God has something planned for us with these street boys, but at the moment, it’s hard to know that our friends don’t want anything to do with us.

Thank you all for your support and continued prayers. They mean so much to us and they are not unnoticed.

On a lighter note, we want to say HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to Eric Sanders, Dan Jessup, and Ron Chandler. We love you and appreciate you so much!!

-Sarah, Chris and Kevin