The 4R's - REHABILITATE

Thus far, I've explained the first two R's in Agape's mission.  Next is REHABILITATE; the universal drug of choice for street children is cobbler's glue.  Yep, you heard correctly - shoe glue.  The street boys in Kisumu walk around all day with a glue bottle hooked into their teeth so that they can freely breathe the glue's fumes.  The glue numbs feelings of hunger, cold, and fear, making life on the streets more bearable.  The long term effects of abusing glue is devastating, with boys dying of kidney failure or experiencing some form of brain damage.  A secular organization recently filmed an award-winning documentary a few hours from Kisumu called Glue Boys; it details the travesty of the abuse of glue by street kids.  Here's a link to a preview of the documentary; this documentary does a great job of explaining this horrible problem:

http://www.glueboys.com/default.htm

Street Boy Sniffing Glue in Kisumu

In addition to a chemical addiction to glue, the street boys in Kisumu also have a psychological addiction to living on the street.  While on the street, no one tells the boys what to do or where to go, and the street boys enjoy a level of freedom that most kids do not have.  Our prayer is that the Lord will work in these kids' hearts to help them to realize that He created them for a much greater purpose than that of life on the streets.

I love the picture below, because it really characterizes one of the goals of Agape.  This is a picture of empty glue bottles turned in by street boys, hanging from a bamboo cross.    The picture really describes what we've been called to do as Christian's, as well - to lay our burdens at the foot of the Cross.  Psalm 103:12 states, "As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."  Amen!