Orientation at Agape

In addition to unpacking and getting the family settled in Kisumu, Tammy and I had the opportunity last week to sit-in on and participate in a few of Agape’s staff meetings. 

Last Tuesday, a meeting was held to review and discuss Agape’s new Orientation Program.  In the past, a boy coming from the street to Agape would immediately enter into the normal routine of the main campus:  meals, attending class, devotionals, etc.  Over time, though, the staff at Agape identified that these former street boys needed time to transition from life on the street prior to entering into daily rigor of life at Agape’s main campus. In the long term, Agape would like to establish a separate Transition Center where the boys can live during this period, but in the interim, Agape recently established an Orientation Program to teach the boys about Agape, to begin to counsel them through their experiences on the street, and most importantly, to teach them about their Savior, Jesus, who loves them and died for them.

Here is an excerpt from the Orientation Class Curriculum:

The children that we admit are from the street and have different periods of staying in the street.  Some are those who have been on the street for one week or less while others have been in the street for weeks, months, or even years.  Some have been in different towns including Nairobi and Mombasa while others have only been in Kisumu, but majority of them are those who have been to towns of west Kenya mostly Luanda, Busia, and Kakamega.  In the street, this child is alone.  He is himself in attitude and feeling one might find them in a group and see them to walk, work and do things together but that does not reflect a family.  It is actually a gang, group of young people on a specific mission, and after that mission is accomplished-everyone on his own.

Being a self-egoed person, this young lad develops the attitude of self-defence which includes arrogance, lack of appreciation, furiosity, abusive language, destruction, and general disorderliness.  The young lad perfects himself in survival tactics which include stealing, fighting for food, ownership of things, and wanton destruction of other people’s things, formation of defence gangs, taking and peddling drugs, looking at other members of society as enemies-i.e. uncontrolled hate attitude.

This is a boy who is not ready to share his feelings with anybody.  It does not matter whether he is badly hurt, beaten, injured or otherwise – he is on his own.  It is his problem.  You don’t have to know about it, why do you want to share?  What for attitude.  Whether he is sick or not, that is his business.  If you have food to give or medicine then give it and please leave “me” alone attitude. 

This is the boy who is admitted to Agape . . .

God loves these boys as much as He loves you and me.  While young (between the ages of 7 and 16), the trauma and tragedy that they have experienced is beyond our understanding.  Only through Jesus’s sacrifice, grace, and love can these boys hope to recover from the worst of this world.  Please keep the street boys of Kisumu and the boys of Agape in your hearts and prayers!