Wednesday 18 August 2010

Three in Jail

Sigh...

Probably the most deflating, discouraging, disheartening... you get the picture... thing that happens here is getting a phone call to let us know that one our kids who calls the street their home is in jail. 

They are often picked up by the local police for just hanging out somewhere, for really not doing anything wrong. We then go to the police, tell them who we are and plead heir case. We vouch for them, saying that they are being cared for, they are seeking to change their life and we are investing in them to give them every opportunity for that to happen. We DO want the transformation to happen on all levels.

Well, last night... Serge got a phone call as we were on our way to bed. THREE of our kids were picked. Three of our core kids. ARG!!! Nshuti, Mosquito (yes, that is his name!) and Uwimana.

SO sad for us. Double sad actually because they were misbehaving - gambling. ARG!!!

Nshuti has come so far - came to us when he was like 14 years old, didn't even know how to hold a pencil, we taught him to write and do basic math and he started school in grade 2! He did great the first couple of years and was always the top of his class. This past year, he hasn't been doing great.... making some bad choices. Is this the end of his rope?

Mosquito - lives with his sisters in a child headed household, in school... doing well, or so we thought. ARG!

Uwimana - one of the first street kids I got to know. He was one of four kids who hung out at a gas station and most every time I fuelled my car, I bought them milk. When we had an opened another house, we asked them all to come off the street and Uwimana was the only one to come. He lasted about a year. The pull of his friends was too strong. He's about 11 years old.

Today, Nshuti's house mom, Mama Bridgette, went to plead their case after Serge said they could sit it out in jail overnight to think life over.
They were to be released this afternoon but they weren't.
We'll see what tomorrow holds.

Pray that we have wisdom with this one! We love these kids and it about kills us to see them messing up like this...

3 comments:

Mike Goerz said...

That is super discouraging! Bah... keep us up to date with what happens...

mark foshager said...

Wow. Sometimes the progress can seem minimal and so long in coming, and then big setbacks appear to negate it in an instant. Hang on to hope, right?

On a lighter note, in Zaire/Congo we knew people named (in Swahili) Death (our nightwatchman), Unloved One (cashier at the medical center), and Stick. More positive names, too, like Gift.

Ken said...

Hey Jen...I understand completely. =( I'll be praying for you guys. It's a tough call to make, what's best for them. I trust that God will continue to give you the proper balance of wisdom and grace.

Miss ya!