Real Life Stories

I've worked with orphans and the poor of Peru many times during my trips back and forth. I've grown used to hearing stories of abuse, neglect, alcoholism, drugs, and anything else that leads to a child being abandoned. However, it never ceases to stop me dead in my tracks when I hear the real life stories of my dearest (adult) Peruvian friends.

I'll never forget the Sunday afternoon in September 2009, when a friend and I went to visit the kids at the Kids Alive Home. While the children were busy changing from their church clothes, eating lunch, and whatever else they do on Sunday afternoons, he and I sat and chatted for quite sometime. At some point the conversation turned more serious, and he began telling me about his childhood and how he came to live with Kids Alive. To make a long story short: As a young boy, he lived with his parents in the highlands of Peru. During an act of terrorism, his parents were murdered, and his grandmother was not well enough herself to be able to raise him. She found Kids Alive, and she took him there so that he could be raised in a Godly environment and have opportunities she knew she herself would not be able to provide him.

As I chatted with another friend in December 2009 about my heart for orphans, and the joy I find serving the Lord by serving them, he informed me that he was raised in the Compassion International orphanage, also in Lima. As an adult he has been reunited with his family, but he still carries joy and pain from his childhood.

Today, I chatted with a friend I met just last month. He recently returned from a month long mission in Huacho (where I met him). I asked him to share with me a bit about himself, and he began telling me about his family and his childhood. He is the second of four children; however, he has been unwanted since birth. He described himself as his mother's Italian mistake. For the first 8 years of his life, he lived with his grandmother. At the age of 8, his "father" (the father of his brothers and sister) adopted him, and he returned to live with his mom. His father is abusive toward all of them, and he feels miserable living at home again with them, yet he does not have the money to live on his own. He told me he loves that I always smile because he never learned how. He's thankful for the love of our Father, yet he tells me that often he struggles to fully accept it because he's never known the love of an earthly father.

Those are just three of the heart wrenching stories I have to share tonight. I could go on and on. I guess, I expect that many children have messed up home lives in Peru and in the U.S. but too often I forget that those children become adults, adults that often carry that pain and pay the price for their parents actions.

Every time a friend tells me his/her story, I'm reminded of the sheltered life I've lived. I am eternally grateful for the wonderful parents and upbringing God has provided me. I would not be where I am today without their love and support behind me 100%. And while they don't like the idea of me returning to Peru, I know that if it truly is of the Lord, He will prepare their hearts and walk with them every step of the way.