Numb

After years of hearing statistics of injustice that don't change, one could become pretty desensitized to the heartache of the world. That's a harsh summary of where I have been the past few months.

- 150 million street kids
- 3.7 million people suffering famine in East Africa
- 16 million AIDS orphans
- 2 million children that are sex slaves

Just to name a few.

See what I mean? You read something like that and its overwhelming. The instinctive response is to shut down our emotional connection, try not to grasp the literal meaning of millions of people suffering an injustice, and move on. I do it too. Just writing those stats I was inclined to not feel a connection. And then too its easier to ignore depending on your socio-economic status. Most of our readers are well above the poverty line, so its highly unlikely that you personally know a street kid, an orphan, a child prostitute or someone infected with HIV. That makes it easier still to not personalize the statistics with our every day lives.

But then I'll read a story about a street boy named Philip (not my Philip, just coincidental). Philip lives in a Kenyan city and is probably 10 years old. The story, written by my father in law on Until Then's blog, tells of how he was carrying a rock in his hand. This rock is his only defense against a cruel world that beats him and abandons him. Reading this story, I felt my stomach churning with pain, my heart-beating with rage and tears of compassion running down my cheeks. I don't know Philip personally. I know he fits in to at least one of the statistics above, if not two. But Philip can't be seen as a statistic of injustice, he is a person. He is a child that is unwanted and has no one to love him. But I love Philip, and I pray you do too. I encourage you to read this story at UntilThen.org.

If you, like I often am, are feeling disconnected from the numbing statistics, read this story about Philip (http://untilthen.org/update-from-kisumu-with-george-washington/). 

I am attempting to live out this verse from the Bible, Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

That's quite a charge, I hope I can live it out!

Ever Hopeful,

Dalene

Happy Birthday Phil!!

Happy birthday to the man who lives to help others. Your love and dedication to street kids has changed my life, and I'm a better person because I know you (and blessed to be your wife).

Phil with some of his dearest friends, rehabilitated street kids he's been working with for 10+ years in Kenya