"I never received love. But I want to show love to my children. In this place I feel loved." These were the words of one of the fathers who participated at our Christmas party for the families of the boys who live on our restoration farm, or who we work with on the streets. It was amazing to see how the parents shared their hearts in the group time for the parents. Many tears were shed as they spoke about the pain of being separated from their sons and daughters, and of the hardship of their own lives, yet finding comfort in seeing that they are not alone and that others share the same experiences.
Monthly we invite the families we work with to come to the project in the city centre for a family meeting. We have activites for the children while the parents have a time just for them. The times with the parents are times for them to share, cry, listen and encourage one another. We want to see them restored and discover the value and potential they have, and also introduce them to Jesus who is the reason for everything. Often the examples they have had about raising children and living as families are distorted, and so we try to bring light to them about how God intends us to relate to each other and how we can show love through limits. We also try to visit them regularly in their homes. Our aim being to encourage and strengthen, but also to get to know the reality of their individual situation so that we can seek to help them more specifically.
Prayer pointers:
- for our monthly meetings the last week of every month.
- for the families to come to the meetings.
- for us to have God's love to show to them.
- for wisdom and discernment as we share with them and seek to show them their value and potential
- for a revelation of Jesus in their lives and salvation.
- for our visits to their homes. For God to bring strategy and also means to do these visits.
- for the restoration of families so that the streetkids can return to live in homes of safety, security and love.
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