Andando Por Las Calles (Walking the Streets)

I spent last Tuesday in one of the poorest neighborhoods of San José, Costa Rica. As soon as we arrived I began talking with a pastor who works in the neighborhood on a regular basis. He turned to us and said:  

 ¿Ve a estos dos niños? Su padre los abandonó y su madre trabaja de cinco en la mañana a siete cada día. Los vi andando y andando por las calles cada dia. 

Translation: Do you see these two children? Their father abandoned them and their mother works from five in the morning to seven each day. I see them walking and walking the streets every day. 

As I looked at these two children, a 5 year-old girl and a 3 year-old boy. my heart was broken. I couldn’t believe it. These two little children, fending for themselves on the street every day from 5am-7pm!?! Could it be true? How could a father and mother be in such a desperate situation that they let their children wander through such a neighborhood all day?

Sure enough, the entire time we were in the neighborhood these two children would wander past us on a regular basis, showing up for a meal the pastor offers to children of the neighborhood every Tuesday and sticking around for the afternoon bible club. I never did get the opportunity to talk directly to these children as they often shirked from attention and kept to themselves. But the image of those two children will always be with me. This little girl and her brother are the type of children for whom Casa Viva is offering hope. 

It is children like these who are sleeping in a bed, loved by a family, eating three meals a day, and attending school. When I think about these two children who continue to wander the streets of a very dangerous neighborhood, my prayer is that God would intervene on their behalf and cause the local government and local churches to act on their behalf.