What does Streetwise need?

I decided to make a list of the specific needs Streetwise has.  We have been racking our brains about how to let people know what the needs are and how to get folks inspired to come on board.  THEN IT STRUCK ME!  DUH MYRANDA!!!!  Just lay it all out there and let folks decide!  So, I have compiled a brief list of ways people can get on board with Streetwise.  I would say that number one is the priority!  Doesn’t matter where you are, who you are or what has been or is going in your life.  You can get involved!  The bit that you can offer does make a difference!


PRAYER!!!!!  Like I have always said “A missionary is only as effective as those standing behind them in support”.  Who would commit to pray?  For us, for the work, for the boys? You make think  “All I can do is pray! Wish I could do more”  POOPIECOCK!!!!!  That is the biggest thing you can do! 

SPREAD THE WORD!!!!  How can you spread the word about Streetwise from where you are?  How can your church get involved?  Prayer groups?  Fund raisers?  Awareness campaigns?  Get the kids ministries involved by praying and teaching them about Zambia and the culture?  Loads of ways!!! 

PEOPLE!!!!  We need PEOPLE!   Our long term vision is to have outreaches going on everyday.  We believe that the strategy God has given us is relationship and consistency.  When we show up consistently and build relationship, the kids begin to trust and are willing to open their hearts to what God is wanting to say to them.   As the boys begin to come into the outreach center and learn the Streetwise Craft Co. project, we need folks.  One on One is the key!  We need folks to read to the kids.  We need folks to help bring lunch.  We need folks to help bring kids to the clinic as the need arises.

SOUP!!!  As it stands we bring food on Wednesday nights to the kids.  We feed anywhere from 30 to 50 kids a night.  Would you be able to cook soup?  We make 20 litres.  You can do that much, you can do 10, you can do 5. Doesn’t matter!  Any bit you can offer is awesome!  

SANDWICHES!!  We are beginning an outreach on Thursday mornings in town.  I would love to be able to bring sandwiches to them.  Pb&j?  Eggs?  Bananas and yogurt drinks?  

FINANCES!!!!!  I realize, that might be a bad word to some, but we need finances to run this.    Everyone can pray!  BUT, we understand that time is a precious commodity for folks.  There just isn’t enough hours in the day!  If you want to be a part of Streetwise, if you believe in the vision God has given us to reach the street kids of Lusaka, you can give financially.  “Where would it go?”  you ask…..

• the feeding program.  As of now we spend roughly 100 kwacha per week feeding 30 to 50 kids.  That figure includes the periodic purchase of charcoal, mealie, and paying Misozi for cooking the nshima (no small task!)
• Rent and food for the house where the boys are going to live who take part in the Streetwise Craft Co, center.  They will live there and get discipleship training as well as remedial skills help and job skills training.  We are looking at 1000 to 1500 a month depending on how many boys are there.  
• We need donations to set the house up!  We need beds, mattresses, towels, sheets, pots, pans, plates….etc.  
• Rent on the Streetwise Center, which is 4,000 kwacha per month.  
• Joe Chibanza is going to begin working with us full time.  He will be getting paid 600 kwacha a month.  As he will be living at the house his rent and food will be taken care of.  

Thanks for taking the time to read and consider Streetwise.  I think what I am driving at is this…..There is a way for everyone to get involved!  Something for everyone!  

ROCK ON!! and BE BLESSED!!!! 

If you would like to donate financially go to tscnyc.org and click on GIVE…follow the directions to MISSIONARIES and choose MORALES FAMILY / ZAMBIA

PLEASE PRAY FOR STREETWISE!

This was probably one of the toughest weeks Streetwise has faced to date. 

We lost our first student and it was a blow!  He was doing SO WELL!  Then, all of a sudden he came in angry and defensive and unwilling to hear us.  It was so awful.   

(A little praise report……I wanted so badly to say “LISTEN YOU LITTLE UNGRATEFUL NERD!!!!!  If you only knew what we have gone through to help you!!!!!”  But God, in his infinite grace and mercy kept my mouth shut! PRAISE THE LORD! )

It just so happened to be Wednesday, outreach day.  (of course!)  I wasn’t feeling very “outreachy” but thank God we walk by faith and not by sight!  

As some of you may remember me writing about Joe Chibanza.  He was saved from a life of 10 years on the streets and Jesus has RADICALLY transformed him!!!!!  

When Joe started at teen challenge 3 years ago.

Joe always comes on Wednesdays and stays the night with us so he can participate in the outreach and help out around the outreach center.  He has also started another outreach Thursday morning.  It was going on for a month before we knew about it.  He just wanders the city looking for pockets of kids to talk to.    

WELL!!!  Thursday morning dawned bright and beautiful and I woke up feeling beat up and completely defeated.  Luis was feeling the same way.  The first thought that entered my mind was “I don’t need all this mess!!  I just want a nice drama free office job and get my kids through to adulthood!”  In the middle of my mental tirade Joe said that he wanted to speak to us.  I will confess my thought was “NO LORD!!! PLEASE!!!!  I CAN’T HANDLE THIS AGAIN!!!”  

So, with a sigh and a determination to just get it over with we went and sat with Joe.

He opened his mouth and out came words straight from God’s heart.   He said that he had been up early praying for us and God told him to encourage us.  He saw that we were pretty discouraged.  Honestly, I don’t remember what he said specifically.  While he spoke I kept remembering him 3 years ago smelling like a distillery, barely able to hold his head up and comparing that image to this strong, healthy, capable, handsome, whole and set free young man sitting in my living room.  

Joe, leading an outreach about a month ago

I did my best not to ugly cry all over the place.  Zambians don’t take well to public displays of emotion.  

God told me in that moment “Just keep pressing forward.  Never give up! (cue Ben Crandall voice for all you TSC’rs reading this)”

THEN!  The team from the Thursday morning outreach came in and gave their update.  You guys my heart was full!  Eva told us how a boy pulled her aside to thank her for the food we brought the night before!  Alex told how a boy was so thrilled that he remembered his name!  Moses!  He said his little face lit up with such joy that he was remembered.  All day God just kept bringing little treasures to find along the path that pushed us forward. 

My conclusion is this!  WE NEED YOU!!!!  We need prayer!!!   This isn't easy what God has asked of us.   These precious boys have issues and needs that are way beyond us!  We need prayer!!!!  We need you to help stand in the gap for the lives of these precious babies!!   The word of God is clear on this point........"I am  fearfully and wonderfully well and that my soul knows VERY well!"   I pray that verse over my own children and the lives of the kids on the streets all the time!  They are fearfully and wonderfully made and the Devil has done his level best to convince them otherwise.  

Would you pray for Jason?  He is the student that booked out on us last week.  PLEASE pray that his heart is open to hear the voice of God!  Please pray that he stops fighting God and recognizes that the only way for a hope and a future is in Jesus and Jesus alone! Please pray that Jason finds the rest of Jesus for his weary soul.  I was trying to find a picture of him in my files but unfortunately I don't have one.  But Jesus knows who he is and what he looks like! 

my pot of soup miracle

Wednesday morning I woke up with a profound sense of exhaustion.  You know that sense?  When you wake up and feel completely overwhelmed and tired with what you have to face in the day?  

I sat on my couch and prayed a desperate tear filled prayer.…  “God HOW am I going to make it through the day!?  I have to make 20 liters of soup for the outreach!  I have work in the shop to do that needs my attention!  My kids need my attention!  LORD I CANT!!!  WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!?!!”  

You guys!  Not seconds  AFTER I PRAYED I got a phone call!    Sweet Sweet Rose Goddard called me at 7 am to tell me she had MADE THE SOUP FOR THE OUTREACH AND COULD I COME PICK IT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!  (As I write this I am getting choked up with the goodness of God and his ability to provide!!!)  After I ugly cried my gratitude to Rose and to the Lord, Jesus spoke to my heart. 

“I GOT THIS!!!! Just step where I tell you to step and I will take care of the rest!!”  

All exhaustion fled my body and I was flooded with the joy of the Lord that truly and sincerely is my strength!  

At the outreach that night I saw one of the most beautiful displays of generosity I have ever been privileged to witness.  

We had just finished handing out soup and rice to the kids and were settling in to hang out a bit with them.  

I was sitting with Tembo.  Tembo is a man in his mid to late 20’s.  He has some obvious mental issues and is probably more like an 8 year old in his mind.   As I was talking with him I realized he hadn’t received any food.  I had no clue what to do because we had just handed out 20 liters of soup and double the amount of rice.  A TON OF FOOD AND IT WAS ALL GONE!!!  One young man was near us and heard this interaction.  He had a full plate of food.  When he realized Tembo’s predicament  he got another plate and gave him half his food!   I rejoiced!  I even saw some kids put their extras in containers they found so they could have for later.  Like the 5 loaves and two fish!  

Jesus truly does provide a table before us in the presence of our enemies!  

What are you facing today that is overwhelming your heart?   All I know is this…… When we are walking in obedience to what God has told us to do, he WILL meet us!  He WILL provide any and everything that is needed to get the job done!  And it WILL be provided in a way that ONLY God can get the glory!  So all will see that Jesus reigns and there is none like him! 

If you are reading this and you don’t know Jesus, I urge you!  I implore you and yes, even beg, CRY OUT TO HIM!  Jesus has the answers you are searching for!   The Word of God says that Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life!  It also says that every knee WILL bow and every tongue WILL confess that Jesus is Lord.  Either here on earth, or in the after life.  TRUST ME  you want to do it now!  Life is hard folks!  There is no way around the hardships.  But this I promise you, with Jesus there is fullness of joy in the middle of the greatest pains that we have to endure.  There is hope and there is peace that surpasses all understanding.  Come just as you are and Jesus will take your hand and guide you in the greatest adventure you will ever know!

If you would like to contribute financially to Streetwise Outreach you can go to tscnyc.org, click DONATE, then MISSIONS, then MORALES FAMILY / ZAMBIA 

streetwise, family life and all that entails.....

Wow, is it MARCH already!?  HUH!!???

Raise your hand if 2015 started out the gate fast and furious!  

I have barely had time to stop and think five minutes ahead, let alone to sit and write a much needed update.  SOOOO, here it goes!!! 

STREETWISE STOREFRONT AND OUTREACH:

We have been working and praying for 3 years towards getting a center where we can conduct ministry from.  DRUM ROLL………WE MOVE IN THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We can hardly believe all that God has been doing.   I will post pictures of what I am dubbing “THE BIG MOVE 2015” (which begins tomorrow barring any vehicle issues....this being Africa and all)  

I took this photo from the doorway looking into the center.  

The Streetwise Center is going to serve a couple of functions. 

1. It will be a place where the kids can come on a day to day basis and learn the Streetwise Craft co skills.  The boys will get help in reading, writing and math.  They will also learn job skills      
2. We will be able to conduct ministry outreaches from the center.  This is wonderful because it will allow us to control the environment a bit more effectively.  As of now the kids are free to come and go with their drugs and it is hard to regulate that.  We feel that in order to be more strategic and effective in the lives of the kids, they need a safe, clean environment to come in off the streets for a bit. 

ALL IN ALL WE ARE PUMPED!!!!!  After all the blood, sweat and tears we can hardly believe it is happening!   How can you get involved? 

You can pray!!!!!!! 

You can volunteer your time!  

It is going to take loads of hands to help with these kids. 

Each need is so varied and so diverse, that it is going to take

 a hands on, organic, God driven approach to reach them 

You can give financially.  

The monthly costs as of now is around 970 USD per month to run the program, 

however we expect it to grow when we move into the store front.   I would be happy to give a breakdown of that number to any one who wants .

This is Titus.  He has been off and on the streets for the 7 years we have known him. 

 

OUR FAMILY:

Luis and I have enjoyed learning how to work together on Streetwise.  It has been a challenge learning how to mesh our vastly different personalities together….but really and truly, we love what we do and enjoy getting to do it together!

We call Hannah the Dog Whisperer (she didn't get her love of animals from me!)

Our girls Amira, Hannah and Brooklyn are doing well.  Amira is 12 and has started junior high with a bang.  She has taken life by the horns and is doing really well.  Hannah is 10 and is turning into such a beauty.  Her compassion for this around her leaves me awe struck.  Brooklyn is 8 and she is a fire ball.  She leaves us in stitches all the time.  The kid is hysterical!

Amira has gotten so big!  

Ok, you guys, here is goes, I am just going to lay it out there.  (my eyes are squeezed shut) We need help getting home this summer for a break.  We need money in order to do that.   Currently we live on 2,000 USD a month. ( our rent is 1,000 per month and then I have to feed three hungry kids)  As you can imagine, it isn’t easy to save money for airfare with the fluctuating exchange rates and the sky rocketing inflation that is happening right now.   Would you consider helping us out with this? 

Brooklyn and Luis having some quality time on the front porch

OUR PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Pray for the storefront.  

2. Pray for Luis and I to continue to work in unity and with wisdom and God’s direction . 

3. Pray for the financial resources to do this work 

4. Pray that we can make it back to the states this summer!  We wanna hug some necks and eat some of my dad’s famous BBQ!

We love you all so very very much!!!!  Please let us know how you all are doing as well!  We love to hear from you!!!!   

If you are interested in giving financially to STREETWISE you can go to tscnyc.org…..click on DONATE….go to the drop down menu for missions and find MORALES FAMILY / ZAMBIA.  

does pain have to be part of the package???

"I grew up with a health disability that would have prevented me from ever going to college, obtaining a job, or living a long, normal life. Before God mercifully delivered me from it, he graciously delivered me through it. Many days and nights I laid in the darkness of my room in much pain and nausea, praying in the silence that God would give me the sustaining grace to preach the gospel to the nations. I started pre-seminary at the age of 5 when God sent me my wisest and most influential teacher: affliction. Through his loving discipline, God taught me about his sovereign goodness and inscrutable wisdom. 

Having grown up facing much affliction, and having learned well the theology of suffering under a sovereign God, I was still naïve to how unrelenting and inexplicable are the trials of the missionary life. If not for the doctrine of God’s wise sovereignty in suffering, I would never have made it. Long-term missions can indeed be a place of excitement and adventure; however, it is also inescapably a place of adversity and barrenness. It is moreover the land of self-emptying and learning to laugh at yourself; learning to think, feel, dream, and reason in a foreign language; learning to enjoy the adopted family of Christ in light of distant relationships back home; learning to keep silent in the face of stiff criticism from those who once supported you; learning to eat the Word of God as your daily food; learning to pray for your wife and children because their lives literally depend upon it; and learning to navigate wisely on the path of self-denial amid a global culture immersed in self-indulgence, self-promotion, and self-preservation.

I would soberly admonish any missionary candidate that the mission field is not all romance and radical adventure; it is also mingled with heartbreak, loss, and self-denial. But therein we discover God’s boundless love and wise providence. C. S. Lewis said in in his poem As the Ruin Falls, “The pains You give me are more precious than all other gains.” Perhaps D. A. Carson says it best in his excellent book on suffering, How Long, O Lord?: Reflections on Suffering and Evil:

The more the leaders are afflicted with weakness, suffering, perplexity, and persecution, the more it is evident that their vitality is nothing other than the life of Jesus. This has enormously positive spiritual effects on the rest of the church. The leaders’ death means the church’s life. This is why the best Christian leadership cannot simply be appointed. It is forged by God himself in the fires of suffering, taught in the school of tears. There are no shortcuts.

God loves his servants so much that he allows them to suffer, so that his grace will sustain them in order to make his glory known. Our weakness is the God-ordained instrument through which the Holy Spirit fills us with the power of Christ."               http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-missionary-life-no-shortcuts

UM!!!!!  WOW!!!!!  Just read that in an article called, "The Missionary Life No Shortcuts"  Honestly couldn't have put it into better words myself. 

When we choose to obey God and follow in His will we are not promised easy sailing and blue clear skies all the time!  That is why scripture tells us we have to DAILY pick up our crosses and follow Christ.  But it is in that school of suffering and pain where we learn the reality of the peace of God and his un ending joy and mercy!  

We have had moments where we have had to trust God for our next meal.....as in "Lord there is NO FOOD!!!!  What are you going to do about it!?"   My marriage went through the ringer so bad at one point I thought there was no way we were going to make it!  I was afraid we were going to end up a statistic they talk about in missions classes on how to avoid life altering mistakes on the missions field.   My kids have had sicknesses at one point or another that have caused me to get angry at God "LORD I OBEYED YOU AND CAME HERE WHY ARE YOU TAKING IT OUT ON MY BABIES!!!!?????"   I have gotten in my car and screamed and wept until blood vessels broke in my neck.  "GOD WHERE ARE YOU IN ALL THIS!?"

NEVER ONCE in seven years of living in faith on the mission field have I had to send my babies to bed hungry!  

My marriage is strong and stable today!  Luis and I are best friends!  We laugh together, we work together, we pray together.  We do life together, and we do it pretty well! (note that I didn't say perfectly)  We have been to the edge of the cliff and almost lost our family because of it, and God delivered us!!! I love my husband and thank God for him every day! 

My children have seen the healing hand of God in each one of their lives!!!  They KNOW that God heals!  They KNOW God loves them and cares about them because of the trials God has brought them through!  Jesus has to work his testimony in their lives as well!  They know the power of prayer! 

God fights for us!  God is on our side!  The Peace of God that passes all understanding WILL and DOES guard our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ!  How do I know? 

Because Jesus has walked through all the hard times and the disappointments and the loneliness with me.  He has never looked down at me for my humanity. He has loved me through it all and never lets go of my hand.  

There is something profound that happens to our faith when we have NOTHING to depend on, no back up plan...when all we have is our faith in Jesus and a trust in his promises.   When we literally have no choice but to pray "Lord you PROMISED you would prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies!  So, I am believing that in the presence of my doubts, fears, worries and anxiety you are going to fill my children's bellies and keep them safe your peace".  

There is no peace or security outside the loving arms of Jesus!  There are no shortcuts, and yes, as the writer of the above quoted blog said pain definitely is part of the package!  

We can take a cue from Jesus, when he faced the ultimate trial....

Hebrews 12:2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Isaiah 55:8-12

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways...Declares the Lord!  As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts that your thoughts.  As the rain and the snow come from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth, IT WILL NOT RETURN TO ME EMPTY!!!  But will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it!!  You WILL go out in joy and be lead forth in peace!  The mountains and hills will burst into song before you and all the trees will clap their hands!!"  Isaiah 55:8-12

A to the MEN!!!!!!!!!!!    

I wish I could say that I ended 2014 feeling victorious and full of vim and vigor.  No.....

December left me feeling defeated, exhausted and well......a picture really does say a thousand words.  

Streetwise is at a standstill.   I won't go into details right now, that is for another blog, but the point being is that God has brought the whole thing to a screeching halt.  We have needed the rest and we have needed the time to stop and get our heads straight.  

God has been reminding us that He is just as invested in our lives as He is in the lives of the boys on the streets we work with.  Rest is essential....rest is a command!  

I have had to re-examine my motives in all this.  It has been hard folks!!  It has been frustrating!  Well, humbling is more like it!!!  

Have you been there?  Are you there now?  Tired?  Frustrated?  Ready to throw in the towel?  Take hope from Isaiah 55:8-12.......God's thoughts are not your thoughts.....He has a plan that is bigger than you and I!   Stay in God's word and feed on His faithfulness!!!  Let Him refresh your soul and give you "food" for the journey ahead.  

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed.  For his compassions never fail!  They are new every morning.  GREAT is your faithfulness!  I say to myself "The Lord is my portions, therefore I will wait for him!!  Lamentations 3:22-24

I was getting consumed with the work and not with Jesus!!  Because of his compassions and his great love I believe that is why He has had to put a stop to things for a bit.  So that He can restore and renew my soul in HIM!  

 What are you consumed with?   

mustard seed faith

 Some days the road ahead seems impossibly rocky and  the terrain dangerous.  The “Why” and the “Wherefore” of the calling seems fuzzy in light of simply trying to make it through the day.  When the days come that are consumed with thoughts and prayers like “Jesus HOW are we going to make it to the end of the day with some what of a reputation in tact?”  When in front of you there is not any visible fruit to the painful and extremely difficult ground plowing, when it feels like all you are doing is making bricks with no straw.....what do you do?  

You know those days when the choose to give into defeat seems a bit easier than finding the resolve to stand in faith one more minute? 

I KNOW I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE FOLKS!!!  

The other day my sweet sweet husband was having a hard day.  He was having a hard time seeing the Why and the Wherefore and making what we go through daily line up with the reasons for the calling, despair was weighing heavy on his shoulders......then out of no where his friend shows up at the door with a truck load of wood, beautiful wood to donate to Streetwise.  God knew that Luis needed a friend at that exact moment and WHAMO, there was Charlie with a smile and a truck load of unexpected wood.   It was the boost of faith that he needed in that exact moment.  It didn’t make the issue he was struggling with go away, but it did lighten the load and saved Luis from despair in the moment.  

As Christians we are NEVER promised care free days.   Hard things will come our way...bills will have a hard time getting payed, kids will get sick,  jobs will be lost, cars break down......we are not immune to the trials and struggles in this life.  

But lets take hope from the fact that when we are weak, Jesus WILL BE STRONG!!!  When the temptation to despair and quit becomes to overwhelming, Jesus WILL NOT FORSAKE YOU!!  HE WILL SEND HELP!!!!!  When our faith doesn’t go beyond “Jesus, I need the strength lift my foot right now”, God meets us!!!!  

Be encouraged friends!!!  If your faith seems to small and weak, don’t give up!!!!  All you need is faith the size of a mustard seed anyway. 

All God is asking is the willingness to be willing....He will handle the rest!