Prayer from the heart

Lydia with her boys and a "Praying Hands" gift from prayer partners

One thing that I've consistently seen over the last 20 years of working with kids in juvenile detention centers and prisons in America and overseas is how similar the kids are and how broken they are. I just read that 80% of the kids in one juvenile colony in Ukraine are there for stealing food to survive because they were abandoned by their families or left on their own as their parents lost their battles with addiction.

That affliction is here in the States too. Last night, Cheryl and I had a Bible study at a local detention center in Plymouth. When I read the prayer requests from the guys, two of them hit me in the heart and I want to share them with you (I'm changing the names, but God knows them):

Rick-I want to pray for my sister and hope the best for her since she's the only family I have left.

Jimmy-I want to pray for my mom to be safe and to stop using heroin.

When you read about "those type of kids" pray for them and think of what is behind that. "But go and learn what this means, 'I desire compassion and not sacrifice,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners" Matt. 9:13.

Selflessness

Atyom and Me

Every once in a while, the Lord gives us someone special who continues to amaze us and change our world in subtle ways. I met Artyom, a/k/a Zhivchik (loosely translated "hyper boy") when he was 13 and had just come to the orphanage after his father almost beat him to death. He was pretty much out of control, but there was something special about him for sure. He would jump on me, take my camera and run away and generally be a pain in the butt--my nickname for him is "zanoza" which means splinter, as in "splinter in the butt".

Zhivchik is now 17 and is in his last year at the orphanage. He has matured, but still has a zest for life, a smile and heart that I pray will never be dimmed. At the camp we did for the kids at the orphanage, Zhivchik did something that showed me his heart; he was ladling out soup for all of the kids at our table and when he was doing the last bowl for Vanya, he saw that there was not enough left for a full bowl. Many other kids would have just passed it on, but without hesitation, Zhivchik took the ladle, scooped soup out from his own bowl and gave it to Vanya. Then he sat down and we prayed.

The crew as we were leaving the camp...Artyom on my shoulders in what he calls our "tradition".

I don't know why that hit me like it did, but maybe it was because it was one of the most purely selfless acts that I have seen from anyone. It was also a challenge and a reminder of what "doing unto others" truly means. I love that kid.