Category Archives: Outreach Stories

With God, there is hope

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by Jenna, Children at Risk DTS student

Jenna - YWAM Madison DTS Thailand outreach

"We are going to make friends with the women in these bars and I'm excited to show them not everyone is out just to use them." -- Jenna

My two friends and I walk through the red light district of Patong, Thailand. Bars flank us on both sides and heavy club music pulses all around. We are going to make friends with the women in these bars and I’m excited to show them not everyone is out to use them.

But the deeper we go into the district, the heavier I feel. It’s like the very atmosphere is thick and dark. I push through the feeling and my friends and I pray quietly as we walk down the next alley of bars.

Girls dressed in next to nothing dance on the tables while others pull passers-by to come and sit with them. At this point, I’m really feeling uneasy and unsure what to do next.

We finally arrive at a bar with five girls and an older woman, who I’m assuming is the bar manager. We sit down, order a Coke, and then pull out Connect Four.

“Do you want to play?” I ask one of the girls nearby.

Her face brightens and she sits down by me. That’s when I realize I really have met my match at this game–I’ve never seen someone so good at Connect Four in my life!

As we play the game, we chat and get to know each other. Her name is Pane and she has been working here for five days. Pane’s demeanor is fresh and innocent. She’s one of the sweetest people I’ve met. When it’s time to pack up our game and go home, I tell Pane that I’ll be back in a couple of days.

“Will you remember me?” she asks.

“Of course!”

Grinning and laughing, Pane tells me she’s looking forward to seeing us again. And I’m really excited to spend more time with her. I want to show her what true friendship is about. I want her to know she’s valuable for who she is — not just for her beauty or her body. And I want to introduce her to the God who created her, who gave up everything for her to be free.

I’ve never felt so much love and compassion for someone I have just met. I know there is hope for Pane and for all of the girls who work here. With God, there is hope!

Sheetal

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by Amy, Children at Risk DTS student

Sheetal - YWAM Madison DTS outreach India

Sheetal is a high energy, 10 year old girl. Her mother, a prostitute, left her orphaned by AIDS.

Sheetal had so much energy I could hardly keep up with her! She never stopped moving, talking, playing, and demanding that I do the same. I soon felt exhausted by her endless supply of energy. But then I realized she was simply lonely and craved loving friendship. Sheetal just wanted someone to laugh with her, play with her, and love her. And so the majority of the time we were at the home, I spent time with Sheetal.

Even though it broke my heart to know that I would only be able to be her friend for three days, God reminded me of something. I needed to spend each day with her to the fullest! What we were doing with these kids is important, something they won’t forget.

One our last day, Sheetal looked at me with begging eyes.

“Please come back on my birthday, April 25th!” she said.

“I’ll see if I can,” I said. I knew it was unlikely that I could come back then, but how can you say no to a question like that?

As we drove away from their home waving goodbye, I prayed, “God, show Sheetal that you are her friend, but that you will never leave her.”

What will happen to these boys in ten years?

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by Linnea, Children at Risk DTS staff

Most of the seventy kids who have been coming to our Vacation Bible Study are from very poor and broken homes. A lot of them don’t know how to behave, or act out to get attention from us.

I just wanted to hold each of their faces to mine and somehow download into their hearts the love God has for them. I tried my best to love them, hold them, play with them, hug them, and teach them.

This whole week, we’ve shared with them truths from the Bible, using stories like David and Goliath or Daniel in the lion’s den. We shared skits, made crafts, played games, and led discussions with the kids. Today, our last day, we felt like God told us to share the gospel and invite the kids to make a commitment to Him.

I had no idea what to expect—and it seemed like the kids were more excitable and chaotic than usual. At the end of our session, when the children had settled down a little, I asked if any of them wanted to choose to live their lives for Jesus.

Ten boys raised their hands and then crowded close around where I sat on the floor. They scrunched their eyes closed and prayed with me, asking God to forgive their sins and to help them be like Jesus. As I prayed for each of the kids and put my hand on their heads, my heart went out to them. It’s like I could feel God’s heart for them individually. I felt so strongly that God wanted to be there with these boys through the hard times, to walk with them, to never leave them.

“This isn’t just something you decide just today,” I told the boys, looking them each in the eyes. “Choosing to follow Jesus means you make a choice every day to follow God instead of just doing what you want to do. Or doing what everyone else around you is doing.”

They held eye contact with me and I could see sincerity in their faces. I know God was pleased with their hearts.

I imagine what their lives will be like in ten or fifteen years. Right now, they’re just children with tender hearts, eager to learn and talk about God. But in ten years, what will happen? Will their circumstances harden them, woo them to drugs, gangs, violence, and sex to ease the pain in their hearts? To find a place to belong? Will the wounds of abandonment and abuse turn their hearts from God?

For some of them, the answer is probably yes. But I know that even if only one of the kids applies the truths we taught them this week, it will have been worth it. This week, we’ve scattered a lot of “seeds” in their hearts. I know that some of these have fallen on fertile soil and will bear fruit.

I pray that more people will come and build on what we’ve begun. I pray that they will continue to hear the truth that God loves them and has planned good things for their lives. I pray that many of the kids we met this week will escape the cycle that their families are trapped in, and that these children will be world changers!

Sonaji

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by Kara, Children at Risk DTS student

Sonaji - YWAM Madison DTS outreach India

Sonaji is a curious seven-year-old who was abandoned by his parents.

The first child I saw at the orphanage for kids devastated by HIV/AIDS was a little boy with a crusty nose. I could see curiosity and fear in his eyes as he scanned our group. I’m a really friendly person who loves to draw out shy people — especially kids. So I walked over to him, but he just turned and ran away. I kept my distance until he could feel more comfortable with us, but I still followed him around the building. He bent down to pick up a dirty, plastic bag. I thought he was just being helpful, cleaning up the garbage. But then it hit me — this bag was his toy.

The second day we were there, this little boy still looked worried and afraid of us. Everything inside of me just wanted to scoop him up and hold him, but I let him have his space. We had a dance party for the kids–so much fun! The music blared, kids sang, we danced together. And then a small hand slipped into mine. I looked down and saw the little boy, his eyes wide open and staring at me.

One our third and last day at the orphanage, this little boy sat outside waiting for us. He immediately grabbed my hand and tugged me behind him. We played for the rest of the afternoon! I learned his name was Sonaji. We had so much fun playing–bubbles, chalk, tag, card games! Everything we did brought such joy to his face.

When it was time to go I picked him up and said goodbye.

“Come tomorrow?” he asked, looking me right in the eyes.

“No,” I said, shaking my head.

Sonaji furrowed his brow and scowled. I understood how he felt.

Sonaji - YWAM Madison DTS outreach India

Sonaji and Kara play and laugh together

I walked back to the office and scanned the board of names with life-threatening illnesses, this time matching their names to the faces I had come to love. My heart sank as I saw the name “Sonaji” written in bold letters on the board.

The ride home was silent except for the quiet sobs of some of my team mates. Even now as I write, I feel a lump in my throat.

My visit to this home has left my head swimming with 1,000 questions. All I can do is rest with a peace that God loves these kids even more than I do. I close my eyes and pray, “Dear God, I pray for healing of little Sonaji, I pray that he would feel your comfort and that he would live a long happy life. Please be close to him. Amen.”

Mary spoke with her hands

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by Kayonna, Children at Risk DTS student

We hiked down a dusty path to the village for the New Year’s Eve celebration. All around us, people were dancing, playing music, and serving exotic foods. What stood out to me the most, though, was one woman named Mary.

Mary and Micah - YWAM Madison DTS outreach to Thailand

Mary holds Micah, the youngest team member

After the party, my team and I sat on a porch that overlooked the village, drinking tea together. Mary came over and sat with us. She began to tell us her story, but it wasn’t like any other story that comes from the lips. Mary spoke only with her hands.

Her hands formed her words as she pantomimed her life story. She told us about her husband who would come home drunk every night. He often tried to throw their daughter in the garbage. Finally, he left. But Mary’s daughter also left and lives with someone else.

My heart broke to learn of Mary’s difficult life.

The next night I met Mary’s daughter who is now six. Mother and daughter stood side by side, as if they weren’t even related. There was no connection between the two. Then Mary reached out to her daughter, to hold her close and smooth her hair. But her daughter would have none of it. She just yelled and pushed Mary away.

It was hard to see such a beautiful woman leading such a difficult life and being rejected by the people who should love her the most. I’m glad that God sent us to her village and that I got to know her story. I hope that the time we spent with her will be a balm to the wounds in her heart. I hope that even though she couldn’t hear the words we said, that she could see the love in our eyes. I know that God can speak to anyone’s heart, whether or not they can hear with their ears.

It’s my prayer that Mary KNOWS God’s unshaking, unchanging, unfailing love.

I knew her before I met her

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Allison’s story, Children at Risk DTS student

As I sat on the back porch of the YWAM Madison training center with my prayer group, the feeling of Christmas was all around. The snowflakes fell outside and the warm fire crackled in the wood stove as we listened to God for how to pray. It was still weeks until we would leave for India, but as I closed my eyes and prayed, in my mind I saw a picture of a little Indian girl.

Allison & Mia - YWAM Madison DTS Outreach India

Allison and Mia

She was beautiful and small, stretching out her arms for me to pick her up. I wasn’t sure what to make of this vision at the time. I just thought God was showing me that the kids we would meet have a great need to be loved. As our busy class schedule continued, I never really thought about the picture of the little girl again. And before I knew it, we were off to India.

A week and half into our outreach in Pune, India we had a day for the street kids. We brought about fifteen kids off the street for the day to bathe, clothe, feed, and love them. I didn’t really know what to expect going into this day, but as the children came into the apartment, I instantly fell in love!

A tiny three year old girl named Mia became quite attached to me. After her bath, she came out shivering. I scooped her up in a blanket and just sat there holding her as she nuzzled up against me. She stayed there for almost the whole day, only getting up to play with the balloon animals we made for them. At the end of the day, I waved goodbye to this precious little girl, knowing that I would never forget her.

A few days later, during my devotional time, God reminded me of the vision he gave me back in Wisconsin. At first I was confused, not knowing why he had brought it back to my memory. As I sat there trying to figure out what God was saying, the vision of the little girl kept coming in my head. I realized I knew the face of that girl. That girl was Mia!

I know God saved my life for a reason.

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by Linnea, Children at Risk DTS staff

Tyrone & Linnea - YWAM Madison DTS outreach in Houston

"I promised Tyrone I wouldn't forget him. I'm keeping this picture of us together in my Bible so I'll remember to pray that he fulfills his destiny."

I didn’t know I could relate so well to someone so different from me.

After we took part in the service at Church in the Park, my team members and I spread out all over the large park to talk and pray with people. I walked toward a picnic table where five men sat. Before long, Tyrone and I were talking and sharing our stories with each other.

Tyrone told me that ever since he was a child, people spoke destiny over his life. Often, people said he should be a preacher. Instead he ended up on the streets, in gangs, shooting up heroin daily.

“I expected to die on heroin,” he said.

Instead, God showed up.

Six years ago, God delivered Tyrone from his heroine addiction. Then Tyrone found a job in Houston, which lasted a year until the company downsized. He found himself homeless again, struggling to remain free from alcohol and tobacco.

“I know God saved my life for a reason,” Tyrone says. “I know he has a destiny for me.”

I remembered back to my own years of drugs and addiction and shared with Tyrone the joy of freedom that Christ gave me. That’s when I saw that even though our lives are very different right now, we could relate on many levels. We both remembered the carefree attitude that addiction brought, even delighting in sin with no sense of regret. But as soon as we encountered God, we were never the same.

We talked about how we can’t sin anymore with a carefree attitude. Sin is not so enjoyable–in fact, it is miserable. And as we realized that, we gained new freedom in our lives.

I was amazed that someone else understood so well the experience I had when God walked me into freedom, and experienced the same process of freedom I did. I felt a deep connection to this stranger, this brother in Christ, that I had only met a few minutes ago. I knew God sent me to Him to encourage Him to not give up on his destiny and to take steps to pursue it. I asked him if I could pray for him and he welcomed it wholeheartedly. I prayed for freedom from alcohol and tobacco, for discovery of God’s purposes for his life, and that God would use him to encourage many.

“Take steps toward your destiny by taking any opportunity you can to share your testimony,” I challenged him. “Make the streets you live on your mission field.”

I promised Tyrone I wouldn’t forget him. I’m keeping this picture of us together in my Bible so I’ll remember to pray that he fulfills his destiny.

Please join me in praying for Tyrone and the thousands of others out there that are looking for the hope and future God promises when we follow His ways.

Our feet keep going, but my heart wants to stay where I am

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by Alicia, Children at Risk DTS student

questionnaire - YWAM Madison DTS Ethiopia outreach

Each sponsored family completes a bi-weekly questionnaire to check up on their family, health, schooling, and other needs

I get out of the taxi in front of the village and take a moment to let it all in. The village is built around a garbage dump. Animals run through the streets. Vendors line up, anxious to sell us their treasures. Children chase each other around the corners with shrieks of laughter. There is so much life all around me!

My team and I set out to meet a family that YWAM Ethiopia’s Adoption Ministry 1:27 sponsors. The families we’re going to interview have been identified as high risk — disabled and either single-parent families on the verge of collapse, or guardian families who care for orphans or sibling groups. Each sponsored family completes a bi-weekly questionnaire to check up on their family, health, schooling, and other needs.

ethiopian woman - YWAM Madison DTS Ethiopia Outreach

A woman carries goods on her back.

We make our way into the compound and the air gets thicker. Smoke from cooking fires and rubber burns my nose. A woman, half-blind with cataracts that cloud her eyes, steps forward and greets us while Hannah pulls out our first evaluation form.

We go from home to home, getting closer to the heart of the garbage dump. Our feet keep going, but my heart wants to stay where I am. Moving forward means seeing a side of poverty I never imagined could exist. The people who live here are considered the lowest of the low: the lepers, the disabled.

Ethiopian Boy - YWAM Madison DTS Ethiopia Outreach

"So many of the children have no hope in their eyes. Some I could get a smile out of after trying for a while, but others just look at us with blank expressions on their faces. The look in their eyes will haunt me forever." -- Bethany

We walk up the hill, passing men and women with bundles of plastic and trash wrapped on their backs. They’re coming from the landfill. Now I know where some of those vendors outside our taxi found their wares. We crest the hill and as far as I can see are mountains of trash. And clustered along the periphery of this mountain range are tarps, wind-frayed and sun-bleached, held up by sticks.

In other words, home.

Three children, half-clothed and covered in grime, peek out from under a tarp roof. My eyes prick with tears as I realize more concretely that these are people, living here, working here, sleeping here. Whole families have lived here for generations. “Throwaways” surviving on what’s thrown away.

My mind races to find a way to relieve their pain, to change their lives, to bring them out of poverty, especially these three little ones in front of me. I need some hope and I’ve only been here a few minutes. Then I think about the people we’re working with. Some of them were throwaways, too. They came out of these communities in the garbage dump and now live and work side by side those they minister to.

Ethiopian Boy - YWAM Madison DTS Ethiopia Outreach

Coaxing some smiles out of the kids

When I think about individuals, I know there is hope because God is here among the least. With God, there is hope to change one person, to change one family’s living conditions. And from there, a community. And then, a nation.

Eunice

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Eunice is a sweet 13 year old girl who loves art. She is an orphan who is HIV positive and in the second stage of TB. Her health is a very big concern right now. Children at Risk DTS student, Ana, writes about the time she spent with Eunice.

Eunice & Ana - YWAM Madison India DTS outreach

Eunice & Ana

As we walked through the girls bedrooms to play outside, my eyes were drawn to one of the girls laying in bed. I walked next to her bed as she was trying to slowly stand up. I could see in her eyes that she was hurting.

“Come pray with me for this girl,” I said to some of the others on my team.

As we prayed for her I felt that I should give her one of the crosses I had on my necklace. As she smiled to thank me, I could see how gaunt her face was. There was pain in her eyes that were surrounded with dark circles.

I smiled back at her, but in my mind I was crying out to God. “Lord, help her, please!”

“Here, read,” she said. She opened the little Bible she kept next to her pillow and turned to Mark 5:21.

I looked at the words and they began to blur on the page. “Jesus raises a dead girl and heals a sick woman,” I read. I fought to keep my voice steady as I saw how much faith she had.

“God is going to heal me, too,” Eunice said.

I spent the rest of the day with Eunice. We sang songs together, read the Bible, and laughed all afternoon.

Maybe I will never see her again. Maybe her body will be made whole in Heaven, or maybe she will get better now and live a long life. The only thing I know for sure is that children like Eunice bless my life and teach me so much more than I can ever possibly bless or teach them.

Please pray with me for Eunice and the other kids at this orphanage. Their lives have all been drastically affected by HIV/AIDS.

Jesus loves her more than I ever could!

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by Jenna, Children at Risk DTS student

jennas-friend - YWAM Madison outreach Thailand

Drawing in the dirt with the kids

I wasn’t sure what to expect when we trekked into Thailand’s hill tribes. I knew there would be mountains, dirt, and bugs. I knew we wouldn’t have running water for a few days. But I definitely didn’t know that one small girl would completely capture my heart!

It had been a long day already. We played games with many of the orphaned children in the hill tribes. I sat on the ground with some kids, drawing pictures of trees and mountains in the hard dirt, I noticed out of the corner of my eye another group of children. They were doing that thing that kids do–where they look at you and pretend to not look at you and then act shy when you notice them.

I smiled and motioned for them to come join us. That didn’t work. So I stood up, brushed the dust off myself, and walked toward this little pack of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds. That did it! They ran away, giggling and looking behind them. We played like that for about an hour, running up and down the dirt hills. It was fun, but I was happy when they stopped running! Eventually, they invited me to visit their home.

When I arrived there, I was welcomed in by even more children and adults. They were playing a game that involved putting a stone on your foot and throwing it, kicking it, and doing all sorts of hard things with it. They invited me and one of my friends to play.

Women playing a rock game - YWAM Madison outreach Thailand

The women play a complex game with rocks.

As I was playing, I felt a small tug on my wrist. A tiny girl with the most precious smile I had ever seen was looking right up at me. She was beautiful!

“What’s her story?” I asked one of the women in the village.

“She’s very small for her age,” the woman told me. “No one pays much attention to her.”

Well, that broke my heart to hear. This girl was so carefree and loving and soaked up all the attention and love I gave her that day. She liked to crawl up in my lap and play with my friendship bracelet.

I could tell she wanted the bracelet, but it meant so much to me.

I think God wants me to give the bracelet to her, I thought.

If she had my bracelet, maybe she would remember our visit and what we said about how much Jesus loves her. I wanted her to understand how precious and valuable she is. So I slipped it off my wrist and tied it onto hers.

Jenna and little girl - YWAM Madison outreach Thailand

Jenna and her friend

Now that we’re back in the city, I think of this girl often. I wish I could really show her what true love is. I wanted so badly to show her how valuable she is. But I know that Jesus is watching over her and protecting her. He will be there when she feels lonely. He loves her more than I ever could.