Este is really Ice T...

Este is really Ice T...

We had a divine encounter yesterday as we ran into Este, who informed us that his name is really Ice T- we just thought he said Este because he said it so fast. We met Ice T in the same demeanor that we found him last- ragged sweater that shelters him from the cold, worn pants that he kneels in to rummage thru the trash heap, and a small cap that although weathered appears to be his favorite. His teeth are tainted by the daily choice of his glue indulgence and with every word spoken his breath ushers you to also experience the glue’s powerful taunt. Ice T joined us for some ugi, which in Kenya is their porridge, and a morning staple for most. On a cold July winter’s day, it was an inviting warmth that ushered us into conversation. There are several things we both observed in our time with him- genuineness and an unexplained innocence. All of us- be it positive or negative- extend in relationships of some kind. Some choose to invest deeply and to sharpen one another in the faith of Christ. Some choose to indulge in investments of forgetting reality and as Judges proclaims, “prostituting themselves to various lovers.” That may sound harsh in comparison, but its the reality of our choices of relationships. It is true that we are either living for our self or living for the Lord- In this life, we choose to live for our Maker, our Husband, our ultimate Love. Or we choose to live for other lovers that disguise themselves as Paul voices in 2 Timothy 3: “people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of God- having a form of godliness but denying its power....” in this attitude of heart articulated by Paul, it is voicing the powerful pull of individuals who call themselves believers, can use Scripture & Christian cliché’s to portray a close relationship with Christ, yet reap no true fruit of the Lord’s spirit within them. Paul says that we will be known by our fruit. Many times in all of our lives, we have played that part all too well- Knowing the ‘right’ words to say when someone asks how our life is going- choosing to create a façade of togetherness rather than share the sufferings of our days- indulging in other lovers rather than our first love.
What we saw in Ice T was honesty of his choices and not a mask for appearance sake. We have shared in many conversations with people during our time here in Kenya and it would be suffice to say that 9 out of 10 times someone gives us the desires of their heart to ‘get back into church’ and then takes the notion to debate their problems and the reasons why we need to help them financially. Ice T, a 17-year-old ‘glue head’ daily makes his choice- Kicked out of school 3 years ago, he has been in and out of correction schools to only ‘escape’ them as he liked to voice it. He claims that every morning he gathers his bag, digs thru the trash for plastics so that he can sell them for 20 shillings for his glue, and then goes to work for his Mom. When we asked if she paid him, he bellowed a laugh of an innocent child and simply stated, I don’t work for money- I work for food. Most mothers who have glue head children would not want their child to roam freely into their home, in fear of their influence on the other children who are still there. This mother has chosen to allow her son the open door of working for his choices- he wants food, not money, just food. He could have given us a sob story of the hardships of the streets and the many things that we could do to get him off of them. Yet, Ice T- out of a genuine heart shared his choice of ungodliness- he knows the choices that he is making reaps great consequences yet he chooses to ignore them and reap the immediate-short-term rewards of them. Our hearts were deeply burdened for this young teen who spoke passionately about his desire to be a ‘futballer’ (soccer player)- Of course, we allowed his passions to shine and did not give him the speech of needing to change a few things before he could actually accomplish that goal. We respected his honest approach of conversation and discussed afterwards how many times in our life do we neglect the consequences of our ways? Are we choosing the lovers of this world or the great Lover who established our life? Are we blinded to ourselves that we cloud our perceptions to actually believing that we are living our life for the Lord? Or like Ice T, can we acknowledge our ways and be honest with the entanglements that have entrapped us?

Ice T says that he wants to come work for us- that he will save his ‘trash’ clothes so that he can work hard and dig into the soil to get the soccer pitch ready. Our whole purpose in being here- building this center- are for boys like Ice T. How beautiful to witness a transformation in his life and to see him choose to not kneel in the trash heap so that he can indulge in his love of glue and rather choose a life full of freedom in Christ and kneeling before a father who grants every blessing and every indulgence of his love. We pray that our ugi date isn’t the last time that we see this precious Ice T.