Fuente Circle

Over the past few weeks I have been participating in a ministry to street children and adults in Fuente Circle on Monday evenings. Fuente Circle is a park-like place in the middle of a huge roundabout. There is a fountain in the center and lots of benches around. It is a hangout for many homeless people and street children who don't have anywhere else to go. For the past few years, a small group from my church has been going there each week to spend time with and serve the people there. They will pray together, worship together in song, play games with the children, and share a meal together. I wish that everyone could come here and see the beautiful children. To experience the warmth and love that they share with you when they wrap their arms around you or look up at you with a huge smile on their face. And yet, these same children have no material posessions or earthly comforts. Their flip flops are so worn that there are holes in the bottom, that is, if they have shoes at all. Their clothes are usually filthy and in rags. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around what their life is like. These children won't go to school. Most likely, they spend all day walking alongside pedestrians, asking for change, or going up to cars and knocking on the window. But for a few hours, each Monday night, they experience love. They are allowed to be children and to run and to play and to know that they will get to eat. As I serve them a simple meal of rice and veggies, I wonder how many of them are eating for the first time that day. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but it's heartbreaking... Again, I find myself asking "What does it mean to love these children?" "How would Jesus care for these children?" I still don't have answers, but I am trying. Mother Teresa once said "It's not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It's not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving." So, I will be there, each Monday night, trying to love those sweet children if nothing else.

(Fuente Circle)