Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin
abounded, grace did much more abound-Romans 5:20

As I was thinking about writing this introduction someone brought to our attention a magazine article about a former model who is now crack addict living in streets of the infamous Cracolândia. The picture is the coverof the magazine and the young lady’s name is Loemy. Her story has been sensationalized and exploited by the media. We know her but we did not know that she was a model. This apparently wasn’t an important factor in her life. For the media, she is only newsworthy because of this fact. For us, she was one of the sad souls who are lost in the wasteland of Cracolândia.

It was not hard to notice that Loemy was different, mainly due to the fact that she spoke English quite well and appeared to be educated. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to see people who once had successful careers end up living in the streets. We have seen this several times so we weren’t that surprised. People come to Cracolândia because they are running away from something. Loemy was no different from anyone there. According to the news article, she was abused as a child by her step-father and her short-lived success as a model did nothing to heal the wounds that were deeply rooted in her soul. ‘Crack’ addiction is not the real problem; it is just a symptom of a hurting soul.

Our first contact with Loemy came about because she had hurt her foot and needed first aid. Mary cleaned and dressed it. Then the following week, Mary saw her and called out her name. Loemy was impressed that Mary remembered her name. Cracolândia is a strange place. They come here to be forgotten but at the same time, they appreciate anyone who remembers their name. Perhaps by remembering their name, we are giving them back a piece of their humanity that they think they had lost.

These people are not living in the streets because they are poor. They are not in the streets because they are addicted to crack. They are here because of a deep spiritual  wound. An essential part of their healing is knowing that they are loved and important enough to be remembered by their names.

A Night with Jefferson

Jefferson was sitting by himself looking a little sad. This could only mean one thing. He had a falling out with the other children. The children had isolated him and he was feeling more alone than ever at this moment. Jefferson is twelve years old. He is relatively new to the streets. His mother was squatting in an abandoned building in the center and was unemployed. He has two older siblings and he was the only one in the streets. We asked him why he did not follow his siblings’ example. He did not respond. He said that he would run away from his home when his mother left the house to do some errands. We had tons of questions but it was better not to inundate the child with them. We allowed Jefferson to share his story according to his capability.

The temperature had dropped drastically and we were all cold. We decided to play a game to warm us up and hopscotch was suggested. The game made Jefferson smile again. I asked Jefferson where he was going to sleep and he did not say anything. Then we offered to walk him to the building where his mother lived if he wanted to spend the night there. He nodded to say yes.

Jefferson was in a cheerful mood and talked all the way to the building where his mother lived. The entrance to the building was locked with chain and a huge padlock. It looked vacant. A young security person told us that all the squatters have moved out of the building a few days ago. Jefferson was unaware of this. He suggested that we check another abandoned building a few blocks away to see if his mother had moved there. We did and his mother was not to be found. One of the adults recognized Jefferson and informed us that his mother had moved to an area where the sex workers lived. She implied that Jefferson’s mother was also a sex worker. Jefferson was visibly upset by this and we decided to remove Jefferson from the environment to talk with him privately. As we were crossing the road to go to a nearby square, Jefferson burst into tears. Our team member, Tim, was the first to notice this and he hugged Jefferson. I was at a loss as to what to do and realized that it was better to follow Tim’s example. It was not necessary to have a solution because there was none. Jefferson just needed someone to hug him at this moment.

Two squatters from the latter building saw us and crossed over to the square to talk to Jefferson. One of them was a friend of his mother. Jefferson recognized her as well. They wanted Jefferson to spend the night there with them and their children and they promised to look for his mother next day. Jefferson was too distraught to say anything. He just cried and kept saying that everyone has abandoned him and he was all alone in this life. We sat next to him without knowing what do to or say.

We offered to take Jefferson to a shelter but he refused. The children have a negative view of shelters. They consider them to be like juvenile prisons. The adults from the building did not like the idea and became more insistent that he should spend the night with them. We were getting concerned about their aggressiveness. We did not trust them and the feeling was mutual. It was 11 p.m. now. The last bus for our team members leaves at 11:45 pm. I was the only one who lived within walking distance but it was not a situation that one should handle alone.

Finally, we had to tell Jefferson that we needed to leave and he could walk with us if he wanted. He did not say anything as we walked slowly away from him. It was quite a sad moment. We felt helpless but there was nothing really we could do for him at this time. The other adults were still around trying to pressure him to go with them. We were hoping that Jefferson would leave the area and walk with us. As we walked slowly away, we heard footsteps behind us. Jefferson ran up to us and walked silently next to us. My friends had to run to catch the last bus. I walked with Jefferson slowly and put my arm around him. Nothing was said. We just walked silently. Then, Jefferson said that he was going to sleep in the streets like always. He gave me a hug and said goodbye.

I did not see Jefferson for a week after this incident. Some of the other children told me that he had gone to the beach. Finally when I saw him, he was tanned from the beach sun and sniffing a bag of glue. I called out to him and he pretended not to see me and just walked away nonchalantly. Then he stopped and turned around and smiled at me. It was a genuine smile. It was smile to acknowledge a connection between us. Maybe today is not the time to do anything about it but it is there for the future. For the time being, we know nothing is wasted in God’s economy. Everything we do in His Name for these littles ones is remembered and marked eternally in our souls.

Our Friendship with Igor

When we first met Igor, we did not know much about him. The only thing we knew was that he was interested in languages. We asked him if he was interested in learning English. He said that he was willing to learn anything if he was given the chance. This was the beginning of a series of English lessons with Igor.

I have written a series of posts on our relationship with Igor. It is an ongoing relationship and I hope to give you a picture of the ups and downs of our work. Igor is a good soul and we invite you to join us in praying for him and his spiritual success.

These are the links to the posts in chronological order:

http://spmercyministry.com/2014/11/08/english-lessons-with-igor/ http://spmercyministry.com/2014/11/17/igor-has-an-address/ http://spmercyministry.com/2014/11/20/hope-for-autonomy/

Support our Ministry

Since our last newsletter, we experienced a financial crisis as the diocese informed us that there were insufficient funds for our monthly support. We wrote to some churches and the overseas mission commission made an appeal and we are grateful to say that many of the churches and friends gave generously to help this ministry. We are grateful for your prayers and generosity and it encourages us greatly to know that we have the full support of the diocese and churches. I always stress in our ministry we are representing the church in Central Florida. This makes the message of the gospel even more powerful because the children recognize that only God can move people from a land far away to be concerned about their welfare.

This will be our last newsletter for the year and we are thinking about our support for the coming year. We continue to ask you to remember us in your prayers and give to this ministry as the Holy Spirit leads you. This ministry is a ministry of grace and every act of offering must be rooted in response to His grace in our lives. God bless you and I pray that you have a blessed and wonderful Christmas. Please remember the children and teens in your prayers this Christmas.

Please make your checks payable to DCF Missionary Outreach and send to:
Diocese of Central Florida
1017 E. Robinson St. Orlando, FL 32801

Our e-mail address: Fr.StephenDass@gmail.com ( I appreciate e-mails and respond to them immediately)
Blog: www.spmercyministry.com