Sandro

In a previous column, I gave a simple challenge for the churches to write letters to our children and teens in the streets. Slowly but steadily, the letters came in. Then one day, we got a package that contained a bunch of letters written by children from a church in a small city in Florida. The letters were open and honest in a way only children could write. We did not want to overwhelm our children, so we read only one at a time. Most of them have never received a letter before.

The first letter was to a young man named Sandro. I wrote a brief description of him to the churches, stating that he liked airplanes. Someone who was obviously a young child wrote to him and drew a picture of a plane. “Maybe one day you could get your own airplane and fly around,” the letter said.

Sandro listened intently. He smiled and said this was his wish too. He is 20, but he still is very childlike. He liked the simple picture and said he was going to keep it.

The letter-writer also wanted to know if where Sandro lived there were cars, buildings, and an airport. Where he lives, there are just cars and buildings. Sandro said he should write back that São Paulo has everything the city where this boy lives has, but I told him this wasn’t true. The letter was written in a small town in Florida, and São Paulo has a hundred times as much as they have there. Sandro could not fathom that he was living in a city bigger and richer than the one where this boy lives. But the difference in age and distance did not stop the two from having a simple connection through a thin slip of paper with some rudimentary drawings.

Felipe

The next letter, for Felipe, came from a young girl, probably about 10 years old. Not long ago, Felipe lost his dog, whom he loved dearly. The young girl seemed to understand what it meant to lose something or someone precious. “I hope that you are not lonely without your dog. If you are, you won’t be anymore because I am your new best friend.”

There was no ceremony or hesitance in her offer-ing of friendship. Felipe listened, touched, with a shy smile on his face. He did not laugh off her words as a childish gesture but was able to per-ceive the genuine intention of this child.

However, it wasn’t just a one-sided offer. The girl thought Felipe could help her as well. He likes stories from the Old Testament. She wrote out a Bible passage, Hosea 12:1-2, and asked if Felipe could write back to her and explain the meaning of these verses.

The final letter this week was for Ruan. The simple words read, “I want to let you know that we are praying for you, and when you get into trouble, God is with you, and He will forgive you.”

Ruan

These words immediately brought a smile to Ruan’s face. He is always getting into trouble. It wasn’t the words that touched him, however, but the intention. The child did not judge Ruan and focused instead on a gracious and forgiving God. Ruan said he wanted to write her back.

All the letters were received with shy smiles. The children were happy to hear their names being mentioned because it meant someone out there knows their names.

Some unforeseen results of the letters are developing. Felipe started getting interested in learning English. Ruan is beginning to read simple words and has been doing his exercises with Mary faithfully.

Something else is happening. The letters are opening doors for us to talk with the street chil-dren about their responsibility to people. They have lived most of their lives abandoned by their families and society, without any responsibility to fellow human beings. Now they are receiving unconditional love in the form of letters from children who have nothing to gain from them.

They have to learn how to respond. Perhaps this is something we can help them to do this year.

You can support São Paulo Mercy Ministries, please visit www.cfdiocese.org and click on the donate button. Drop down will allow you to select this ministry.