Going the Second Mile for Street Children

In the 1970s and 80s our joint ministries of Christian Growth Ministries and Action International Ministries were troubled and faced with a sad reality: "How do we properly follow up with hundreds of older street children who were coming to faith through our evangelistic camps?"

It was hard to keep in touch with the children when they returned to the streets of Manila.

Local churches were of little help for many had no concern for older children. The older boys and girls from the streets were rough and dirty, they would be a drain on church finances to help them, and it would take quality time needed for the children of the church.

At one of our ministry leadership meetings, it was even suggested that we stop all camps as so many were coming to faith and we could not care for them all.

Aris (the leader of children’s outreach), however, spoke up. He said, “ If we stop the gospel for street children because so many are coming to Christ and we cannot care for them all, we are just like those who promote the evils of abortion, killing babies because there are too many already.”

Needless to say, we continued to pray for and looked for ways to do appropriate follow up for these street children.

One day in my office I was praying with Jimmy Yee, one of our leading workers with children and follow up. As we prayed he suddenly said, “Lord, help us to go the second mile with these older children who come to faith at our camps.”

I asked Jimmy what he meant by “second mile?”

He answered that as we go the first mile and tell the older boys the gospel of Christ and some come to faith, we then need to go the second mile with discipleship and to train them in a vocation so they have no need to beg, steal or eat out of a garbage can.

That was the beginning of our “Second Mile Discipleship and Vocational Training.”

We trusted the Lord for land and built a two-story home, vocational building, and a school beginning with a one-year program with 15 older boys.

The mornings were filled with the Word of God, discipleship, reading, math, living as a family, teaching manners and assigning household chores. The afternoon consisted of training in carpentry, welding, computer repair, and auto mechanics.

It was a wonderful, blessed ministry over the years with all the boys obtaining work after a year with some even starting their own businesses hiring others. One graduate became a contractor and built buildings for some of our other ministries.

The Word of God says, “For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel— these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth” (Zechariah 4:10).

May our wonderful Lord be praised.