HCS-A Quick Look at what we do and what we need.

          VOLUNTEERS of Faith              

     ...WORKING TOGETHER TO SAVE THE STREET CHILDREN

" The  biggest  killer  of  street  children  is their lack of Hope...

......and the worlds indifference"

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

HELLO,

     Penny and I started working with  4 groups of street children in Manaus in 1998.  We would go to the streets each night and feed the kids and talk with them about changing their lives. This was the beginning of HCS, and while Penny and I were still volunteering fulltime with CMU, helping to build churches in Amazonas. Around Dec. 10th, all the kids we worked with disappeared. We still went out every night, but they were nowhere to be found. We were quite worried.

At that time we had no idea, that the police started picking up the street kids each Dec. and locking them up during the Christmas holidays. They do this each year so the shoppers will not be bothered by dirty, hungry, begging kids.  The older kids told us later that they leave the city or hide in special hiding places during this time so they do not get locked up.

The following is an account of our first night after the kids were released. We pray that it is a powerful reminder to you about our work, and the need for it to continue. We pray too, that God will speak to your heart about becoming a supporter and prayer warrior on our behalf, and on our kids behalf.

Our first talk with the kids, with an interpreter:  1/17/99

Hello All,
Friday night, Penny, Roberto, and I went to look for our regular street children. To our great joy, we found them. It was a cool night, because it had been raining most of the day. Our kids came running with smiles on their faces , when they saw our truck, all yelling "Comida, Comida!" (which means feed us, feed us.) We were really happy to see them, and they us.    We exchanged hugs and everyone was smiling and excited about the reunion. We had not prepared any food, because we did not know if we would find them or not. We called them to the sidewalk in front of the truck, and sat down to find out what had happened to them. What I am about to relate is just a small amount of what they told us. They were upset and uneasy about some of this, especially Ray a young girl about 19 yr.
  I started with Ivan, a young boy who has lived on the street for 12 yr. (He is my favorite) He told us that he had been in prison, this is what they call the camp. He told us that the first time he was there for 4 days with no food, only water, he was beaten and mistreated, and made to work clearing the land around the camp.      He escaped, but was picked back up.  He was about 20 lbs. lighter in weight, and his hair had been cut really short. I noticed he has a large scar on his leg about 9 inches long, he told me there was a steel plate there. I did not ask how it happened, I did not want to ask to much to quickly.
( I asked a couple of nights later and found out that he and a few other boy were walking down the street when some bigger boys started chasing them , Ivan said that somehow he slipped while running across the street and a bus ran over him. He woke up in the hospital. He asked if we could possibly take him to a doctor to look at it because it hurt him all the time. We plan to talk to a Dr. who works with CMU, and try to take him next week.)
    Most of the kids would not talk about what had happened, so I switched to different questions. It was really great having Roberto, translating for us.    We got a lot of the same answers when we asked why they had left home. Most said that they were beaten and abused. They would never look at us when talking. Most would tear up and have to look away. We also had tears.
    Ray (pronounced "Hi" short for Raymonda) told us (not at first, for she started crying as soon as we asked, but when she heard others bravely tell their stories, she spoke up) She first told us of one night just before Christmas when she and two other girls were picked up by a Van full of police.      They drove them to the large cemetery in the middle of the city, put a gun to their heads and raped them over and over. They said they would kill them if they called out for help. Ray  is a intelligent young girl, she later told us that she left home because of abuse to her and her  sister from their step dad.  She told her mother, her mother believed the man. She told us that her sister now has a small child from this man. She says she never goes home, she has been on the streets for 5 yr.....Mario is about 7 or 8 he did not want to talk, when we arrived he had a small bottle of glue and was busy huffing the fumes. he sat down with us and put the bottle under his shirt. In a few min. when we got to the part about asking questions about why they had left home , he got up and went to the opposite side of the street and continued huffing, two others also left at this time.  This is when Ray was telling her story, when she finished, she looked around for Mario, she looks after him, when she saw he was huffing, she quickly crossed and took the glue away from him and scolded him, saying "these people are here to help, you need to listen to them". She dragged him back to our circle on the sidewalk, and sat down, He went into the shadows of a near doorway, embarrassed. I motioned him to come to where I was, he was hesitant, but came to me, I picked him up and sat him in my lap, and in a moment he settled down and curled up in a ball. I wondered how long it had been since he had been held, and touched, and loved. In this group of children there is much heartache, and betrayal. We shared with them,  that we were going to do everything in our power to help them. We talked about the possibility of a home for them, and all got excited. We talked about how God had sent us to help them, and we told them that we loved them. They told us they loved us too. We had not made any food, but I felt we had to do something, most of them sat there and shivered while we talked. We decided to go by 15 hot meals at a small restaurant near by. They were really happy when the food arrived. 
God used this night to step up our work with our kids,  Since this night, just a few short months ago we have had 14 decisions for Christ,  3  young men have returned to their homes to try and work things out.  We have become a legal non-profit organization here in Brazil and in the USA. The children now come to us, at our church here each night.  Land has been donated, and we are starting a home for our kids, Teams are coming to help!  God is truly a  "Good Father" to us and our Kids!
Thank You JESUS!!   1/17/99

IVAN shows us his life on the street.

The Photo at left was taken with a disposable camera we gave to Ivan in 1998, (Youth on the back row, white t-shirt with red A.R.) he filmed his life for a week. Most of the pictures he took were similar to the one above. All the kids were huffing glue. Ivan spent a little over 2½ years at our HCS Boys camp. He is now off the street but has had a hard time. Since he first made a commitment to follow Christ, his street wife Ana Maria was murdered, (young girl next to Ivan in black cap)  his real father has died, & his step father has died.  After he left the HCS camp in 2003 he got a job working up river for a lumber company first and then  with a fishing boat. He would visit  with us in between trips on the river.  At the end of 2005 Ivan made a recommitment to Christ.  We are very happy  for him.  Shortly thereafter he asked if he could return to the HCS Boys home and help with the new young street boys.  He is now working at the HCS Boys home as a house parent.

 His brother, Rogerio, ( boy in front next to girl) also spent over a year with us and is now working in our small city of Manacapuru as a security guard. Anna Maria, was killed on the street in July 2003.  Our kids need your prayers. 

               In  1997,  while  on  one  of  several  mission  trips  to Brazil, Pr. Jack and Penny started their work with the street children.  Jack and Penny told us,  " We  did not know what we could do to help them, but we knew we could feed them."   They  started  walking the streets  of Manaus, late at night feeding & talking with the kids. They took photos, and spent time building relationships. Penny and Pr. Jack fell in love with these pitiful children and young adults.  They  prayed  a  lot about how they could help these unwanted kids, and God started opening doors.  In 1998 they quit their jobs, sold most of their things, and moved to Brazil. In their first year they helped CMU build several small chapels for poor Baptist congregations, and worked with the street kids at night. It  was  not  very  long before it became evident to them that helping these children would take all their time. They left CMU after the mission season was complete, and  Hope  for the Children of the Street-HCS was formed in April of 99. Their own first  Volunteer team came in July of 99, and street kids  started leaving the street! God is Good!  

         A plea from the missionaries - Jack and Penny          Wednesday, April 02, 2008

 How Can You Help ?    First, and most importantly, our children need your prayers. Pray specifically for their salvation, and for them to have a strong commitment to growing in Christ. This is the only way they can escape the tragic life of the street. Below you will find some disturbing information that will help know what to pray for.

        Today Brazil is the world's fifth largest country with approximately 159 million people. In the 1950s Brazil embarked on rapid industrialization program that created a network of large industrial cities. Millions of individuals left the countryside in the following years and settled in the cities. With an enormous difference between the small wealthy class and the massive poor, slums developed. Today, 20 million children live at or below the poverty level in Brazil, and an estimated five to ten million experience life on the streets.

        Many youth in Brazil choose a life on the streets as an escape from the poverty of the slums and from abusive family situations. ..On the streets, they encounter other types of abuses and problems, such as poor health, exposure to AIDS, malnutrition, child prostitution, substance abuse, and violence. According to the Brazilian Center for Children and Adolescents, Brazil has more than 500,000 child prostitutes who often endure "slavery-like conditions" in the brothels.

        Most tragic of all, in the late 1980's Brazil was the only country in the world that  experienced large-scale, deliberate, systematic killing of Street Children by death squads who enjoy a high degree of impunity for their actions. Amnesty International lists "street execution" as the third leading cause of death for Brazilian children. According to The National Movement of Street Children (MNMMR), an average of four children were murdered each day in Brazil.

Brazil's Federal Police Research Department records show that a significant number of the children had been tortured prior to being killed . . .Many  today still see the prevalence of street children as a "nuisance" for which killing is a quick, simple answer.

The vigilante killings have largely subsided, thanks to widespread attention from the international news media. However street children still die in the same proportions, succumbing to the maladies described above or killing one another in drug-related skirmishes. The children’s disregard for life, including their own, comes from feeling they have nothing to live for. Taking hope away from a child is like a death sentence. 

Second Pray that the resources we need in people, funds, and assistance  will be supplied by the exactly right source at the right time by God.

OUR  2007 BUDGET IS $150,000.00     BASIC FULLTIME SUPPORT FOR 35 BOYS...............................$42,000.00 Rent for house or warehouse to re-open HCS Crisis Center...........$24,000.00   Funds for HCS Crisis Center Program in Manaus........................$24,000.00 IBNEA Evangelization of the Manacapuru river...........................$16,000.00 Construction funds for new Planted Church...................................$5,000.00 Salaries of workers at HCS Camp/year...........................................$9,000.00  HCS Missionaries  support (2)......................................................$24,000.00 Family assistance............................................................................$6,000.00     WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

PLEASE PRAY ABOUT HOW YOU CAN HELP.

ADDITIONAL HCS GOALS That Need Your Prayer and Support in 2006

1. The most important is the need to re-open the CRISIS CENTER in Manaus. This is the first step off the street, it is where we can meet, and evaluate each child and learn as to how we can best help them. After closing of the center in Manaus in 2000, our contact with the children on the street became less and less.

      Now a whole new generation of children are on the streets and they do not know us well enough to trust us to help them. This is a big step and we need your prayers and support, along with additional personnel to staff and counsel the youth. Penny and I have a heart to serve not only the street children, but to reach out and minister to all street people. This group includes, street children, child and adult prostitutes, child & adult street laborers, and gays. 

Our hope and vision is to buy an old building with your help, in the same area of town where our old crisis center was and start a church/street ministry that reaches across the barriers by showing the love of Christ to a group of children and adults who seldom have many options. This will not be an easy task, nor one that can survive without the proper amount of prayer, hard work, and good financial support. We are counting on you to continue to make the sacrifice along with us so our time here will be used to the glory and honor of our Lord and Savior.   The time is now, and we need many more of you to step up and do your part. There are 68 Baptist churches in the Amazonas Convention, and not one has any type of program to help these poor kids. 

 

2. Evangelize and plant one new church per year on the Manacapuru river. We are working on our boat and will soon be making our first trip. We hope many volunteer teams will join with us in this important work.

3. Continue to improve our Christian education program to help our kids, and members of our community,  to read, write and understand Gods word.

4. Build  new dormitories, bathrooms and other needed structures at our HCS Baptist camp.

5. Continue to assist our kids to re-unite with their  families when possible.

6. Give all our Kids Love, respect, care, and knowledge that we and God love them. As they see their need to ask Jesus into their heart, help them to understand what that means, and to continue to guide and disciple them as they grow in Him.

7. Continue to build the Body of Christ at our church - IGREJA BATISTA NOVA ESPERANÇA Do AMAZONAS.

8. Start a new camp for street girls.   We need Prayers, Prayers, and more prayers.  We need support, and committed Christians to staff this much needed Camp. We promised the street girls over nine years ago, we were going to help them. They are still waiting. Can You Help?