International Day for Street Children

Before sharing information about the issues street-connected youth face, we first wanted to highlight the most important aspect of our ministry: LOVE. Educating ourselves on what street-connected people go through, working hard to fight for their rights and serving them in the ways God calls is important and necessary. But none of our work will have any eternal value if it is not done with LOVE. As Scripture says, we can have faith so grand "as to remove mountains," but if we don't have LOVE, we are nothing. So today, will you join us in praying for the kids on the streets of Tegucigalpa and around the world? Let's ask God to show everlasting LOVE to them in powerful ways, and let's offer ourselves in service and in LOVE to this vulnerable population. This year, the International Day for "Street Children" falls on Easter, the day we celebrate Christ's victory over death. Christ's sacrifice on the cross was LOVE in action, and it was the power of LOVE, for God is LOVE, that raised him from the dead three days later. Dear friend, we pray that you would know this healing LOVE of God, and we ask that you would extend it beyond your home to the street-connected kids of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

The term "street child" is difficult to define, and it's impossible to know exactly how many children are living on the streets worldwide. What we do know is that there are millions of children around the world who consider the streets their homes. Some of these children spend the majority of their days on the streets—begging for money and food, not attending school, and often finding themselves in dangerous circumstances—while sleeping in a relative's house at night. Others, however, are homeless 24/7, spending both their days and nights on the streets.

Instead of using the term "street child" to label these kids, we prefer to call them "street-connected youth," remembering that they are not "of" the streets and ever clinging to the hope that they will be able to leave the streets some day.

That is our passion: to introduce street-connected kids to the love of Jesus Christ and help them fight for healthier futures away from the temptations and vulnerabilities connected to life on the streets.

April 12 is the "International Day for Street Children." As this day approaches, we're sharing information about these issues and how we at the Micah Project are working to help street-connected youth. Check our social media to learn more so you may better advocate and pray for "street children." We can't do this work without you!

Children shouldn't have to call the streets "home." They should be free to go to school, play, eat nutritious food and have healthy, loving relationships. As the International Day for "Street Children" approaches, let's educate ourselves about street-connected youth and ask the Lord how He may be calling us to love and serve them. Check in with us every day to learn more. 

The Micah Project is dedicated to serving youth who spend the majority of their time on the streets. With a variety of ministries serving those in our community, including three group homes for boys and young men coming from vulnerable situations, we hope to make sustainable positive change in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Our goal is to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of street-connected youth, helping them find freedom, family and futures in Christ. #WhyMicah

Keep up with our social media to learn more about the issues faced by street-connected youth as we build up to the International Day for "Street Children" this Friday, April 12. 

Today, we'll address some ways the coronavirus pandemic is affecting people on the streets, specifically children.

Here in Tegucigalpa, street-connected people don't just live day-to-day. They live meal-to-meal as they struggle to access clean water and healthy food. Street-connected people normally rely on the generosity of people walking by on the street and organizations like ours to keep them fed and clothed. Right now, however, no one can walk around freely, and our organization has to be careful as we move about the city, complying with law enforcement and protecting the Micah boys from the virus. Fortunately, while martial law keeps many at home, the army has been allowing our van to pass through roadblocks because it has Micah’s logo on the side. This has given us the opportunity to bring some supplies to our friends downtown as well as deliver food to our boys' families. We do this carefully. Our social worker dons a mask and hands out the food through the van's window. Normally, we would park our van and walk around the city for hours, meeting with street-connected friends, talking to them and listening to them express their needs. We'd do what we could to help, and most importantly, we'd share friendship and show God's love. Although this ministry must look different right now, we feel so privileged for the opportunity to still see our friends and share with them, even if it's only for a moment.

As we've sadly seen healthcare systems around the world struggle to cope with high demands for medical personnel and supplies when the coronavirus spreads too rapidly, Honduras' healthcare system would likely collapse if our government were to halt measures to limit movement and keep people at home. For our friends with no homes, that means times are even tougher than usual. However, although this is difficult for them, it may be the safest option for all. If the virus were to spread more rapidly, it could be extremely danerous to anyone connected to our city's streets as accessing healthcare is even difficult in normal times when we are not facing a pandemic.

The Micah Project helps with emergency needs of our friends on the streets in normal times, and we are praying for God's continued protection and provision in this uniquely difficult situation. Thankfully, none of our street-connected friends has yet shown symptoms of having COVID-19.

Children on the streets of Honduras are met with discrimination and abuse on a daily basis, and in times such as these, the potential for that abuse to increase is great. As our theme verse instructs, we take "doing justice" very seriously at the Micah Project. It is our privilege to befriend street-connected people and always stand up for their rights and their protection. We always live with the hope of Revelation 21, which teaches us of the new heaven and new earth where no one will be homeless, and we will all see one another as beloved in God's sight. Until then, we keep working to help kids get off of the streets, and we call on our society and its leaders to respect their rights and end abuse toward street-connected children.

Although we've seen some difficult and scary situations here in Honduras, so far law enforcement officials have not been radically harsh in their implementation of the government-mandated lockdown. For this we give praise to God. However, we have seen a few street people detained for "breaking curfew," and we call on the government to look for better solutions for those who are incapable of keeping any sort of curfew due to their status of homelessness. We pray that all leaders and law enforcement officials would recognize and respect the rights of all peoples.

The prevalence of substance abuse is a difficult reality for many street-connected youth. These kids start doing drugs with their peers at young ages in order to cope with the struggles they face on the streets. The most popular substance among "street kids" in Tegucigalpa (and in other places around the world) is an industrial-strength glue used to repair shoes. This is an inexpensive drug that kids use to desensitize themselves—helping them forget the pain of hunger and the cold at night as well as emotional distress, loneliness and trauma. Some kids also use harder drugs like cocaine, and many smoke.

Despite this harsh reality, we trust that God loves these kids and wants better for them. That's why we at the Micah Project continue to meet them in their struggles and provide safe spaces in which they can encounter healing. This tough work takes lots of patience, understanding and even training. And we remember that, although we must work our hardest toward positive change, if we were to do these things without the Lord's help, we would not experience true, lasting freedom. For it is God who changes hearts and rescues us from darkness. At times, he does this miraculously quickly. Most of the time, however, healing can be slow and painful, but communing with God in these journeys is beautiful and worth the hardship.

Will you take some time today to pray for these young people struggling with addiction? Pray for those still on the streets who consume drugs every day, and pray for the guys in our homes who are battling to overcome addictions.

Keep up with our social media to learn more about the issues faced by street-connected youth, as we build up to the International Day for "Street Children," which falls on Easter this year.

As we consider the tough realities facing street-connected youth, we praise God for the opportunity to serve through the Micah Project. This work truly is a blessing!

This year, the International Day for "Street Children" falls on Easter, the day we celebrate Christ's resurrection from the grave. In this, God shows us his powerful strength to conquer evil and give us life!! Will you pray life over the Micah boys and our friends on the streets today?

At a quick glance, Micah 6:8 could appear to be a checklist. If we could act justly, love kindness and mercy, and walk humbly with God, we'd be perfect. But such an understanding would be ripping this verse out of context, and it certainly wouldn't be very humble. Instead, we at the Micah Project ask the Lord daily to strengthen us to do what is right, for we know that without the work of Christ, we are hopeless. In this truth, we find great freedom, strength and hope.

So, today let's ask God to help us be better. As God enables us to live out Micah 6:8, we pray to see justice in this world, we pray for the ability to pass the grace we've received onto others, and we thank Jesus for never leaving our sides—asking him to humble us and work through us to bring heaven to earth.

This is our prayer for every Micah guy, every Micah staff member and for each of you who support us. 

Tomorrow, on Easter Sunday, we recognize the International Day for "Street Children," a day to stand in solidarity with kids who spend the majority of their time on the streets. We at Micah have never seen this day fall on Easter before, and it leads us to ponder in new ways...

Easter feels strange this year, doesn't it? Most of us would like to head to church tomorrow morning to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, three days after his sacrificial death on the cross to atone for the sins of the world. But we can't. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are stuck at home. Perhaps you're unable to be with family; perhaps you miss your friends. Maybe you're anxious and just miss going places. Perhaps you're an essential worker, and you're scared to go serve at your local hospital or grocery store. This time is difficult for all of us. Yet, we do have reason to hope and to celebrate. If Christ conquered death on the first Easter, we need not fear any plague or calamity.

Maybe this has all come at the right time, all according to God's plan. Perhaps this pandemic will soften our hearts. As we're stuck at home, we can take more time to meditate on God's Word and to pray for others. We at Micah pray that the same love and power that resurrected Christ from the grave would bring hope to our friends on the streets. As we stay at home, may they offer us a picture of Christ upon which to meditate: Just as they have nowhere to go at this time, Scripture teaches us that "foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man [had] nowhere to lay his head.” May this meditation lead us to soften our hearts toward those on the streets and to be grateful for the hope we can have on Resurrection Sunday. For "in all these things we are more than conquerors through [Christ] who loved us."

We at the Micah Project are praying for you and yours today, tomorrow and always. We hope even in these difficult and uncertain times that you may find ways to celebrate Easter from home, and we thank you for your continued support of our mission to show love to the "street children" of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. We ask that you would pray on their behalf this Easter. #WhyMicah

PS the kiddo in this photo is our sweet Oliver. He recently entered the Micah House after fighting to survive for many years as a child on the streets. Will you please pray specifically for him today?