Yes, All Children Have Dreams
As we were driving through the slums of Katwe in East Africa, a woman turned to me and asked, “Do these children who are running around barefoot and jumping over open sewage have dreams of becoming something?”
Whenever I hear this question, it makes me sad that people don’t understand that all children have dreams —regardless of their circumstances in life.
Children at risk
If you travel to a developing country for business, pleasure or a mission trip, you can’t help but come face to face with extreme poverty … unless you intentionally choose to avoid seeing it. So many children now live in child-headed households because war or death has robbed them of their parents. Most families live on less than $2 a day.
Parents pressure their children to beg for food or loose change from passersby. If this is unsuccessful, they head to the dumps on the outskirts of the cities to scavenge for whatever they can find to eat or sell. Others go hungry for days, which accounts for the alarming rate of malnutrition. And then there are the thousands of street children who are forced into begging on a regular basis by traffickers.
What would you do?
So, if the average family lives on less than $2 a day, and a pair of shoes costs roughly $10, what would you do? How can parents possibly provide for their families?
These children did not choose where they would live or who their parents would be. Would anyone choose to live in this kind of overwhelming poverty? The truth is, none of us gets to choose the country of our birth, our parents or our socio-economic background.
As followers of Christ, we should humbly recall the words found in Proverbs 22:2: “The rich and poor have this in common, The Lord is the maker of them both.”
A wise investment
As complicated and overwhelming as this issue seems, the bridge to the dreams of these children one day becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers and more is our willingness to invest in the one in front of us. It could be the child next door, across the street or around the world.
We must understand that the same God who created us — who afforded us the privilege of living in a country that has countless opportunities — also created children living in desperate poverty. And yes, they still have dreams for themselves.
Some of these future leaders, as young as 6 to 10 years old, are forced to live in refugee or displacement camps with no parents. They have no hope for tomorrow … no hope for a pair of shoes, let alone pencil and paper.
You are transforming lives
When you invest in a child, you are inevitably investing in the future of his or her community and in the world — and most importantly, you are sharing the love of Christ.
It is because of a Gospel-given love that we can utilize our resources to equip these children for a brighter future. No longer will they have to eat from dumpsters, play among raw sewage, beg for food and money or be taken advantage of by traffickers.
Because of the generosity of people like you, this ministry is helping children attend primary and secondary school at a Christian academic institution while other young people are going to vocational schools and universities. Thanks to you, they are realizing their dreams by earning degrees in theology, nursing, social work, interior and clothing design, law, education, cinematography and so much more.
To help support these efforts and more, please go to the “Donate” button at the top right and choose “Self-sustainability” from the menu.
Thank you so much for your prayers, love and support for Julie’s Heart Cry!