New Beginnings

                In the 6 years since I visited my first after school program, I have come to believe that this sort of ministry is ideal for children and youth in developing nations. Mission is not about simply sharing the gospel through Bible stories. Nor is it about spending all our time meeting the social and physical needs of the people we serve. Holistic mission is the only true approach to ministry. When we only have words about love, but no actions to show what that love looks like, we look like liars. When we only show love to people by helping them, but never tell them why we have that love, we rob people of the most important words they will ever hear. The most loving words. In an after school program that is properly scheduled and managed, both of these two halves of ministry come together in a very practical and, dare I say, fun way.

                I was contracted by Extreme Response (ER) not simply because they wanted another volunteer. They had an after school program that was suffering. From what I understood before I started, there was a lack of vision, leadership, and creativity. The people who were running it had slipped into a routine that was falling short on every front. Because of connections I have from when I lived here before, ER had heard of the work I had done in south Quito and they hoped I could breathe some new life into their existing program.

                I have now been here for three weeks and I have spent this time observing how the program currently runs. Unfortunately, everything ER had told me was true. In the three to four hours the kids spend here (one group in the morning and another in the afternoon), there is little to no structure and almost nothing that makes it look like a Christian ministry. The routine is essentially, arrive at some point near the start time (with some kids arrive as much as an hour and a half before other kids) and then do what you want/can. Some kids start their homework…sort of. Others sit around and chat or play with a soccer ball in a side room. This goes on for about an hour and a half before the only structured event of the day begins; the meal.

                Every day the kids get a hot meal. This is a crucial part of what ER does. These kids are all from families that make their living by digging through the trash for recyclables. Some of the poorest families go so far as to take food from the trash to feed their families. For some of these kids, the meal the get at the program is the only meal they may get that day. Certainly the only healthy meal. The meal is prayed for (most of the time) and then the kids are maintained in silence while they eat. This is very strict. Anyone who talks or stands up is made to wash dishes afterwards.

                When the meal is done the kids all move into a cleaning time where the entire project is cleaned…mid program (which hardly makes sense to me if they make a mess right after they clean). And when cleaning is done the chaos continues. They play around, they chat with their friends, they take a ball outside, the goof around on the computers. Almost anything besides finishing their homework. And this is how the final two hours of the program run. Pretty much a free for all.

So what is the program lacking most? Well there are several things that are going to be changed. The first thing we are going to begin with is discipline. Many of the kids receive discipline at home in the form of a beating. Others receive no form of discipline at all. Both are very difficult to work with. Currently the kids either don’t care about our punishments because compared to a beating they are nothing, or they literally don’t even listen to us because there is nothing at stake for them. I am going to be introducing a discipline system that teaches the kids that their actions have consequences, either good or bad. The kids will be awarded points for good behavior and they will lose points for bad behavior. These points will be like currency which they will need to learn to manage. Every two weeks I will bring in a “store” of items such as school supplies, hygiene items, and perhaps a few toys that the kids will be able to spend their points on.

                Discipline is not only important for the sanity of the workers. It is discipline that offers structure and security to the lives of the kids. When you live in a home environment that is unpredictable and unsafe, it is hard to relax and feel free to be a kid. By giving predictable consequences for their actions the kids will actually experience more freedom while they are here. This is also crucial for teaching these kids how to behave for the rest of their lives. Kids who grow up in homes that lack structure are far more likely to enter lives of crime. Now is the time for them to learn to submit to authority and that they have the power in their own hands to choose their actions and the outcome.

                The second thing that needs to be fixed which will also help maintain this sense of security and structure is the schedule. The plan I am going to propose will divide the time into simple blocks that will not change from week to week. We will begin with free time while the kids arrive. This gives the kids a needed break between arriving after school and focused homework time. Then we will start our day together with a welcome and a student of the day program (aimed at increasing self-confidence and appreciation for others). After we have one of the kids pray for our day and the food, we will have the meal. My hope is that we can relax the rules during meal time so that the kids can feel free to converse with the other kids around them. After we eat we will use dish washing as a punishment for any kid who perhaps has acted poorly up to this point, and then move straight into homework time, erasing the rest of the clean up time that was here before.

                Homework time is when we will need to be the strictest. The kids currently have no sense of time management or what spaces they should be playing in and what spaces they should be working in. The main room will become off-limits to play at all times and the kids will be given a strict hour and a half to complete their homework. If they do not finish then they will have to finish at home. The only reason they would not finish is due to poor time management, which at the beginning will be difficult. But after not completing their homework the first few times they should start trying to work more efficiently.

                After this we will spend at least 30 minutes doing Bible review, singing praise songs, and telling a simple Bible story. This is a crucial part of what we claim to do with the program and it is what is lacking the most. My hope is to do an overview of the Bible in the next few months and work towards memorizing certain Bible verses and the books of the Bible in order. My hope is that the kids will have an idea of the general story of the Bible by June.

                In the final hour of our time we will have scheduled workshops. So far, we have people committed to come and teach computers and English. We will probably do a cooking class, an extended Bible class, and perhaps maintain a free day to teach a new game. Another hope I have is to do what I call "circle time" at least once a month. This is a program that works to get the kids to think about their problems and their achievements and the part they play in accomplishing both. It also gives them time to pray and ask God to help them in their lives. This is crucial for overcoming victim mentality and making the kids feel empowered.

                We need to work on self-esteem, care for others, not hitting (this is the way the kids currently deal with all of their problems), and so much more. My job is not just changing the routine of 35 kids, but also changing the routine of 4 adult workers who have settled into something that is easy and far less than desirable. Please be praying for us all. Myself and the other workers really need to be covered in prayers as we march forward into new and difficult changes. But more importantly, please pray for these kids. The brokenness of their lives is something we in North America simply wouldn’t stand for. These kids are enduring situations that no kid should be exposed to.

                And if you actually managed to read this entire thing, good for you! And thank you for taking the time to learn more about what I am doing. I am expecting God to show up in crazy ways, and I hope that you will continue to stand beside me and these kids as we seek God.