a bit of sport

On Friday afternoon Redeemer church runs a sport ministry in the park adjacent to the ministry house we're staying in. Most Fridays I can stand at the front window of the house and watch kids start pouring into the park just before the 4:00 start time. They come from all over the neighborhood and are usually bursting with energy.

Usually the bigger kids play some sport like soccer, field hockey, or touch rugby and the younger kids will either join in or play some other game with one of the leaders. Usually these sports end up being a form of organized chaos. Most of the boys who come out to play are only interested in the actual rules of the game if they happen to work in their favor. It usually ends up looking like a big game of Calvinball no matter what we're playing (if you don't know what Calvinball is check out this link: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/2990/cb_rules.htm). Sometimes this is humorous and sometimes it's frustrating but the kids keep playing. Maybe the rule breaking doesn't bother them since they all do it.

One thing that's cool about these kids is that they're usually glad to see you. I am the official climbing tree for one of the boys who finds it necessary to crawl up onto my lap if I'm sitting or pull himself up to my shoulders if I'm standing. One of the older boys has started jokingly calling Brooke and I his aunt and uncle. I think he thinks this is funny since we are Pakeha (white people) and he is Maori and when we stand next to him it's quite obvious we're not related.

While playing with these kids is a lot of fun it's also a bit saddening. For many of these kids the hour of sport on Friday afternoon is one of the only times of positive interaction with an adult during their week. This neighborhood is filled with broken homes, overstressed mothers, and non-existent fathers. Neglect and abuse are daily realities for lots of children in South Auckland. Statistically speaking most of these boys will drop out of school (if they haven't already) and end up on drugs or in jail. Many of the girls will be unwed mothers by the time they are seventeen. From a worldly perspective it seems like many of the kids around here don't have any hope.

While Brooke and I don't feel called or equipped to work with children as an actual job we do see a huge need in this area. While we don't know whether we wil end up working with Redeemer long-term we are glad they have a presence in this neighborhood. It is our prayer that the God of all hope would work in the lives of these kids and rescue them from a bleak future. We pray that he would use his people to show the children an enduring love that points them back to himself.