In the weeks before boys come to our Dominican Republic home, Blackbox field director Roger Twitchell talks regularly with social workers there. In one such meeting a few months back, a social worker made a poignant comment.
“Until now,” she told Roger, “we’ve never had a place to send the boys.”
Never had a place, indeed. That seems to be a recurring theme in the boys’ lives. They’ve never had a place to feel safe. Never had a place to play or learn. Never had a place to be treated with respect, or gain proper boundaries and a healthy self image. Never had a place to encounter the God who loves them.
Until now.
Now, they have all that and more. It isn’t always pretty, and it certainly isn’t easy, but now, they have a place.
“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:10)
May the church be a place for everyone–all the children God loves. May the people of God show His love and mercy in every word and action. And may Blackbox be a home for boys who have never had a place.