Above: Cristino lived in a couple of different institutions before joining the Micah Project in 2000. This photo was taken in 1996.
Above: I ran into Marvin on the streets of Tegucigalpa the day before leaving Honduras after my six-month internship in 1993.
Above: Marvin and Tino graduated from Missouri Baptist University on April 28, 2009.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’ll never forget the day in November 1993 when I left Honduras after completing a six-month internship through Wheaton College. The day before my departure, I was walking through Tegucigalpa one last time and I ran into a boy on the streets named Marvin. He was sitting on the street corner, selling little packets of peanuts. I took a picture of that moment (see above) but there wasn’t need; that encounter was burned into my heart for years afterward.
I had met Marvin months earlier in a group home where I was doing my practicum with street kids. He was an incredible kid: smart, funny and a true leader (ringleader?) among the other boys in the home. But after getting to know Marvin for a few months, his old patterns took over—patterns molded during years of violence and abuse on and off the streets—and he hopped the wall one night an headed back to the streets. So there he was, on the day before I was to head back to Wheaton College, back on the streets. Stagnating…with no hopes or dreams greater than selling a few little packages of peanuts in order to buy beans and tortillas that night. This little boy’s dirt-stained face would haunt me for the next four years. It seemed that his life was destined to be brutal, hopeless and short.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2009, that same Marvin, along with Cristino Hernandez, made the long walk down the aisle of the St. Charles Family Arena to graduate from Missouri Baptist University. No, they weren’t outside the arena, begging for food from those came for the graduation. They were among the black-robed graduates that filed onstage to receive their diplomas.
Marvin’s story did not end on that street corner in Tegucigalpa. His heavenly Father moved in many hearts so that we could start the Micah Project in 2000. And though their families could never raise them, it was through the Micah Project that they met their true family: the church; a large and loving family that would pick them up, brush them off, and set them on their feet again. Thanks to that family, they would begin to walk forward, step-by-step, with increasing confidence. And, while they sometimes stumbled during their years in the Micah House, they learned to pick themselves up and keep moving forward, rather than fleeing back to the horrible yet familiar life on the streets. As they became increasingly sure of our love for them, they became increasingly sure of His love for them. And they began to sprout wings.
On Tuesday night, as they marched down the aisle in order to receive their diplomas, they did not do it as little, scared street kids unsure of their place in society. Rather, they did it as men of God, confident in His love and in His good purposes for their lives. I wish each and every one of you could have been there, for this is your victory as well. You did not give up on them, even in those times when their own faith faltered. You are the church--their family--and your consistent prayers and support for them gave them the confidence to keep looking forward.
That night was your victory as well. A street kid graduating from college? Surely there was a rockin' celebration in heaven over that.
Keep the faith because this is just the beginning!
Su hermano en Cristo,
Michael Miller
I had met Marvin months earlier in a group home where I was doing my practicum with street kids. He was an incredible kid: smart, funny and a true leader (ringleader?) among the other boys in the home. But after getting to know Marvin for a few months, his old patterns took over—patterns molded during years of violence and abuse on and off the streets—and he hopped the wall one night an headed back to the streets. So there he was, on the day before I was to head back to Wheaton College, back on the streets. Stagnating…with no hopes or dreams greater than selling a few little packages of peanuts in order to buy beans and tortillas that night. This little boy’s dirt-stained face would haunt me for the next four years. It seemed that his life was destined to be brutal, hopeless and short.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2009, that same Marvin, along with Cristino Hernandez, made the long walk down the aisle of the St. Charles Family Arena to graduate from Missouri Baptist University. No, they weren’t outside the arena, begging for food from those came for the graduation. They were among the black-robed graduates that filed onstage to receive their diplomas.
Marvin’s story did not end on that street corner in Tegucigalpa. His heavenly Father moved in many hearts so that we could start the Micah Project in 2000. And though their families could never raise them, it was through the Micah Project that they met their true family: the church; a large and loving family that would pick them up, brush them off, and set them on their feet again. Thanks to that family, they would begin to walk forward, step-by-step, with increasing confidence. And, while they sometimes stumbled during their years in the Micah House, they learned to pick themselves up and keep moving forward, rather than fleeing back to the horrible yet familiar life on the streets. As they became increasingly sure of our love for them, they became increasingly sure of His love for them. And they began to sprout wings.
On Tuesday night, as they marched down the aisle in order to receive their diplomas, they did not do it as little, scared street kids unsure of their place in society. Rather, they did it as men of God, confident in His love and in His good purposes for their lives. I wish each and every one of you could have been there, for this is your victory as well. You did not give up on them, even in those times when their own faith faltered. You are the church--their family--and your consistent prayers and support for them gave them the confidence to keep looking forward.
That night was your victory as well. A street kid graduating from college? Surely there was a rockin' celebration in heaven over that.
Keep the faith because this is just the beginning!
Su hermano en Cristo,
Michael Miller
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1 comment:
It must be great to see fruits of yoru work. I am only beginning my journey here. Persevere, friend. More rewards are coming.
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