Arman and Ronnie
My wife and I were blessed to return again to UN Avenue after a day's worth of errand in Makati. Finding Arman, the man we met days ago, in good spirits as he was pleasantly surprised, when upon waking up from sleep he saw me and immediately extended his hand out to me for a greeting.
I did not have time to speak with him the last time, but today we were willing to hear his story for as long as it takes, his eyes were beaming as he narrated his life, and I can feel how elated he was to have someone listen and talk to about personal things he had kept for himself for so long. He showed me his back tattoo, signifying he was an ex-convict who spent a good part of his life in prison for homicide. It came about when a fellow street dweller aggravated him at a feeding session. So to exact revenge he searched him out, found out where he was sleeping, went there, waited, and stabbed him three times before escaping. He said he'd do it again if the situation calls for it. I felt saddened. The rule of the game in this world is survive. Sophisticated people are subtle, and the simple ones, brutish. Yet it is one and the same, the cancer of sin: that of selfishness.
His friend Ronnie joined us in our chat, and we found out that he too was in prison for a crime. I tried not to ask any details but instead let them tell me what they felt comfortable with. He had worked before as a security guard but was singled out and eventually ejected because of his background. We asked what he needed to get back into an agency for work, and he narrated the process. He needed to have police clearance, but to have that he needed to have identification, which he does not have. So we offered to apply for a birth certificate online for him right then and there. Birth certificates cost around P350, or less than $4 and will only take two days to process before being delivered to you. I opted to receive it at my address, afterwich I will then bring it to him. We hope this humble gesture would be enough to set him up on his feet again.
I did not have time to speak with him the last time, but today we were willing to hear his story for as long as it takes, his eyes were beaming as he narrated his life, and I can feel how elated he was to have someone listen and talk to about personal things he had kept for himself for so long. He showed me his back tattoo, signifying he was an ex-convict who spent a good part of his life in prison for homicide. It came about when a fellow street dweller aggravated him at a feeding session. So to exact revenge he searched him out, found out where he was sleeping, went there, waited, and stabbed him three times before escaping. He said he'd do it again if the situation calls for it. I felt saddened. The rule of the game in this world is survive. Sophisticated people are subtle, and the simple ones, brutish. Yet it is one and the same, the cancer of sin: that of selfishness.
His friend Ronnie joined us in our chat, and we found out that he too was in prison for a crime. I tried not to ask any details but instead let them tell me what they felt comfortable with. He had worked before as a security guard but was singled out and eventually ejected because of his background. We asked what he needed to get back into an agency for work, and he narrated the process. He needed to have police clearance, but to have that he needed to have identification, which he does not have. So we offered to apply for a birth certificate online for him right then and there. Birth certificates cost around P350, or less than $4 and will only take two days to process before being delivered to you. I opted to receive it at my address, afterwich I will then bring it to him. We hope this humble gesture would be enough to set him up on his feet again.
Living in the streets give these people their freedom, but the only difficult part is having to deal with the likes of social services who occasionally lock them up. Other than that, the need to physically fight for food given by strangers, often engaging in fist fights with other street people just to get a meager share. But almost all of them have bibles, and most have sat under preaching all these years, made mandatory by religious organizations in exchange for free food. We asked the Lord where to begin, and proceeded to painfully share the gospel with them, starting from the law, to their irresolvable sins, and unto God's remedy in the cross of Christ. They listened for a good half hour before thanking us, and asking that we close the night in prayer. I was more than happy to do so.
We plan to go back close to midnight on a set day, because that's when more street people come here to sleep. May the Lord allow us to lift us his name among the hurting.
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