Remember

It's raining AGAIN, I complained to myself as Keiko and I left the supermarket to head back to the church. Suddenly we heard someone calling to us from the other side of the street, and as we looked we recognized Remember, a Zulu street kid we'd made friends with a few weeks back. He'd made a motion asking for food, but we just shrugged and showed our empty hands. "We should invite him to reading club," I said, but with a tone that suggested I was just thinking outloud. As we walked, I felt a gentle nudge in my spirit that I recognized instantly.
"That's a good idea, Lindsay - why don't you go and ask him to come with you?"
I hesitated. No... he won't want to come.
"How do you know?"
God, he's from the streets - he'll probably wreak havoc and distract the other kids.
"You don't know that."
It's raining. I just want to get home.
"You love street kids."
I'm probably just talking to myself.
Another few seconds passed before I realized how foolish I was being. Whether or not Remember agreed to come with us, and whether or not he turned the place updside down wasn't the issue at hand. The issue at hand was obedience. Finally I gave in and said, "Keiko, let's turn around and ask him if he wants to come to reading club."
We greeted Remember and asked him if he'd like to come to our reading club. "We serve soup and bread as well," I offered, "and sometimes we have cake," Keiko threw in.
"Now?" he asked.
"Yep - you can come with us."
A man standing nearby encouraged him. "Go! They have soup!" So Remember agreed. He walked with us in the heavy rain around the corner and into the church gates. A few of the regular boys were there waiting for us, and together we set up the tables, chairs and books. Tony arrived shortly after that, and I asked him to start reading with Remember. They spent the entire time together, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well Remember behaved. He was quiet and well-mannered. He didn't make any fuss. At one point, Elsie, the church caretaker, came into the hall and exclaimed, "Remember! My child! You came! I don't know how many times I've asked my street children to come, I usually bring the soup and bread to them but I don't have time any more and I've always hoped they'd come and get help - this is wonderful!" I smiled to myself and knew God was smiling with me. Tony spent the majority of his time with Remember teaching him what sounds A, B, C, and D make. It was a task that required a huge amount of patience, but I knew that Tony didn't mind at all. What was surprising was that Remember had to be about sixteen years old and really didn't know a lot about the alphabet. After an hour of reading we served the soup, rolls, and cake, and I gave Remember as much as he wanted. Who knows where his next meal will come from? After he'd finished, he made sure to thank me, said goodbye, and left.
That night as we walked home from having dinner, we saw Remember settling in for the night with some other boys on the street. He gave a big wave and smile when he spotted us, which we returned. "Sleep well," I said. Sleep well, I thought. What a stupid thing to say. How do you sleep well on the street?
But that's another thought for another day...