I met them on a Tuesday

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Today I got to meet the rescued boys. Three months ago, all of them were engaged in hazardous forced labor on Lake Volta.  Today they are in a shelter where they are fed, clothed, and cared for by professional and caring staff.  They go to school and have regular meetings with a counselor.  They play.  And dance.  And sing.  

And finally, they are safe.

As the legal team loaded in the van this morning to drive to the shelter, I felt as if I'd been waiting forever for this moment.  I've spent the last few weeks pouring over transcripts of the boys' post-rescue interviews, needs assessments, and summary reports that our aftercare specialists put together.  For every document I read, I would find their picture and match a face to the story. 

I've been working with our case management system, pulling out legally relevant facts from these documents and matching them with suspected perpetrators and elements of relevant crimes.  I learned a lot about each of the boys-- their family history, how they ended up at the lake, their opinions of the people in their lives and their feelings about being off the lake.  I also read about the trauma and abuse each of them had suffered.  The missing piece: I hadn't actually met any of them.  Until today.

 

Even with my legal understanding of human trafficking and the 'worst forms of child labor,' I wasn't completely prepared for what I read.  The boys had spoken of the fear they had of storms on the lake, diving into the water to untangle nets, and witnessing others drown.

They had recounted waking up at 1 o'clock in the morning to set nets-- six days a week.  They spoke of being beaten by their masters and suffering from sickness, severe injuries, and hunger.  Some should be in kindergarten, others in high school.  All had been doing this for at least a year.  Some had no memory of their previous life or biological family, while others remembered their past and their trafficking vividly. 

At the end of one interview that I read, one little boy expressed how excited he was to be off the lake because now he could go to school and realize his dreams.  Like many of the boys, he had never been in school.  Today, I got to meet him.  

As I sat in the office of the shelter's director, I turned my head to see a boy looking at me through the open door.  He stood at a distance with a big toothy smile across his face.  I recognized him right away.  I gave him a quick wave.  He waved back, and for a moment I thought he might have mistaken me for someone he knew.  But as I left the office a few minutes later to join the boys in the courtyard, he came right up to me with a kind of eager shyness and another big smile. I introduced myself and extended my hand.  He told me his name, and all I could think was, "Yes, I know exactly who you are!"  I found out he likes soccer and that we share the same favorite local food. 

I got to observe his English class after the break, and I watched as he sat quietly and attentively with his notebook open in front of him.  At one point, the teacher wrote a letter on the whiteboard and asked "What letter is this?"  He raised his hand and gave the correct answer, turned around and looked at me-- beaming.  I gave him the biggest, proudest smile in return.

Wow.  As I walked out of his classroom several minutes later, uninvited tears welled up in my eyes.  Go get those dreams, dear one.  Go get 'em.  I looked out the window that overlooks the grounds and prayed for all the boys.  These boys are walking miracles to me, and I felt beyond privileged to be with them today. 

"Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear."  Isaiah 59:1

IJM's first rescue operation on Lake Volta took place March 20 and 21, 2015.  You can find the official story by clicking here.

The story of these boys is not yet complete.  There is much left to do.  We are praying that God would guide our team as we continue the work to protect, restore, and re-integrate each boy.  I wish I could show you their pictures and tell you their names!  They just have the most unbelievable smiles.  If you are a praying person, please remember them (and their dreams) in your prayers.

Speaking of prayer...sometimes it's hard to really believe that prayer matters.  Does God actually hear and move when we pray?  Blaise Pascal, the French Philosopher, once said, "God instituted prayer in order to lend His creatures the dignity of causality."  What? 

This spring, I went to an IJM conference called the Global Prayer Gathering.  As my cousin can attest to, I showed up in D.C. in a bad mood and basically not wanting to attend.  I felt pressure to spend the weekend studying.  But I had already paid.  Were we really going to pray for the whole weekend?  Didn't God already know the issues, the problems, and what we wanted?  I made a deal with myself that I was only going to stay for a couple hours, and if it was lame I would go find a coffee shop and get back to my law books and research paper. (Seriously, major 'tude.) 

Ironically, the first speaker happened to be a lawyer (and the CEO of IJM), and he laid out an argument for prayer. (See the video below or click here).  What?! Was he really making a case that prayer matters? Yup. Okay, convince me.  Is it really worth buying into the belief that prayer makes a difference, and that God grants us the dignity of causality?  For some further thoughts from C.S. Lewis, click here.

My time in Ghana has shown me first-hand that God works miracles when His children ask.  Everyday the staff here prays together, and more than once I have left our staff meeting in a state of "shock and awe."  The impossible is made possible.  God does what we are powerless to affect, powerless to do. 

And I have noticed something interesting.  My colleagues (most of them Ghanaian), while amazed as well, are not as surprised.  I have noticed that they know God to be in the business of answering prayers.  Witnessing the hand of God at work is part of their existence and even their expectation as they work and pray for the cause of justice.  We have faced great difficulties even in the short time I have been here, and I am here to say that God hears and is moved when His kids pray.  With God all things are possible.  Hearing my colleagues pray and witnessing God act has been one of the best parts of this experience.    

grateful.

alayna.