They will not be Forgotten

Peter Shirley, a violinist in the gospel music industry, spoke of a young boy who wanted to jump off the Story Bridge. This is his reason why:

Mummy and Daddy are splitting up.
Mummy wants my brother, Daddy wants my sister.
But no one wants me.

Whether this was the reality of his situation does not matter, for this is his perception which was driving him to give up on life at just eight years

Peter also said that when interviewing a number of 8 and 9 year olds, the one thing they wanted in life was that Mummy and Daddy would stay together. It wasn’t to be popular, to be rich, to be sporty or successful, it was to have a whole family.

What breaks my heart is so vulnerable and helpless kids are. All they want is to be loved, accepted, valued and appreciated. But every day, hundreds of kids are born into broken families, abusive families, war-torn areas, slums and places of disease and extreme poverty. They have no say over where to be born or when to be born. They just have to deal with wherever they’re put. Kids have to deal with whatever decisions their parents made or will make.

As life in this world spins more and more out of control, with increased stress on financial, environmental, political and medical issues, we’re seeing more and more kids being pushed aside. We’re seeing them being forced to grow up, to care for the family, to be the parent, when they still need a parent so badly themselves.

Kids are being forgotten. They just need love.

A couple of months ago, I went as a leader on a camp. One of the days, I was sitting with this little boy called Jimmy. Throughout the week he had been a handful to his leader, not wanting to join in on activities, and showing little respect to the people around him. But when I sat with him, he told me how his Dad’s girlfriend had just moved in. He told me how she would be there when he got back, but he didn’t like her very much. He told me how he had been going back and forth between his Mum and Dad’s house. The longer I sat with Jimmy, the more vulnerable he appeared. All he craved was attention and acceptance.

There was another boy on the camp, Kyle, who was very similar. He was also the tough guy on camp, but underneath, he had some great passions and a real desire to be respected.

Kids just aren’t getting that these days. I’m very limited in that I’ve only had experience with kids in developed countries, but think of the kids born into slums in Asia, Africa, America … anywhere. They’re born into this cycle of poverty but they still crave the love we all need. IT'S SO UNFAIR!

What can we do to help them? How can we help kids? Maybe it’s by getting involved with kids or by supporting organisations. I don’t know, but pray. Pray for the kids of this day. Pray for ways to help them.

Whatever you do ... please do not forget God’s children.