i went online tonite and went onto bebo.. the sight were all of my kids overseas are. the sight where they all write and leave comments and have their own pages and pictures and its the first time ive been on there since ive been back and my heart just became so burdened and happy and heavy and thankful.. all the emotions that i had every single day while i was in dublin and drimnagh came flooding back all at once so strongly and intensely as i looked at what they were up to and read their letters to me.. what i dealt with and saw everyday there was not for the faint of heart and or easily offended.. below are just a few poems from my very sweet kids i have copied to share with you just on a very small level where my kids are at.. and believe me, what ive pasted below is nothing in compared to the norm. for the Christian american world, its shocking to read what comes out of these kids' mouths, yet.. this is reality for an entire community of hundreds of thousands of people. this is a tiny, and just a tiny taste of reality where i was 24/7.
"drimnagh life: sitting down smoking blow. garda come gotta go. in jail. out on bail. left saint pats wit out a trail. lifes a trip. then we die. fuck all gards and lets get high. (and dat is how we du it in drimnagh)"
"IRA! By bomb or by gun thy death wil b done. IRA all the way fuck d queen an d UDA cuz we r d boys frm South of the border so fuck d brits an the orange order!!!"
"*BORN CATHOLIC**STAY CATHOLIC**LIVE CATHOLIC**DIE CATHOLIC**Irish n Fukin Proud "
"Drimnagh! Yup Yup Run Amuck. Drimnagh Duznt Give A Fuck. Call Us Scumbags. Call us Sad. If Ye's Arnt From Drimnagh Ye's Are Mad. We Might Be Tall We Might Be Small. If Ye Dont Like Us Fuck Ye's All"
beautiful kids. broken kids. who are still in the same state i left them and still in need of so much prayer.. ive been writing to them as much as i can tonite, and there are literally hundreds of kids and teenagers that i am connected intimately with over there, and its an intense nite. for the first time of being back, God is breaking and burdening my heart yet again for that place and for those people. the call the pray and the call to ask others to pray is still so important and the stories i wrote about for a year are still happening everyday. lives are shattered by drugs and alcohol and violence and gangs and these beautiful little souls are suffering by seeing people die of overdoses and accidents and diseases and its breaking my heart.. those poems were written by a couple of my lads, all 15-16 years old.. that is their life. they see nothing, and do nothing but drugs and fighting and dying. it is the reality that is still so close to my heart and is happening every second of everyday.. and we can not be blind. we need to pray.
pray for my kids.. they will always be my kids. pray for drimnagh.. pray for God to break thru by the power of His Holy Spirit and do something so amazing for His name and His glory sake.. pray for hayley, sharon, aaron, andrew, eddie, darrel, carl, windy, aaron, danielle, claire, ciaran, curtis, emma, josh, morgan, shauna, kellie, lyndise, ross, paul, tony, amy, aoefie, kaytlyn, thomas, tasha, gary, mark, abraham, moey, graham, for all the families in drimnagh, for shannon, for salvation, for just.. so many kids.. so much brokenness. so much darkness. so much hurt and pain and destruction and death and disease. pray for my guys at the homeless shelter, pray for carrie and antoinette..
my heart is breaking again, and all the while praising.. God is good.. God is still working there, here, everywhere.. my heart is so encouraged and so thankful to have been blessed by being able to be a part of these lives, but i know that just because i am here doesnt mean life has stopped for them.. they are still living in darkness, still struggling and addictions and behaviours that only God can and will change.. but please pray for them..
the last 2 months home have been wonderful and necessary and i know that this is where i am meant to be, and yet i am still a part of these lives, still a part of that place, it will always hold a piece of my heart and that is with purpose.. pray for drimnagh, pray for my students, pray for the staff at dcm, pray for those kids.. those beautiful souls that just need Jesus..
k.. im gonna go keep writing them.. lots more kids to connect with.. God bless and thank you.
