They come from homes locked in cycles of violence,
crime and poverty. But through a new outreach of the
El Batán Church the street children of Quito,
Ecuador have hope for a very different future.
The street lamps dim as the city of
Quito fades to sleep. Most of the city’s residents
nestle comfortably in their beds, but not 15 year
old Luis. There is no bed for him. He lives alone on
the streets with no family or home.
The temperature drops. He sleeps
under piles of newspaper and cardboard in a vain
attempt to stay warm.
Luis is not alone. His plight is
mirrored by thousands of children in Quito, Ecuador
that live each day on the streets. They eke out a
hand-to-mouth existence by begging, selling gum and
candy on street corners or stealing from others.
They represent one of the most
serious social concerns in Ecuador – a crisis that
perpetuates cycles of poverty, broken families,
violence and crime.
|
At the El Batán Church’s Life Option Center,
children receive food, clothing, hygiene
training, academic help and computer
education. The aim of the program is to help
the children escape the cycle of poverty and
abuse in which they live. |
Challenging this deadly cycle is a
new ministry launched by the El Batán Church – the
first Encounter with God Church in Quito. Under the
banner “Opción de Vida” or “Life Option,” Batán is
partnering with the city of Quito and the Quito
Rotary Club to develop a center aimed at helping
Quito’s poorest children get off of the streets.
Located in the middle of Quito’s
largest city park, Life Option is a place where
destitute children can find food, clean clothes,
educational activities and the warm embrace of
caring workers. For some, it may be the only food
they eat that day. For nearly all of them, it is the
only place where they can go to find love and care.
A Vicious Cycle
As difficult as life on the street
can be, it is the only option for many. Most come
from families so poor that they cannot provide for
their children. Frequently the families come from
rural regions of Ecuador in search of better
opportunities in the city.
Upon arriving they find that
circumstances in the city are no better and often
worse than before. Unemployed parents send their
children to the streets to beg and ply their efforts
at selling small goods on street corners.
“Parents of these kids see them as
income,” says Pastor Marcello Samaniego, El Batán’s
director of Life Option. “If they have 4 children,
each one on a street corner, then each one is
supposed to provide $10 per day. If they allow the
children to come to our center, the father would
lose $40 per day.”
In such circumstances, the children
must forego the education and social development
that would enable them to break free from vicious
cycles of poverty, addiction, crime and violence.
|
A worker at Life Option prepares food for
the children. For many it may be the only
meal they eat that day. |
Searching for Safety
Surprisingly, 80% of Quito’s street
children have homes and families. But poverty and
abuse at home often make the streets seem a safer
and more preferable alternative. The majority of
children that come to the Life Option center suffer
from various traumas caused by violence and
abandonment.
Like many, Luis’ family came to
Quito from a rural part of the country when he was
only 7 years old. He fled from home to live on the
streets after his own father tried to kill him.
Like other street kids, Luis sold
flowers and cardboard or performed juggling tricks
on street corners to earn money.
When this is not enough most resort
to stealing to meet their daily needs.
Ana, a teenage unwed mother, began
stealing food in the marketplace when she was only 7
years old. Former street kid Miguel Angel estimates
that during his time on the streets he committed 3
to 4 robberies every day.
Trapped Liberty
Despite the risks, many find the
liberation from their families intoxicating.
“I liked that freedom,” says Miguel
Angel. “On the streets you are the one who sets the
rules for yourself.”
Ana agrees. She left home at nine
years of age because she thought she was in love
with Miguel. Her affections did not last, but by
that time she was enamored with the freedom of the
streets.
But freedom comes at a price and
fleeing violence at home often means finding it on
the streets. Many join gangs for protection. Yet
even friends can be deadly. The father of Ana’s
child would beat her when high on drugs. Miguel lost
partial use of his finger in a fight with a friend
over a gumball.
|
Many of the children that visit Life Option
suffer from various traumas caused by abuse
or abandoment. |
An Oasis in the City
With so little that is positive in
their lives, the Life Option center is an oasis in
the middle of Quito. The outreach originally began
as a weekly soup kitchen held at the Batán Church.
Children would come for the “sopa caliente” (warm
soup) and volunteers would spend time talking to
them and sharing Christ’s love.
Tamara de Vaquero recalls the
original ministry: “We knew in the beginning that
their only interest was the soup. They’d pretend
that they heard what we told them. However, our
fervent and faithful prayers did affect them. Look
at them. They are the best example of God’s infinite
love.”
In time, some of the kids placed
their trust in Christ and left the streets. Even so,
Batán began to realize the limitations of this
ministry. They began to dream of a way to provide
more substantial care. More importantly, they
realized that it would take a new kind of outreach
to help more children recognize that it was possible
for them to change their lives.
With this in mind, leaders from
Batán met with the mayor of Quito in 2005 to request
that the city provide space for a new outreach
center. The city agreed and gave them two small
buildings in the center of Quito’s Carolina Park.
The Quito Rotary Club outfitted a
computer lab with computers. The Batán Church
provided the rest, including furnishings, kitchen
appliances, a clothes washer and dryer, as well as
the staff and volunteers.
“One of the things that you notice
when you visit Life Option is how nice the facility
is,” remarks Ricardo Diaz, CMI’s Latin America
Regional Director. “This is intentional. They want
these kids who have nothing to have a place that is
cleaner and more beautiful than what they have ever
known.”
There are presently about 70
children connected to the Life Option program. Of
these, 30-40 are regular attendees.
As the kids arrive they receive
clean clothes to wear. While they enjoy the Life
Option activities, volunteers wash their clothes for
them. The center teaches them about good hygiene.
Separate showers and bathroom facilities for boys
and girls provide a place for them to learn about
personal cleanliness.
“Most of these kids hardly ever
bathe,” says Diaz. “At best they might wash their
hands and faces in a city fountain.”
“Many don’t even know what a shower
is,” adds Samaniego.
|
Daniel (right) is one of 3 former street
kids now serving in El Batán’s Life Option
Ministry. |
Varied Activities, Christian Purpose
The center is open afternoons from
Tuesday to Friday. Children enjoy a different
featured activity each day from learning how to read
and write to learning to use computers. Fun
activities like soccer lessons and movies also
comprise each week.
“Whatever the activity we always
have a biblical application for their lives,” says
Samaniego.
It is this spiritual aspect that
leads to true change. As the children learn of
Jesus, they learn of someone who loves and cares for
them and who can help them break the vicious cycle
that traps so many. As they come to know Him, they
find hope for their lives and begin to believe that
there is more than life on the streets.
So far the outreach has helped 9
children leave the streets for good. Among these are
refugee children from Colombia’s guerilla war that
Life Option cared for until they found permanent
refuge in Europe. Another child that lost both of
his parents is now in a home for former street kids.
Today, three of the original “sopa
caliente” kids work for Life Option. Their lives are
testimonies to the other children that there is hope
beyond the streets through Jesus Christ.
Though the number rescued thus far
is modest, it is sizeable in impact. Life Option
discovered that by rescuing these 9 children they
prevented an estimated 6,000 robberies per year in
Quito.
City officials are very pleased by
the results, but they want to do more. They plan to
remodel two more buildings at the same site and have
asked El Batán to open a 40 bed overnight home for
the children. Renovations on the new facilities are
expected to begin later this year.
For CMI Executive Director Jim
Murray, Life Option is a powerful demonstration of
the impact of CMI’s efforts to raise up churches
like El Batán.
“What excites us at CMI,” he says,
“is that this is a ministry initiated, led, funded
and carried on entirely from local resources of the
church. This is possible because El Batán and the
other Encounter churches in Quito are carrying the
gospel into the previously unreached higher social
levels. In doing so, they are reaching those with
the leadership and resources to make dynamic
ministries like Life Option possible.”
Though Life Option is a small
outreach compared to the massive citywide problem
that impacts thousands of Ecuadorian children, it is
a start.
“This is only the beginning,” says
Diaz. “The dream is to have places like this
throughout the city of Quito.”
One day that may well be true.
Already several lives have been forever changed by
the love of Jesus revealed through the El Batán
Church and the Life Option ministry.
Young Miguel Angel now works helping
street children and dreams of becoming a missionary.
Little Ana is full of life and for
the first time is hopeful for her daughter’s future.
And 15-year old Luis is learning to
write. He now dreams of becoming an engineer. More
importantly, he has found a home.
“Finally,” he says, “I have a
family.”
_______________________________________________________________
Craig Murray serves as the
Director of Communications for CMI. He and his wife
Laura live in Dallas, Texas.
EQ Summer 2006
Issue Main Page
The following articles published in
the Spanish language newspaper “Últimas Noticias”
and reproduced in Quito’s leading newspaper –“El
Comercio Ecuador” provided some of the source
material and quotations used in this article.
1. “Now
the street children have a ‘Life Option.’” Monday,
February 6, 2006. Últimas Noticias, Ciudad, p. 22.
[Spanish]
2. “From hell
on the streets to the peace of a home.” Tuesday,
February 21, 2006. Últimas Noticias, Ciudad, p. 14.
[Spanish]
3. “They lived
on the streets, now they have a home”. Wednesday,
February 22, 2006. Últimas Noticias, Actualidad, p.
2. [Spanish]
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