Lucky

I will never forget the pain that I felt when I heard that Lucky (who I have blogged about previously) had gotten into a strangers car and had not been seen for over a week. 4 weeks later I had given up hope. Who was going to look for a street child? The chances of us finding Lucky were getting slimmer and slimmer. I was broken. Every night I dreamt of men taking Lucky. My dreams were vivid and real. The nightmares never stopped during those weeks. Maybe it was a good thing because they woke me up and forced me to pray. To pray against human traffickers, to pray for Lucky and kids like him and to pray that God would do some miracles.


A day never went by that I didn’t think about my boy Lucky. My days were filled with ministry time and awesome moments with the kids in Addington. But after I had dropped those kids off I couldn’t help but drive through the roads where Lucky used to hang out, or sleep. Each night, imagining he would run up to my car like he used to. He never did.


2 nights before world cup was going to end I got the best phone call of my life.
I will never forget the joy that I felt when I heard Lucky’s voice on the other end of the line. He was back in Durban. My boy was safe. Very thin and looking very tired from his experience working in phoenix. (Lucky was picked up and made to work all day packing oranges among other things with very little or no food or pay) My child was basically used as slave labour… But he was safe.

The next day we spend the day chatting about what he had been through. I cried with him as he shared stories from his time in Phoenix and stories from while he was on the street. I laughed with him as he told me about all the funny things him and his friends did to keep themselves busy. I dreamed with him as we spoke about him going back home and getting into school. I rejoiced with him as he got his first set of brand new clothes. Lucky in new clothes, a new smile and a new hope. Lucky was no longer a hopeless street child, He was a boy with a bright future, full of hopes and dreams.


And now as I write this Lucky is no longer living on the streets but is living with his family on a farm far away from the city. Far away from the life he once led. The phrase “bitter sweet” is the perfect explanation of my feelings right now. I am overjoyed because Lucky is home with family. Although my heart breaks at the thought that the day I dropped Lucky off in his new clothes and shoes might be the last time I see Lucky ever again. But I have to trust that God, who began a good work in him will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

A hardened street child, softened by the love of Christ, returns home to His family as a man of God. Praise the Lord for what He has done in Lucky’s life.