His name is Sucille. He has been living on the streets for a few years now, well, since his orphanage closed down due to lack of funding. He is a polite and very articulate young man for his 14 years. Although he lives on the streets with so many other children, he seemed to be very different from many of the others who share his fate. Sucille keeps very much to himself, out of trouble, and far from the drugs, Roxy, stealing, and the other activities that often accompany life on the streets. One thing his does enjoy, and gladly joins in on is the game of soccer. So on a rare sunny day in July, near Phewa Lake in Pokhara, when he saw 5 Americans with a soccer ball he jumped at the chance to get in on the action. Little did he know that his decision to do so would alter his life for eternity. It was on that field that God began to transform lives. All of us were about to walk into a divine transformation that would leave us all changed. Although we were all impacted by what God was doing, it was Annan’s sacrificial love and compassion that God used to impact Sucille, myself, and the rest of the team. Annan embraced Sucille and began to empty himself into this young man. He soon found out that Sucille had found Christ several years before and not only has a desire to get off the streets, but to also learn and grow in his relationship with Jesus.
As the team learned more about true discipleship and how Jesus did life with the 12, Annan and the team found themselves living this life out with Sucille. Each morning Sucille would wake up from wherever he had laid his head that night, and would make his way to our hotel to join us for an early breakfast. Happy to get some eggs and toast, he would listen intently to our morning devotional and linger long into our individual time alone with Jesus. He would read as much as he could from our English Bibles, and listen to Annan and the team explain to him about the love of Christ. As he grew in his understanding of the love of Christ, we grew in our understanding of authentic spirituality as our life merged with the life of this young orphan boy.
Jimmy gave him his ball cap and Annan gave him warm clothes to protect him from the cold damp nights we were having, and as his physical needs were being met, his spiritual needs were also being poured into.
As our time in Pokhara came to an end and as we began to bring closure to some of our relationships there, Annan’s heart began to break at the thought of leaving Sucille without even the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and the unconditional love of Christ. So as we prayed, i began to look into some options that might work out to get him off the streets and into a loving Christ centered environment. After talking with a few friends who ran homes for kids, i finally found one that would take older kids!! The result is, that for the price of what many spend on mocha’s at Starbucks, we will be able to provide Sucille with a home, a bed, clothes, food, education, discipleship, and the unconditional love of a family; a family he has been without for most of his life. So Annan has made the choice to continue to pour into his life by supporting him physically as well as spiritually in their ongoing relationship.
So like Paul & Timothy or Jesus and Peter, Annan will continue to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ in the life of a street kid from Pokhara, and through this relationship others will know and see that the love of Jesus is alive. His transforming power is for everyone who believes. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
—another snapshot in the life of a Peak Team ‘07
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