Pastor Ephrem Cirego and his wife, Deborah, are Home Church pastors in Bukavu, DR Congo, who are reaching out to teenagers living on the streets. Over 100 have been found so far, sleeping in back alleys, old junky cars, and abandoned buildings. They sometimes wrap their legs in plastic bags for warmth and protection from bugs. Ephrem and Deborah had compassion on them and gathered together some money from their church to start giving them occasional meals and lots of love.

Then they had an idea. There was no place to buy crushed gravel in the city, so they started a business with the older teens.

Clear goggles, mauls and hammers, and a truckload of big rocks were donated. The older teens take turns hammering the big rocks into crushed gravel that they can sell for a profit. There is now enough money to buy some food each day to help these street teens. Plus, they are being taught valuable life lessons like saving money to buy necessities and to eventually find a better place to sleep.

Pastor Ephrem and our Home of Hope team came up with a plan for the younger teens to sell charcoal door to door like we are doing with many microloan co-ops with the women. The young teens are not working for anyone but themselves. Ten of them were given an initial pail of charcoal, and they sold the charcoal door-to-door. Most of the community needs charcoal every day to burn for cooking food. These young teens are starting to make $3 to $5 USD a day for themselves. They take some of the profit they make and buy food.

This program makes it possible to give them a hand up, not a handout. It is such great training and instruction in valuable life skills. They are working with their hands and earning money everyday, rather than turning to crime and violence. The project is growing, and we are now looking for better, safer places for them to sleep. Following that, we want to find ways to get these teens into school.

Erick is a teen whose life has been influenced by pastors Ephrem and Deborah. Erick’s parents were killed by some neighbors over a disagreement. He stayed with his grandmother until she also died.

He was left to wander the streets, begging for food and looking for somewhere to sleep. He is now part of the rescue mission. Someone heard his story and bought him some new clothes and shoes. He will be going to school when the next semester starts.

A woman in the Bukavu Home Church has invited him to stay in her house because he can make money selling charcoal to pay for his own food. She was given a microloan to help make some money for herself as well.

We are always looking for ways to help other children like Erick, serving communities by finding new ways to solve issues. Our HOH action plan is to identify needs and then develop the most effective, self-sustaining strategies possible to serve people in need.