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INDIA:
A group of missionaries who refused to leave .... |
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TURKEY People lined the streets to applaud as a group of "peace walkers" ....
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GUATEMALAAn unexpected reunion on a medical missionary ship ...
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SWEDEN Candidates for a fast-response crisis relief team ....
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UNITED STATES: A Christian relief group leader met with national security advisors ....
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| - | BRAZILFast-moving roller hockey is helping former street kids.... | | - | WORLD An attempted murder and a mock funeral highlight .... |
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6 B R A Z I L: ROLLER HOCKEY THRILLS HELP REHABILITATE STREET KIDSFAST-MOVING ROLLER hockey is helping former street kids learn the skills needed to make new lives for themselves away from crime and violence.
Teenagers from a rehabilitation home in Belo Horizonte - the country's fourth largest city - are finding out about teamwork and dealing with conflict as they put on their in-line skates and compete for goals.
One team from the House of Rescue, run by Youth With A Mission, recently took third place in a citywide competition - finding a sense of achievement for the first time in their lives.
"Until recently they believed they were losers. Some never went to school, and of those that did most never made it past second grade," said Jeannette Lukasse, who directs the ministry with her husband, Johan.
"On the streets they were constantly called names, and reminded time after time that they weren't worth anything,"
But finishing among the top-placed teams "made them realized they can win in life, too", she added. "They were so happy to receive their medals and see their photographs in the newspaper."
The two House of Rescue teams were started a year ago, training three times a week at a nearby school or on the rooftop playground at the center, where abandoned and homeless youth who want to try to make a break from the streets taken in, counseled and taught vocational skills.
The sport gives Johan Lukasse - a keen ice skater in his native Holland - the chance to talk about topics like fair play, perseverance, and dealing with anger.
"At first it appealed to them because they could dress up 'macho' in the equipment, which makes them look twice as big as they are," says Jeannette. "But it's a very fast sport with lots of emotion, which also appeals to them, and belonging to a group - and one that wins - is very meaningful."
Equipped with homemade equipment and sponsorship from a local store, the teenagers take to the tarmac as "the mighty YWAM" - "not because they think they are mighty, but because they know a mighty God", says Jeannette.
With team membership limited to youngsters resident at the center, the Lukasses believe that the in-line hockey craze - a recent trend in a predominantly soccer-mad country - could help lure others from the streets, where YWAM workers visit regularly with food and first aid.
Started in 1984, YWAM's street kid ministry in Belo Horizonte now includes a drop-in center, halfway homes for boys and girls, and a home for youngsters with AIDS. Across the country, several million children and teenagers fend for themselves on the streets where they are at risk from drugs, disease, violence and prostitution.
- Photo available on request.
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