Boy's Performance

Every year Scripture Union Peru has a Christmas party in the office/boys' home in Lima. Each year a different division of SUP is in charge of hosting the party (Remember that SUP also has a schools ministry, a deaf ministry, etc.) So when it was the boys' turn to host the party, everyone arrived to the auditorium surprised to see no colorful decorations, no Christmas food, or any of the other things that define Christmas in our minds. The attendees realized that they had made a huge mistake in letting the kids plan the party.

Once everyone was gathered into the auditorium, the boys began a play that they had written. The story begins with a street boy watching Jesus die on the cross. The boy doesn't understand what's happening, and he's sure that whatever is taking place, it cannot be for his benefit because he is worthless. Eventually the boy falls asleep, and is woken by the resurrected Jesus rolling a boulder away from the tomb. Jesus confronts the street boy explaining that he died for the boy, and the boy accepts Jesus into his life.

The next act shows the boy back on the street, dealing with temptations of his prior life. He struggles and finally calls on God to help him. Jesus returns and helps the boy fight off his demons, which are literally attacking him on stage.

The final act is called Men of Valor, and it shows grown up boys that return to the street to help the young ones that are there. The older boys approach the young boys, only to be shoved away by the young ones and shoved away by the demons who are with them. The small boys are pretending to sniff glue out of plastic bags like they do on the street. The word for sniffing glue on the street can be translated as "erasing myself". It gets them high and helps them fall asleep.

Finally, the men of valor are able to get through to two of the four boys. They hand the boys Bibles and bring them up to center stage. The remaining two boys who were sitting on the floor are taken to the back of the room by the demons, never to be seen again.

At the conclusion of the play, one of the boys comes out and explains that this is what Christmas means to them. For them it is a reminder of how they had nothing, and through accepting Jesus they were able to discover love and make a home at Girasoles. Christmas means being dead to the world and being resurrected to life through the love of God. On that Christmas, the boys taught a valuable lesson to all the SUP folks that came to a party looking for colorful trees and mistletoe.

Since that first presentation, the boys have performed the same play for each work group that comes in from the states or the UK. An important part of the play is that the boys are specifically casted so that they're not "playing a part", but that they're actuallty playing themselves. So everyone (with the exception of the demons) - the main character, the part of Jesus, the men of valor, and the little boys - are all selected for who they are in real life. This is important because it's a very big deal for these kids to come on stage and play a street boy. It's like asking a prostitute or a sexual abuse victim to come on stage and portray that part of their lives that they long ago put behind them. It's not something that's done without an emotional cost.

Since I've been in Peru I've seen the performance about 4 times, and each time there's one part that's tough to watch. Especially now that I've gotten to know Jaime and David well, it's tough to see them play the parts of the two boys the are led to the back of the room at the end of the play.

So what do I ask of you folks that are reading this? Please say a prayer of thanks for the men of valor that God has created here at Girasoles. Also, say a prayer for the boys who leave Girasoles to go back to the streets. Finally, pray for the boys who will never trust enough to come to the boys' home in the first place.