In Chichi boys as young as 5 years old prowl the streets carrying what look like little black toolboxes. Their hands are filthy and most of their ragged clothes are a close match. These boys are the shoeshine boys looking for anyone with leather shoes to shine for as low as two quetzales (about 26 U.S. cents) and as high as they can get foreigners to pay.
Another common site in Chichi are the carriers of heavy things. These men may be as old as well into their 80s, but they are men with strong backs and hard lives hired to carry heavy burdens for shop owners and individuals.
For these boys and men, ASELSI puts on a special feeding outreach in the local central park. Usually this involves sending out a small team to pass out tickets and then returning to the town park with 30 to 60 hamburgers, chips, a drink and some cookies.
Before the sack lunches are passed out, we have some fun songs and then someone shares a testimony of how God changed their life. After a brief presentation of the Gospel we’ll pray for anyone who wants to accept Christ or just needs prayer.
Then it’s lunch time and all the individuals with tickets line up and receive their lunches. The most exciting part of these outreaches is seeing the guys respond to Christ. The hardest part is having to tell those without tickets that we don’t have any more meals to give away.
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