Since we moved here, I’ve seen eight-year-olds propositioning kindergarteners on the playground. Jason had to break up a racial fight on our street, started by Christians. I’ve counselled junior highers who think they have to lose their virginity before they reach the age of thirteen, because everyone is telling them so. We’ve fed kids whose parents spent their food budget on meth. I’ve had preteens ask me if God gets mad at them for wanting to die.
This is the norm for our town. You hear people raging at each other in the alleys, day and night. Kids wander the streets at all hours, and their parents neither know nor care where they are or what they’re doing.
But it wasn’t always like this. Our neighbors tell us that only three years ago, it was safe to let your kids walk to the park. There were a few hard characters in town, but everyone knew who they were, and made sure their kids stayed away. Now, the kids themselves are the hard characters, not to mention the adults. Parents are having to pull their daughters from school to avoid sexual advances on the playground.
And there’s nothing to explain the sudden rise in drug use, assaults, and sexual abuse. Economically, things are looking up. Jobs are coming to town; real estate has jumped markedly in value; new businesses are starting.
Yet the town is palpably miserable, more so than ever– most notably the teens and preteens. You can see it in their faces and their interactions. They’re scared and angry and confused. And no one is giving them any reason to hope that there’s something better.
If this were South America, or Africa, or Asia, it would be an obvious case of spiritual opression. But since it’s America, I want to find some secular excuse. There shouldn’t be a dichotomy here. Why is it so hard to see the spiritual forces at work in our own country? Why don’t I turn immediately to prayer and militance, as I would anywhere else?
It’s taken nearly a year, and dozens of horrifying observations and discussions to make me realize that these people are incredibly lost. It’s that simple. And because the problem is simple, the solution is equally simple. Namely, Jesus. Pray for us, people.