A Look Into the Lives of the 12 Men from Jerusalem Rubbish Pit

Today we went to the garbage dump where 12 men live. The name of the rubbish pit is Jerusalem. These men are lost without hope. We wanted them to share with us their stories and to show us where they live and how they live. So today we went back to their “home” after bible study.

I had to do everything I could to not break down and cry. These men need love. Need food. Need a home. Need Jesus. They all sleep in a tent at night made from sheets of ripped plastic that they found in garbage. They cover it with clothes and shoes and other items to weigh it down so it doesn’t blow away in storms at night. The bottom of the tent is held to the ground with rocks.

To eat the dig through the garbage and find little remains of what people throw away and they recook it to kill the bugs and worms that have been crawling on it. Sometimes they will have money to buy a flour that makes a paste. We let them take old paint cans from our office and they sold them to buy food. They have a cooking pot that has a hole in the bottom that they use. Now they use the paint can to cook in. They use wood from the dump to start a fire to cook over. The photo shows the amount of food they found today for all twelve of them to eat.

There is small stream below the dump where they are able to bathe and wash their clothes. The go to the bathroom off a small ledge behind their tent. There is no actual bathroom they just go outside away from where they sleep.

They have no blankets for night, no mattresses, no pillows. They sleep packed into a small tent that is maybe 5 feet by 7 feet. I don’t even know how the 12 of them fit in there. It looks impossible unless they literally stack one on top of another.

They all ended up on the streets for different reasons but live life in common. They are a family in the dump. The Jerusalem 12. The drink and do drugs at night so that they are able to sleep. The openly admitted that. They said their situation is so hopeless and they are so miserable and especially at night, cold and wet they do the drugs so they can forget about life and sleep. It breaks my heart.

Today one of they guys talking with us, bent down and we saw a wound on his leg. He had gotten a small cut in the dump as he was moving around. Because he didn’t have the money to go to the doctor, he left it alone. The bugs have been eating his flesh and now their is large whole in the flesh of his leg. I almost got sick when looking at it. We were able to take him to the doctor and get medicine for his leg. He will be treated at the hospital for the next 5 days and then we will continue to treat him for some time until the flesh closes up and starts to grow back.

We are praying about how best to come along side these boys to get them out of Jerusalem and into homes. We have decided that every Friday we are going to feed the men from our office. We are going to allow them to shower and wash any clothes they have. We are also going to give them haircuts. We bought games last week for them to play at our office, so after bathing and eating they will be able to spend each Friday afternoon just being carefree and enjoy a few hours just being joy filled and worry free.

We ask you to pray for these boys. Pray that they come to God. Pray their hope is restored in humanity as we reach out and love them with God’s love. Pray for our wisdom on how to proceed helping them. Pray that their hearts are softened to the word of God. Pray that they have the strength to quit drinking and doing drugs as they learn about God who loves them and has good plans for them.

Thank you for your prayers. Thank you to those of you who support our family and Woven2Gether Ministry so we can continue to reach out to those who need to know of Gods love. If you would like to partner with us you can click the give button anywhere on this page that you see it. It will take you to link to give. If you would like to send a check or money order please send a message and we will direct you on how you may give through that means. God is truly on the move and He is saving lives and we are so grateful to be His hands and feet to bring hope to people who are hurting. God Bless