One man’s journey into
the City of God

BY PAM STEVENS | EDITOR When you first meet Ben Smokovich what you see is a good-looking, easy-going 26-year-old guy who reminds you of the kid next door. But, when you sit down and start talking to him you realize that he is a man on a mission with a great love and passion for the children he is serving. He has modesty and humility you don’t expect to see in most young men his age.

Let’s start at the beginning. After the tsunami in December of 2005, Ben felt a strong desire to travel to India and help those in need. While witnessing the devastation and extreme poverty he met a Brazilian couple who told him of a shanty town in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil called “Cicade De Deus” or “City of God”.

They told him that things there are even worse than the conditions he was witnessing in India. Ben did some research and found out that there were hundreds of children living in the slums of this city. He also found out that the government had put many of these children in the street after closing an orphanage that housed over 300 children ages one to 12.
Ben knew that’s where he needed to be so he packed up and traveled to Brazil to help the children in the City of God. He only planned on being there a year working as a researcher.

It took some time to be accepted there, they don’t really let many people in, Ben explained.

Lake Stevens’ Calvary Fellowship helps out
those in need Privacy Policy |Conditions of Use |Technical problems
Copyright ©2008 Lake Stevens Journal, published
by The Lake Stevens Journal., Lake Stevens, Washington

blog comments powered by Disqus