A New Perspective

A week ago Wednesday I opened an e-mail from the social worker from Roblealto's External Services Dept (she deals with all the families who came and solicit Roblealto's services). The e-mail explained that we were taking a new boy into the Bible Home, and that his mother was very poor and that she had a new baby that had been born just a few days beforehand. We occasionally take a collection when we come across a dire need, so I made a contribution so they could buy whatever the mom needed most and carried on with life. Last Friday, I had a meeting with Pam in the afternoon and then was heading straight up to the Bible Home after work to help my fellow AWANA leaders with our supercool Mexico display. As Pam and I headed into the meeting, I saw a mom with three small children sitting in our reception area. I ran into the External Services social worker and she told me that the mom sitting there was the mom we'd taken the collection for. They were waiting for someone from the Bible Home to come and take them up there.

Pam and I had a very productive meeting. It was getting close to 4 and we took a brief break. Out of the blue it occurred to me (ie the Holy Spirit nudged me) to ask the social worker if the person from the Bible Home had left yet to come and pick up this mother and her 3 sons. It wouldn't make any sense for someone from the Bible Home to drive all the way to the office and back (an hour trip, 1 way, when the traffic is flowing) if I was heading right up to the Bible Home after work anyway. She called and the person who was coming had left the Bible Home, but only a few minutes before. They decided to take my offer to give the family a ride.

Traffic wasn't flowing smoothly, so it took us a good hour and a half (or more) to arrive. The poor mother doesn't even have the money to buy her sons diapers, so, my car began to smell when we were approximately halfway there. I thought about stopping, especially because I was hungry and I figured they were too, but I also knew the folks up at the Bible Home had been waiting for this family to arrive all afternoon, so I figured the sooner we got there, the better. It was a little nerve-wracking to have 3 children in my car and no car seats (that's the word, I couldn't think of it the other day), but at least they were all buckled. When the oldest undid his, we pulled over until he put it on again. The middle one and the baby went in the same belt with their mom. They all fell asleep at some point, and when they were awake I told them about all the cool things about the Bible Home.

I mentioned that the boy would be living with a substitute family and the poor thing totally didn't understand, he just said, "But I already have a family." Oh man... I'd never thought of that very much before. I read all our entrance reports and write them in English, so I know what kind of situations these kids are coming from. Placing children in a place like the Bible Home is the absolute last resort, so the fact that they are there implies that they are at too much risk at home and they have no other viable options. But as Daddy pointed out, even abused children love their parents. The emotional ties are there, even if horrible damage has been done. I can't imagine myself in the child's shoes or the mother's shoes. How could you not feel like a total failure at life if you have to have your own children separated from you? (Hence the awesomeness of the camp for mothers!) This mom is clearly so poor and right now she has no way to provide for her children. So, we are helping her and we will be working with her (she is illiterate and we suspect she might have some other challenges too), but it's got to be hard for her too. Harder that I would have thought before.

Oh and the other thing is, the kids at the Bible Home typically seem pretty happy. The only time when they seemed mopey and were missing their families was at a translation night we had the night after they came back from being home for 2 weeks in July. The rest of the time they seem quite happy there. (Of course they have their issues and their moments, but I'm speaking in general terms.) But, to actually consider a family being split up is a very saddening thought.

Did I mention yet that no one in this family had anything? It's rainy season and the mom doesn't even have an umbrella. Not like she'd have the hands to carry one. But they didn't even have a bag or suitcase for the boy who was staying at the Bible Home. I found out later his mom brought him his stuff later, but the kid arrived to the cool mountain literally with only the clothes on his back, which wasn't much.

Needless to say, this was a very powerful experience for me. I've seen a lot of poor people, but interacting, conversing, and being to help in such a direct, practical (though small) way was totally new for me and I had a lot of processing to do. I can't even imagine though. Seriously.

Thankfully, we were able to make a special space for the middle son at the Bible Home and he went up there the other day. Please PLEASE pray for this family: for the mother and her baby, for the 2 boys at the Bible Home and for the substitute mothers and the rest of the Roblealto staff that will be working with this family. As we said in AWANA on Sunday, Jesus Christ is the Hope of the world. He is the Hope for this family and thank God Roblealto is able to be an instrument of hope. Have I ever told you what a privilege it is to be a part of this amazing ministry?