God, Watch over your precious children. Give them nourishment both in body and in spirit. We pray that you have your way with the sick infants and children that we held, fed, and changed today. We place them in your protection and care. We thank you for putting them in our paths. Help us not to forget how these poor, sick, and helpless children impacted our lives. We pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.
When you hold a sick child in your arms, you feel so helpless. Their limp bodies pressing tightly against your skin, sweat dripping down their faces soon to mix with the sweat from your body and carefully mixing together in a pool on your shirt. They hold on tightly to you, nearly squeezing you as though you’re their own mother. They carefully place their head on your shoulder and just lay there so calmly. The heat between your two bodies and the Haitian heat causes more sweat to trickle down your face and you think to yourself, how can they continue to hold so tight, how are they not irritable because of the heat. They continue to lay calm for minutes, even hours. Every now and then you adjust their position on your body and watch as they gently reach to the beaded cross necklace around your neck. Their little fingers tracing the lines of the cross and moving the beads gently around in a circle. It’s a beautiful thing to observe. You cannot help but say a small prayer for the child asking God to provide for their benefit.
As you sit caring for the child throughout the day, you cant help but wonder where the child came from, if he or she will survive, and what kind of home they will go back to. As they chug down a large sippy cup of water, you wonder if that is the only clean water they will get for weeks, months, years, or even a lifetime. As you help feed them a large bowl of rice and beans or oatmeal, these same thoughts race through your head. You become so attached to the child you’ve cared for all day that you just want to take them with you, bring them home, and provide for them. I wish it were that easy.
Today I held a 2 year old boy named Nagale, probably weighing under 30 pounds, with very little hair on his head, dry skin, and a body as limp as a cooked noddle. His big brown eyes immediately drew me in today, and as I picked him up from his crib, he molded to my body as though he were made of puddy. Every breath Nagale took was full of razzels—he had water in his little lungs. My buddy was most likely sick with pneumonia (and a few other things.. ). The whole description above explains the emotions, feelings, and experiences I had while caring for Nagale. It’s an overwhelming experience that drains you emotionally. You feel helpless no matter how much love you give him.
We have all seen sick children and we all see how sick some kids can get, even in America. However, I think it breaks your heart even deeper when you see sick children in a third world country. When you see the conditions they live with on a daily basis, when you see the lack of medical supplies, equipment and professional help, as well as the lack of resources to get care in the Hospital, you feel completely fragmented...
Another experience that broke my heart, shook me up and filled me with Joy was meeting another missionary. My new “zanmi” (friend) was a young Haitian woman. Her mission group were mainly Haitian people that were currently living in the United States. I spoke with the lady for a while and learned a lot about her. She said she had family here in Haiti, but was working in the states. During our conversation she expressed her desire to come back to Haiti to help her people. She told me how much they need the help and how she just loves the children. “It’s hard to know where to even start here” as she expressed her feelings of helplessness for her people, “but I want to start something or be involved.” I was so moved by this Haitian woman. So many times people assume that the own people just flee the country or are not so eager to help those living in complete poverty, however this woman and the rest of our Healing Haiti Haitian staff, school teachers, and orphanage directors are living testimony to the hearts the Haitian people have for their own people. I see God moving through these people. They have touched my life and have remind me that there is so much good in this world, despite the dark, sadness and sin we see on a daily basis.
I thank God for being so alive today through my experiences and the people I have encountered.
SONG DEVOTION FOR TODAY: RESCUE
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