Ohhhh the week of goodbyes.
This week was full of “lasts”- the last time going to our internships,
the last time in Granjas, the last time in Estrella, our last Sunday at church-
God has been so abundantly good in the way He planned this week- even though it
has been full of tears, we have had some really sweet times of prayer and
fellowship with friends here.
Tuesday we said goodbye to Sara’s family. We met Sara in November, I believe, after
already
having known her 3 children for at least a month. Junior, Justin, and Kimbo were always running
around in the street, and we never even really knew which house they lived in
until we decided one day that we really should meet these kids’ parents. We chatted with Sara a few times before we
left for Christmas break, and she was pregnant when we met her, so Jenny
especially got really into finding lots of things for the new baby (she
originally told us the baby was due in February). When we came back after Christmas, the family
had moved to another part of the city, but had left their three year old son
Justin behind with a neighbor. This is
quite a foreign concept to most of us, and as well it should be- you just don’t
leave your kid behind when you move. The
neighbor told us that the parents always hit the kids (who are 5, 3, and 2- and
all from different dads), and she didn’t know when the family was coming back
to get him.
About a month ago, I saw Sara again- still pregnant (either
the doctors had been off about 3 months, or she hadn’t ever had a checkup and just
made a guess about when the baby was due).
Every time we see her, she’s been a little bit less stand-offish than
the time before, but has never 
welcomed any talk about God/ accepted our
invitation to cell group. Last week her
son Junior came to cell group to tell us that his little baby brother had been
born, and his mom was in the hospital, so Jenny and I thought we would just try
to see if we could find favor in the eyes of the hospital staff to get in and
visit her (they’ve always told us that’s the only wing we’re not permitted to
enter). But we prayed, and God
answered! It was so cool, because we
didn’t even know her last name, but somehow the Lord granted us that favor and
we got to enter the big room where the 25 plus new mommies all hang out
together for a few days while their families find the money to pay their
hospital bill and get them out. She was
so glad to see us- it was really cool how seeing someone in a situation like
that somehow makes you feel so much closer to them- and I think that’s how she
felt about us. Like we had done
something huge to come visit her, even though it was just the Lord’s creative
provision that allowed us in. We got to
hang out with Sara and her new baby boy for about 45 minutes, and God gave
me the honor of being the first person to ever pray over this little boy for
his life- it was really neat.
We got to see Sara and her husband two more
times after that- we talked to him a little bit about what an
incredible blessing and huge responsibility God gives along with the gift of
children. I don’t know the current
situation in their household regarding their physical actions towards their
kids (other than the fact that they are the dirtiest kids I see in Granjas, so hygiene
is not a priority), and saying bye to their family was absolutely
heart-wrenching. As I held Kimbo for
the
last time (that I know of), I prayed for a layer of protection around her and
her brothers. I wanted so badly to take
them all with me.
Our relationships are changing, but it doesn’t have to mean
they’re changing for the worse, right?
Even as I write that I only halfway believe it. Because I’m thinking, I’m in control, to some
degree, and so as long as I’m here, I can build this relationship more, show this
family more of Christ’s love, and somewhat control their lives. What a me-centered attitude. My God is the Sovereign “I AM”- and He loves
those kids more than I could ever imagine.
As much as I want to think its about me, I claim the fact that it is
about what God is doing here, and the ways in which He honored me with the
privilege of knowing and loving on those kids for the time I did- and that they loved me back! What a gift- and that alone shows that whatever goes on in their house at least has not caused them to completely shut down when people hug them or hold their hand or rub their back. Knowing everything going on in their family life,
He brought them into my path for these few short months. This has been a hard few days as I prepare to leave, but Jenny showed me Psalm 12:5 the other day, a verse she found while she was praying for the kids-
“Because of the oppression of the weak
and the groaning of the needy,
I will now arise,” says the LORD.
“I will protect them from those who
malign them.”
Please pray with me for this family, that God in His mercy would invade their lives by whatever means He desires- but that they would somehow come to love Him and know Him intimately. Pray that they would learn how to love and discipline their children in the way that Christ calls them to. Pray that Junior, Justin, Kimbo and baby Brandon would grow up feeling adored by both their parents and their Heavenly Father. Our God is so faithful, and so just. He will arise!
