Let the Little Children Come

I have been trying to figure out how exactly I want to summarize the past week: it is very difficult. This last week was both full of great joy and also great sorrow. So. I shall describe the events of the week by putting them into high/low format.

High: Over 200 children received medical examinations. Some of them for the first time! Kids were diagnosed and had a medical file created for them, which will be kept at the local clinic. We were able to share God’s love for them through the tender care and compassion of  medical care.

Low: Many of the children had sicknesses that were beyond basic over-the-counter treatment. So many were afflicted with scabies, ringworm, fractured bones, malnourishment, worms and parasites and one girl even had autism. I knew that many of the kids that were diagnosed were, even though advised to do so strongly by the nurses, not going to go to the clinic for treatment. The clinic costs money, which most Haitians have very little to none of. Not sure if many of these kids will ever be healed of very preventable, easy-to-treat illnesses.

High: I got to spend SO much time with children: holding them tightly, singing to and with them, dancing with them, smiling and laughing with them…. It was heavenly. J Pure joy. Being with children really energizes me and keeps me going in weary, desperate Haiti.

Low: Many of the kids who belonged to the after-school club of New Horizons orphanage were VERY rude, draining and disobedient while we were trying to entertain them by letting them play with Play-doh and coloring books. That, mixed with the many people trying to get in at the orphanage gate but had to be turned away, desperate for free medical care, made for a stressful, disheartening morning.

High: At OLTCH orphanage in Leogane, about 20 children were tested for HIV-AIDS. I prepared myself for the worst based on what I knew about the extremely high amount of cases in Haiti. I watched those quick tests on the floor, hoping and praying that two little lines wouldn’t appear indicating that the results were positive. To my great joy, NONE of the tests came back positive!! Praise God!! J

Low: It was very difficult to watch the children react in fear and pain when poked with the testing needle. Heart-breaking, actually. One little boy that I have grown very close to at OLTCH, named Emmanuel, had a near panic attack during his examination. A boy with fear issues, he screamed in utter terror as the nurses looked in his ears, eyes and took his blood pressure. When the needle went into his foot… oh my. A desperate plea of “MAMA!!!” poured out of his mouth from his very soul, it seemed. I hadn’t cried all week, but when that word came out I couldn’t keep it in any more. See, Emmanuel was abandoned as a baby. He was left on the street to die, basically. His mama abandoned him, which most likely caused many of his fear issues. When he cried, I thought of the many times I had fallen and hurt myself; the first person I cried out for was Mama and I knew she would always be there to comfort me. Emmanuel has never had that. He was crying out for a mama he doesn’t have. And though he is now in the process of adoption (YAY!!) his adoptive mama wasn’t there for that traumatic event in his life. He’s going to need a lot of healing from both Jesus Christ and his adoptive parents. He let me hold him after his stressful doctor’s appointment, for which I was very thankful. J Both he and I needed someone to hold after that experience.

Matthew 18:1-5

 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.