"My soldier, my soldier." It's the phrase I kept repeating in order to remember how to pronounce his name correctly.
Maso. My buddy. The handsome six-year old who captivated my heart the first moment I saw him.
I dropped off my belongings into our bedroom, laying out my sleeping pad and organizing my things for life in Swazi. I decided to investigate El Shaddai's property in order to get some space after spending hours on a bus, border-crossing and debriefing with the entire squad. I honestly felt a tad bit overwhelmed ..
In an effort to hang out with me, myself and I, I exited the once-upon-a-time-nursery. And that's when I saw him. Maso quietly sat on the massive boulder outside our lodging, peering at me with curiosity and eagerness in his eyes.
"Want to come with me?" I asked holding out my hand. A smile that spoke, "I was only waiting for you to ask" spread across his dark precious face. He placed his tiny hand into mine. Only then did I notice the distinct color difference between us. But none of that mattered as Maso lead me around with joy.
He scribbled his name in capital letters into dirt a few feet from my home when I asked him to spell it out.
"My solider, my soldier." What began as a memorization tool became a prophetic declaration of the Father's heart for this son of His. He entrusted me with Maso as my buddy and I loved him .. And still do.
We tackled math equations with rocks and wrote out the problems into the Swazi soil with sticks. We counted our steps as we walked hand-in-hand. I read out classic story tales and he gazed in wonder at the pictures on the pages, telling me what the graphics depicted before I read the words aloud.
My favorite time though: Maso jumping into my lap during church, clapping and singing along to the worship then dozing off on my shoulder as the big kids listened to the preaching.
Maso isn't orphaned to me. He's my boy. Papa poured love into me to lavish him with. He's my soldier, enlisted in the army of God to change Swazi and the rest of the world with Jesus' radical love.
And that's exactly what Maso will do ..
