This month, we are pioneering the country of Cote d’Ivoire, meaning that no other World Race teams have come here before. So we have the opportunity to set the stage and start the relationships with the ministries that we are partnered with for future Racers that might come here. I’m not sure that our ministry host knew what to expect when he agreed to have 13 Americans come work alongside him for a month. Because of that, we don’t have a set schedule for ministry day to day but that’s okay because it is really teaching me to be patient, flexible, and have no expectations.
So Tuesday night, we went to bed not knowing what the next day would bring. We could be picked up bright and early to go wherever they take us or we could sit around all day waiting for a ride that never comes. I woke up to the news that our friends from the church would be at our house to pick us up at 11am to take us to a nearby hospital.
We headed into the pediatric wing. As we walked down the long, narrow hallway to the playroom, I got a glimpse of children in their rooms, just lying there helpless. In the playroom, we met two little boys who just lit the place up. We sat there, talking and laughing with them. “These boys are so cute and happy. They don’t seem like they should be stuck in a hospital by any means” I thought. Then that’s when the nurse told us. The floor we were visiting with was the cancer floor… A few minutes later, a little girl no older than 6 came into the playroom. The way our interpreter was talking to her before I could see her, I thought she had to be just like the other two boys. When she came into view, her left eye had a tumor the size of a golf ball over it. “This is not fair. Life is supposed to be fun and good for these little kids,” I thought. My teammate Cat, our interpreter Emmanuel, and I then went out to visit the children in their rooms. We talked and prayed with a little boy who seemed to think that everything was normal. After leaving that room, I pulled Cat aside and told her how much this hurt my heart. Little did I know what God had in store for me next.
“Break my heart for what breaks yours.”
We walked down the hall to meet up with the rest of our group. As we were passing a door, this father came and called us into his son’s room. We walked into the room and as I saw him for the first time, I gasped under my breath. His name was Richard. Richard was a seven-year-old boy who looked like one of those children you see on advertisements for starvation. He was all skin and bones. His ribs were popping out. His face and stomach were bloated. His eyes were heavy and tired. He had a bandage wrapped around his knee. Underneath was what appeared to be a urine bag. And then he tried to drink some of the water he had in front of him. When he tried to do so, his head was not able to lift more than two inches from his pillow. This was extremely hard to watch as he should be able to run and play like any other kid his age. Emmanuel told us that he was fishing on the dock one day and fell, injuring his knee and back very bad. But he kept this injury to himself and didn’t tell his parents for the longest time, resulting in things getting severely worse. I thought to myself that I wasn’t sure how much longer Richard was going to live.
We asked him questions about Jesus and his faith. Richard said that he knows Jesus and knows that because of him, he is a blessed child. I got the chance to pray over Richard and his family. Immediately after the prayer, I was overcome with so much emotion that I just started crying right then and there. I felt awful because I had just met him and yet he and his family have to deal with this every single day. My heart was truly breaking for Richard, the same way the Lord’s heart was breaking for Richard.
Emmanuel asked the mother if she had a bible on her and she pulled it out and gave it to us. We prayed over the bible and that God would show us where to turn to so that when we opened it, we would be able to give the first verse to Richard. We opened the bible and the first verse was 1 Corinthians 15:12. “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” *Tears flow even more*
I have been asking the Lord to use this year to break my heart for the things that breaks his. Within the first week of being in Cote d’Ivoire, He showed up big time and started breaking my heart in a way I never imagined. Whatever God’s plan for Richard, I pray that He will use this little boy to show the power of The Word and prayer. Whatever God has planned for my life, I know that I will use this story to show the power of The Word and prayer.
