Dalfo Stole My Heart

        This man is one of the reasons why I left part of my heart in
the Philippines.  He has a smile
that melts your heart and can make any bad day better.  Dalfo exudes a childlike joy and faith
that is contagious.  The truth is,
Dalfo, in many ways is like a child. 
He had an accident as a baby that left Him with some mental development
issues.  He currently lives in the
house of some of his extended family in Cabanatuan where we stayed for a week. 

He would wait for us to come home and open the gate or
eagerly help us carry our belongings inside.  Dalfo would come to me with the biggest smile talking in
Tagalog a million miles a minute. 
In those first few days, some of my favorite moments were having
conversations with him, as both of us pretended like we knew what the other was
saying.  We would just talk and
talk in a language that the other person didn’t understand.  We
spoke with our smiles, with our laughter, and with our hearts.  He would come to church and sing all
the words, always copying the hand motions of those next to him.  Dalfo taught me a lot about love.  He fell asleep outside one evening
because we were out late for night outreach in the park.  He wanted to make sure we made it home
safe and were let in the gate.  Little
by little we developed some understanding of each other.  I found out Dalfo liked listing to me
play the guitar.  He wanted to take
a picture with us to keep.  Most of
all, I realized Dalfo was lonely and just wanted a friend. 

           One night I asked Marita if she would translate for me so I
could have a real conversation with my new precious friend.  After a number of minutes, Dalfo became
serious and started to tear up.  He
told me he cried last night because he didn’t want us to leave.  He said that he will miss us very much when we go.  He said he will miss our smiles.  My heart broke, because the truth was
that I will miss his smile as well. 
I will miss trying to act out our conversations.  I will miss him greeting me everyday.  I will miss his joy that comes from God
in the depths of his soul.

       What came next shocked us all.  He began to talk about how he prays for us.  How
he asks God to keep us safe.  How
he asks God to bring us back to Cabanatuan after we leaves.  You see no one really knew how much
Dalfo believed in God, how much he soaked up from going to church.  No one had ever heard him talk of his
faith before.  Then he looked at me
and said in English, a language Dalfo doesn’t speak He said, “I LOVE YOU.”  I sat stunned, with tears welling up in
my eyes.  All I could do was fight
the tears and say,  “I loved you
too.”

 

So this is my challenge to you… Who do you know that is
overlooked?  I dare you to look for the greatness in them.  Then just sit back, learn, soak it in
and let God surprise you.