I remember when my friend from the race Colleen would gush over this little boy. The way she talked about him, I thought he was going to be a little angel when I met him. This, however, couldn’t be farther from the truth! Well… let me backtrack, because now I’m making it sound like he’s a complete punk.
Benjie has two sides to him. And both are pretty extreme. On the one hand, you have troublemaker Benjie; a boy who has a lot of authority issues…. out of our 127 students he’s definitely in the top 3 students who are spending lunch time in the principal’s office. He has also been known to disobey at the children’s home on a pretty consistent basis. When I came to visit Manila last October, Benjie told Tyra, a little one year old girl who had just come to the home and didn’t speak english, that I was going to eat her… needless to say, it took Tyra a couple weeks to warm up to me! This is the Benjie that gets a scowl on his face and won’t listen to anyone, simply because he is in a bad mood.
But thankfully, I’ve also seen the sweet side to Benjie. When I first arrived to Manila in April, I told Benjie that the best way to start my day, is to get a hug and a “good morning” as I come into the children’s home. Ever since then, Benjie does exactly that! Whenever he sees me, he comes and gives me a hug and says hello. This is the Benjie who loves to play with visitors and make new friends. This is the Benjie that you will see in the video, who loves to joke and have fun, who has a beautiful smile and a kind heart.
I hope this video gives you a better idea of the sweet Benjie I am talking about. A good boy, who has grown up in a difficult world, who is still trying to figure everything out. Pray for Benjie this week. Pray that he would know he is loved. Pray for his family, wherever they may be. Pray for a family for him. Pray for his time in school, that he would be able to learn to read soon. And pray that God would heal this young boy from the difficult life he has had so far.
