I walk out my door with every intention of heading straight to the children’s home. It’s 9am and I want to get some time in hanging out with the babies. I open up the gate to exit the guesthouse and it turns out there’s a visitor waiting for me. I grab Imon by the hand and lead him inside to my room. I grab the bread and the peanut butter, but before I can begin making him some breakfast, I can’t help but notice how dirty this little 4 year old boy is. Imon is always dirty, he lives, sleeps, and plays in the dirt. But today he’s really dirty. His white shirt is a permanent shade of brown, a shirt I’ve seen on him most days of the week, for usually 3-4 days at a time. I could make him a sandwich and send him on his way, but instead I decided to smell him. “Naligo” I said (shower). I lead him into the bathroom and text Marilyn asking for some extra little boys clothes. Within 10 minutes Imon is smelling and feeling clean, sitting on the floor eating a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a granola bar. With a full belly and a new set of clothes, I sent Imon on his way and headed up to the children’s home.
That same night after eating dinner, I approached the guesthouse gate again en route to the childrens home for devotions. This time I had two visitors waiting for me. Imon and his older brother Manny. Imon grabbed at his shirt, smiling, showing me that he was still wearing it. This time I grabbed two little hands and led them into the YMC guesthouse. “I’m going to be late to devotions,” I told them, “but I don’t mind at all.” I pulled out the bread, peanut butter, and granola bars, and made 2 big sandwiches for the boys. I hugged them goodnight and told them to come back tomorrow, as I headed up to the children’s home.
Manny and Imon. I love these brothers. I’d feed them every meal if I could. But I’m running out of “tomorrow’s” …
