Carlitos (14 years old) aka Rubio.
This is the kind of boy that will bring a frog to school & throw it down the back of someone’s shirt. Also the kind of boy who would box, wrap, and give a REAL snake as a gag gift. He is the boy who would come kill the cockroaches, spiders, or snakes and laugh as he pretended to throw them at us. -_- (ALL true stories). He is the boy who teased me for liking strawberry Dino (dinosaur) crackers and then fell in love with them. He is the boy I raced up the stairs and beat because I was pushing him down the entire time. (hahaha, I was cheating). He is the boy who would let me read his journal as well as his poems. He is the boy who wrote poems specifically about me after learning truths about my life. He is the boy who walks around with emotional scars of which he’s never spoken about (the physical scars he gloats about). He’s the boy who decides that what he needs to tell me is ALWAYS more important than what I am doing or who I am talking with, and calls out “Negra” to get my attention. He’s the 14 year old boy who became like a little brother to me this last month.
Jeison (19 years old) – aka Negro
He is the “if I don’t know how to do something yet, I will know how to do it by tomorrow” kind of guy. He is the mechanic, electrician, housekeeper, veterinarian, and gardener. He is the tough arrogant person who boasts about his past mistakes. But He is also the guy we convinced one night to stop chewing tobacco even though he’s been chewing since he was eight years old. He is the only “male figure” Carlitos has had to look up to even though they aren’t blood related. He is the guy who made me feel special by climbing trees to bring me fruits he knew I liked. He is the guy who never gets attached or talks to the missionaries who come here. He is the guy that upon first seeing me walk off the bus thought, “her and I will NOT get along” and later confessed that he had been COMPLETELY wrong. He is the guy that told me he would miss me when I left because he felt like I belonged here, that he had gotten accustomed to seeing me come up the stairs to hang out with them. He is the guy who told me stories that made me laugh so hard I cried. He is the guy who threw a beetle, bee, and a lime covered with a bloody placenta (the aftermath of a goat giving birth to her kid) at me so I could “toughen” up. He is the guy who’s made me feel like this place is home.
These two boys told me stories (true stories) about their lives that overwhelmed me so much I did not think I could handle one more word.
In one occasion, which I remember clearly, Jeison described going to school when he was younger with knives in his shoes & guns he had illegally fabricated himself in his backpack. Unbelievable, right? But true. He just kept repeating that if it was bad then, it was so much worse now. My heart was so heavy; I was so overwhelmed as I considered the lives of the kids in this community.
I remember God provided an escape for me by bringing in a guest they had to tend to.
Feeling so overwhelmed by it all I could do was lay on the roof (my cement roof of course) and just dwelled in the presence of the Lord. I knew I needed His peace. At first I could not even form thoughts so I just laid there and listened. Then He prompted me to pray, so that is exactly what I did. I prayed that these boys would be leaders. That the Lord would raise them up to be pillars of light and hope in this community. That they would be fathers to the fatherless, older brothers to those without guidance, wise counselors to those searching for answers and helpers to those who are needy. This month please join me in this prayer.
I have met so many people, kids who’ve stolen my heart, adults who inspire me, animals that I’ve accepted. But these two, Carlitos and Jeison, stand out. They were the ones I would spend every moment with that was not spent in ministry, in quiet time with Jesus, or asleep. My free time was Carlitos & Jeison time. I’m not one to get attached easily, but somehow, someway these two worked themselves into my heart. And I know when I leave them next week, I will miss them, I will miss them greatly.
