His name might be Davidspa…but we really don’t know.
I first saw him walking down the street from a tarp school. I was following the team back to the house as we passed him: a teenage boy laying in the dirt, filthy from head to toe, skin and bones, seemingly sleeping. I felt the usual tug on my heart of knowing there was little I could do for him…
A moment later, Christianna called out to me. “Katie, this little girl (we were walking with) just told me that boy on the street was dead.”
Dead? what? He looked like he had been sleeping…for a few moments I panicked, wondered if I should turn around, check to see if it was true, search for someone nearby who knew him…but I didn’t. In my turmoil of spirit I kept walking, turning over this thought in my mind…I’d never seen a dead person in the street before…is this normal for Haiti? Is it typical to leave the dead in the streets? How should I know what to do, if anything?…
A few hours later, I was back at the house. Marcio was frantically looking for Geftay, our live-in Haitian we rely on tremendously. “It’s a matter of life and death! I’ve got to find him so this guy who’s practically dead on the street can get saved!” …
Turned out the team had passed back by the boy and he had been awake. In his desperate state they wanted to try to help…but he wouldn’t accept food or water. A crowd began to gather, so the team decided to leave so that we could send some of our translators back to reach out to him…
Before long, AIM’s black truck pulled into our courtyard. In the back was the boy, several of our interpreters, and some AIM staff. Try as they may, they couldn’t get the boy to talk, eat, or drink. Christianna lovingly looked into his eyes, smiling, trying to break through his walls with the love of Christ pouring out of her…
From the balcony, I looked down on the scene. In prayer, I could sense the heavy spiritual darkness enveloping this boy. Hopelessness, fear, and just emptiness exuded from him. Not only was his body half dead, so was his spirit.
Eventually, AIM staff decided to take him to the hospital, and a man from the boy’s tent community came along as well, to prevent any charges of kidnapping (you never know in this sort of place). The doctor said that (naturally) he was severely malnourished and dehydrated, and had extremely low blood sugar. But other than an IV bag, the doctors couldn’t do much, and they released him back into our care.
Several AIM staff believed they’d heard from the Lord to take the boy to the pastor-doctor who runs Son of God orphanage. Late that night, after the hospital, they dropped him off at the door. He tried to wander off down the street, but Mark wrapped him in his arms until he stopped fighting. Then, Geftay told him there was food inside – and for the first time, he reacted to the idea of food. He went inside and was eating a plate of rice when the AIM staff left!
The next day, he spoke to request chicken. But when it was cooked and offered to him, he once again refused to eat.
For now, we don’t know what will happen. We don’t know how long he’ll stay at the orphanage under the pastor’s care. What we do believe is God sent us to intervene and intercede for him. Physically and spiritually, he was more dead than alive. We’re doing what we can, and it’s up to God to break through his walls and redeem this empty life from the pit. Even though we can’t confirm his real name, God knows it.
Believing these verses for the boy whose name might be Davidspa:
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten
by God. Indeed, the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more
than many sparrows. ~Luke 12:6-7
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and
mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm
place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
~Psalm 40:1-3
