Before I launched for the world race, there were two countries I was especially excited to visit: Thailand and India. I didn’t have any real reason to look forward to them, but having now been to both places, I know why God placed an excitement on my heart. God gave me my dream ministry in Thailand, and I got to meet amazing people. In India God introduced me to a baby boy that I will never forget and who will forever hold a special place in my heart.
For the month of March my team served at Sarah’s Covenant Home in Hyderabad, India. Sarah’s Covenant Home takes in abandoned and orphaned special needs children and gives them a home, medical care, and love. In their four Hyderabad locations, they house over 170 children ranging from new borns to sixteen year olds with all types of special needs. I was extremely excited when I found out my team would be serving at SCH. Sarah’s Covenant Home is a well known ministry for the race and is a favorite for many racers. I began praying for ‘the one’ child I would hopefully make a connection with at SCH. I wanted to have a special connection and heart for at least one of the children during our time there.
In the mornings we spent one-on-one time with a child. The first day we toured the different houses, saw the children, and were asked to pray about who we would want to spend our mornings with. No one had stood out to me in a special way and I told them the next morning that I would prefer to be with a baby, not having a preference on which one I got assigned to. They told me I would be with Caden, an eight month old boy. When I went to the baby nursery to meet him I remembered him from our tour the previous day. A volunteer was holding him and he was covered in bandages – on both arms, his legs and his stomach. His face and chest were covered with blisters and open wounds. I was completely intimidated that I was assigned to take care of him. Before the race I do not recall ever holding a baby or if I ever liked it. Now I was put in charge of one of the most fragile babies that seemed a huge challenge and put me far out of my comfort zone.
Caden has a disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa, also called the Butterfly Disease where his skin blisters at the slightest touch. If I wasn’t already intimidated to hold a child, hearing that made me even more cautious. The first couple of days I would have the nurse pick him up out of his bed and have them hand him to me because I was hesitant to pick him up and and hurt him. However, I quickly fell in love with him and knew after the third day that it was going to be an extremely hard good-bye. Caden has been at SCH since July. His parents did not know how to treat him or have the money to properly care for him, and instead dropped him off shortly after birth. Caden has to have his full body of bandages changed everyday, and the new blisters are popped with a needle when they change his dressings. Watching them change him was one of the hardest things I have seen on the race. Holding his little finger and trying to distract him as he was crying out in pain when they would change him was heart breaking to say the least. Seeing an innocent baby completely covered in blisters is like nothing I have ever seen before. I prayed for him throughout the month. I prayed that God would make him better and take away his pain – even though there is no cure for the disease. By the last week of the month Caden had stopped crying during his changings and even fell asleep during them one day! It was an amazing answer to my prayers, to see him free from the excruciating pain I had witnessed at the beginning of the month.
Caden is one of the happiest babies. He hardly cries, only when he wants his bottle, and loves being held and shown attention. He has the cutest smile and laugh and is just like a normal baby. He touched my heart in a way I did not know was possible. I didn’t know I could to grow to love a little baby that I only spent time with for a month. I had the opportunity to take him to the hospital with the other nurses from SCH and held him the entire way in the car, while in the waiting room, and when we saw the doctor. I was so happy that he didn’t cry in the large waiting area or at all in the hospital! Several doctors and people asked what was wrong with him and when we were leaving an employee asked me if he had received all the treatment that he needed, not knowing his disease is incurable. Taking him out in public was eye opening to how I first saw him – wondering what was wrong with him and seeing people staring (not to mention the random white lady holding him). I no longer see the bandages or the disease, I just see Caden, the adorable little baby.
I love him so much and would cry at the slightest thought of the impending good-bye. The last day was the hardest good-bye I have had on the race. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do on the race period. It was harder then I thought it was going to be – I began crying just walking up the stairs before I even saw him, and then cried for most of the day after we left (and again, I am crying as I write this now). Saying goodbye to someone you love so much and not knowing if you will ever see them again, until in heaven, is so painfully hard. Nothing can prepare you for that. Constantly moving and saying goodbye to people that you grow to love every month never gets easier. I had to completely trust God with Caden, and kept praying over and over for him as we left. I prayed that God would take care of him and give him a good life, no matter how long it is. Caden has touched my heart in a special way that I have never experienced before. Being able to love a complete stranger who can’t even talk can only be explained by God using His love through me. I did not consider myself a kid person, much less a baby person before this month. God definitely used me in unexpected ways. There is incomparable joy when we forgot ourselves in pursuit of loving someone else. I learned so much about God’s love for me and for His children through meeting and loving Caden.
SCH has asked us to not post any pictures of the children at this time. If you would like to see pictures of Caden email me at [email protected] and I would be happy to send you some pictures!
If you feel moved to support Caden or any of the children at SCH in any way, please email [email protected] for general donations and info!
