Patrick is our house boy. He is 17 years old. He doesn't speak english other than a few random words. He loves hip-hop music. He lives in the kitchen in our back yard and sleeps on a mattress on the floor. He has a great smile and he is in charge of our house.
Patrick gets up at 6 and starts cleaning the whole house. He makes sure we have all our meals. He washes our shoes and clothes every couple days. He brings in our shoes from outside every night and puts them back outside every morning. Patrick is the keeper of the gate that surrounds our house. Patrick is at our beck and call at any moment of the day. He is working from sun up to sun down.
All of us girls love Patrick. When we knock on the gate to get back into our house. We sing his name and cheer when he shows up. He is then greeted with high-fives all around. We sing and dance to hip-hop songs with him. Patrick has been a constant in our lives the past month. His smile has been an encouragement to all of us this month after a long day.
Patrick washed all of our tennis shoes one day. My tennis shoes were gross, they were covered in mud and dust. I was thinking about throwing them away because they were so dirty. Patrick made them look brand new! When I was expressing how thankful I was that they were clean. Patrick began to dance and cheer. He was so happy to serve us.
This past week we were going to another church to preach at, when we were all getting ready to leave through the gate and Patrick decided to come with us. This is a big deal for multiple reasons. One, Patrick has never been to church and he was muslim. Second, house boys are not usually allowed to go out. During the church service Patrick danced his heart out and even went up on stage in front of everyone. When we returned home, Patrick told our translator that he wanted to be saved.
Patrick fell to his knees and we circled him and started singing songs of praise! Patrick confessed his sins he was struggling with. He asked us to pray that those struggles would be taken away. Erin told her testimony as encouragement. We all got on our knees and laid hands on him and began praying for him and he accepted the Lord! All of us couldn't stop smiling or tearing up. It was such a beautiful moment. This moment was one to never forget! This young man's life is now changed! I'm only now starting to understand how the Angels rejoice and feel when someone accepts their true calling. What we feel is only a fraction of what is going on up in heaven. What a party!
