In Haiti God moments have a way of finding you. Here is one such story, by Katie Rowland, that happened near our Base with our staff:
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
