Even if I came here just to love one person, it would have
been worth it.
I finally caught a glimpse of what Jesus means when He says
“even if you were the only person on earth, I would still die to save you.”
This is Ronnie. He is 11 years old. His mother is a
prostitute and he has 3 brothers (and maybe another sister?) of the same
parents, and a bunch of other brothers and sisters of a different dad. He has
been living at the orphanage since 2008.
I was privileged to hear his story when he shared it with me
one afternoon.
3 years ago, his mother bought a land right beside the
church and built a mud hut there. She had brought Ronnie and his brothers with
her. Their dad doesn’t care about them and lives away in town. She would often
feed them alcohol so that they would not ask for food. When she went off to
work, she locked the kids at home by themselves. It was the kids at the
orphanage (which is right beside the church) who first discovered them,
starving. They would then slip some of their own food to them. Finally Pastor
discovered that and told Ronnie and his brothers to come and eat at the
orphanage too. He told Ronnie’s mom that they could come and be at the
orphanage while she goes to work. At that time, they still didn’t know she was
a prostitute. Often she would come home so late when everyone was already
asleep. Picking up her kids at that hour became a big hassle.
Ronnie, somehow, by God’s grace, never wanted to go home.
When his mom sent him to buy something, he would go and buy it, and then hide,
calling one of his brothers or sister to come. He would then pass the thing to
them, and then run back to the orphanage. Eventually Ronnie and his siblings
moved into the orphanage because their mom was incapable of taking care of
them. Earlier this year, his mom took several of his siblings away to town but
Ronnie refused to leave. To this day we don’t know if they are going to school
or not.
2 of Ronnie’s older brothers are currently staying in the
house, Isaac and Jean Boustead. They have joined gangs and are involved in
drugs and stealing. What’s sad is that their house is literally right beside
the church, like 50 steps from the entrance of the church, and they are not
interested in church at all.
When Ronnie told me this about 2 weeks ago, my heart really
went out for him and his brothers. I really wanted to go and visit his brothers
and I told Ronnie to continue to pray for them everyday and go talk to them.
Pastor Frieda told me that it’s really hard to catch when they are at home.
Well, I got a chance that Sunday, and just briefly introduced myself and
invited them to church, but they said they had to go somewhere else. And that
was the only time. Every day when we go to the church, I would look out over
and see their door closed.
I also started praying a lot for Ronnie, asking God to give
me a word for Ronnie everday, a verse or a word of encouragement. Ronnie is a
quiet boy and he doesn’t say much whenever I give him the notes but just a
quiet word of “Yes.” But just this past Friday, he told me that he went to talk
to Isaac one day but Isaac said that he would never become a Christian. I was
so encouraged to hear that Ronnie went to talk to them.
Ronnie is really special. He CHOSE to come out from his home
which was a pit of darkness. He CHOSE not to live with his brothers. He doesn’t
have a Bible, but he would borrow it from someone and read it everyday. Pastor
told me that one time he fainted and had to get IV drips at the hospital. As
soon as he was discharged, he went to church, not back home to sleep. He is SERIOUS about
God’s Word. If you look at him, he has the making of a mighty man of
God. He is only 11 years old.
Needless to say, it broke my heart to say goodbye as I gave
him a Bible and journal that I had bought for him. But I thank God for the
privilege to have been a part of his life, even if only for a short time. It
has been such a privilege. They say the more you pour out, the harder it is to
leave.
It is so true.
My prayers will continue to go with you Ronnie!
Oh Uganda how I’m going to miss you!
