We arrived to a village in a small bus and there he was…
climbing on all fours, like a dog, trying aimlessly and desperately to get to the noise he heard coming down the road. He wasn’t about to miss out on whatever was coming his way.
I immediately recognized that the small child, later to find out that he was 19, had cerebral palsy. He had that innocent smile on his face, from ear to ear.
Like a magnet, I was drawn to him. I told my teammate Alex and as soon as we got off of the bus we v-lined towards him.
He lit up as soon as we got there and sat next to him on the grass. He laughed and smiled.
Alex grabbed him without hesitation and rolled him over his chest, as if they were best friends for life.
I saw the horrible soiling of his pants and knew instantly he wasn’t being taken care of.
My immediate reaction was “let’s give this guy a bath.” We scurried around trying to find water, soap and some other clothes.
We found a Styrofoam cooler, an empty bottle and some small packets of shampoo. We stripped him down, started lathering him up and scrubbing him, head to toe, while he laughed and giggled.
My initial thoughts were he wasn’t going to be a big fan of random strangers giving him an ice cold bath, but to be honest I don’t think he could have been MORE relieved. He stood contently with Alex’s help for quite a while until we got him clean and got some medicine on him for all of his rashes and sores.
A friend, David, said let’s pray…Sarah? Of course. I started to pray and then within a few seconds I lost all composure.
The waterfall of tears stemmed from a combination of emotions…humility and sadness were the primary ones.
Humility in the sense that God loves me enough to use me to find this kid and help him in the middle of nowhere Peru and sadness because how in the hell can a mother and father abandon a child in this state? How can a good God leave a child in this condition nearly by himself?
My heart broke at the situation but at the same time I had hope that God heard our cries. And I had even more hope when I looked up from praying and saw a massive smile on Mashare’s face. It was like Jesus was looking right back at me and telling me that He was within him.
It was a miracle that he was even alive. He was a 19 year old man who looked like he was an 8 year old boy, if that. He was non-ambulatory and non-verbal. The locals said his father abandoned him at a young age and his mother was nowhere to be found. It was reported she didn’t take very good care of him.
I knew he wasn’t alone. I knew Jesus was his Comforter.
Alex gave him his shirt off his back and held him in his arms for as long as possible. He desperately just wanted some attention, to be held and to be loved.
It was one of the hardest goodbye’s on the race. It just doesn’t seem right to leave someone in that condition but I knew in my heart that he had all he ever needed…Jesus had him wrapped up in His arms and chose us to be His physical hands and feet that day.
Thank you Jesus for taking care of Mashare and thank you for giving us the ability to meet him. His face will forever be etched in my heart. Continue to be his Protector, Provider and Comforter. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Are you on your hands and knees crawling into the Father’s arms? If not, I suggest trying it. It is a beautiful thing.
There is hope in the world. I promise.
