• I admit, I seem to have a magnetism for street boys. Something about those little bare feet caked with dried dirt, their soiled clothes, affinity for picking trash, and their forlorn looks calls to my heart.
• Most of my encounters with these little guys leads only to only a few moments shared of kind words and simple gifts, of something to eat, and maybe sandals to wear; but once in a while a relationship is born.
• I met him as I was waiting for a bus. His bare feet, and going-nowhere gait were tell-tale signs that he could use a friend. “Where are you headed?” I asked. “To the hospital to see my mom,” he told me. “Then let me join you,” I said. Now, I really wasn’t sure if he had a mom at all, let alone if we would find her in the hospital, but I thought I’d go along to find out. If she was there, I’d visit with her and offer friendship, if not, I’d teach him about honesty. Along the way he shared that his mom apparently had tumors and that they had become so progressed that she had been hospitalized three months ago. Since then he and his siblings had been kicked out of their home, dropped out of school, and he was staying in the streets. If it was true, I realized, this little guy’s world had turned upside-down in the past few weeks.
• We arrived at the hospital to find that his story was true. The father had left the family long ago. The mother’s condition had grown increasingly worse over the past 2 years leading to her current hospitalization. Relatives were strained simply to care for their own families let alone take in more children. This mother’s biggest concern was that her children were not staying in any one place and they were not in school.
• Over a few hospital visits within the next week, we were able to reach an agreement that if wonderfully caring people in the US were willing to pay for the children’s uniforms, supplies, and school fees, a relative would be responsible to house them and agree to see that they attended school daily. I was able to share with this mother that God indeed loved her and cared about her and her children. She was so thrilled that now her children had been provided a way of education.
• Later that week, all three children were placed in the same school where they now attend and are catching up to their peers.
• I share this story so that you who partner with us know the impact of your gifts and your prayers.
For this woman, you were God’s hands and feet.
You were her miracle.

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