Getting to know all of these boys has been quite rewarding. We have all been blessed to make several connections this past month.Thinking about home the other day i thought to myself, man im going to miss these boys. I will miss their night devotions and prayer, their childlike faith, their smiles, their silly games like throw-throw and stack-stack. I will miss tutoring them in school and teaching them English. Most of all I will miss loving them.
Gupta is the sweet little 5 year old boy from a village in Bihar. Most of the boys here come from the villages where they grow up in very dysfunctional homes, drinking, stealing and pretty much just being thrown out to fend for themselves at a very young age. Gupta is in the LKG class and I have been tutoring him for his exams and helping him with his homework. He has definitely stolen my heart, coming to sit in my lap everyday, his big smile, his laugh, our tickle fights, and his random outbreaks of weird noises and hand motions like he is straight up out of a video game. He would definitely dominate Mario and Luigi. He climbs all over me like a monkey. I am his human jungle gym along with most of our other team members.
Rajiv is 7 I believe. He says he doesnt know. Many boys don’t know their birthdays here. Rajiv is one of the more sensitive boys, he cries a good bit and gets made fun of by the other boys. He has only been here for about 6 months. He is from a close by city. His dad is MIA and his mother sews for a living and cant provide and take care of him at the same time. He has a couple rotten teeth, he is constantly pulling his shorts up because they are too big and wears the same shirt almost everyday. My heart breaks for this little boy. The first couple of weeks he never talked and looked into the distance alot and i didnt think he understood English at all. He was crying last week and I tried again to ask him questions to see if he would respond. Why are you sad? Is school hard? Was someone mean to you? No response. Do you miss your mom? And he nodded and started crying even more. Taylor and I prayed for him and wrote down some bible verses about fear and how the lord takes care of us when we are sad. He has definitely opened up alot more and is willing to talk more about his family, school, and life in general. Everyday he seems a little more happy, a little more comfortable. Praise the Lord for answered prayers.
Santosh is from the village like Gupta. He has several marks all over his body and one distinct one right under his left eye. He told Raelyn recently that his mother used to burn him when he was little because she did not want him.
These are just a few stories of the boys. Even though some may be sad away from home, praise God that they are in a safe place now where they are hearing the Gospel proclaimed every night. Being at this home and hearing the name of Jesus and learning more about our Savior is better than any and all other circumstances where the boys come from. I am so glad the Lord called me here to be filled with compassion for these boys and try to make Christs love tangible to them despite their pasts. Its a constant prayer to love fully and love until it hurts.
