Dear Davidson

So my dear, sweet Davidson has stolen my heart this summer. I haven't blogged about him until now because I get really emotional thinking about his story and thinking about having to leave here soon. (Warning: If you're a crier, you might want to grab a tissue now.) He became my buddy early on when I relayed a message to him from his favorite missionary, Rocky, who goes to the same church as me at home. I also got to tutor him the first week of school, working on learning his letters...which, by the way, he has learned over the summer. Davidson is new to the orphanage, was here less than a month before I got here. This is his story, as posted on the Child Hope website:

"12 year old Davidson came to us for the first time immediately after the earthquake. The house he and his mother lived in had collapsed and they had nowhere to live so we let them live in the Ben's on the soccer field with the rest of the MDL kids and other displaced families. Later we helped them rent a house for the year. Five months later his mother became seriously ill and passed away. Immediately after the funeral, he walked all the way to the orphanage because he had nowhere else to go. He has been a part of Maison de Lumiere ever since."

I can't even imagine what it would feel like to have my house collapse in an earthquake, then lose my mom from illness in a matter of months. Makes me so sad.

A few weeks ago when I was leading our Community Circle class, the question the kids responded to was, "What blessings has God given you to show that He loves you?" Katrina, one of our little girls, quickly said, "God blessed me with my mom." I cringed thinking about how Davidson felt about hearing that answer. But then he raised his hand and answered in Creole. Mr. Lucner, one of the Haitian teachers, translated and said, "He said he knows God loves him because He blessed Davidson with his mom." It was sweet to see his faith remain in God even though his mom is no longer with him.

This is Davidson's drawing of his mom.

When I saw it, I had to hold back tears. I was looking at all the spots on her body and thought...this is the last image he saw of his mom...sick and her body decomposing. He pointed to the picture and said, "Mama." Then he started sucking on his thumb (which he does pretty often). He is 12 years old, just lost his mama, and is sucking on his thumb to sooth himself. Gosh, this is just too much sometimes. Every time I retell his story, I can't help but break down in tears.

On a lighter note, I've had the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with him this summer. He's been my pal...playing basketball, marbles, and dancing together at the Ben's. A lot of the times when I'm sitting just watching the kids play soccer or dominoes, he'll sit on my lap and just wanna cuddle. I feel like God put me here at this time to give him some motherly-like attention and affection, and it makes me sad that I won't be here for much longer to do that. I know God will still be with him, but I wish I could just take him home with me. Love this kid. Please pray that Davidson would grow in his relationship with the Lord. He has such a sweet disposition about him and I know the Lord has saved him for a unique purpose.