Pippin, My Friend

 This is my buddy, Pippin.

     He is 10 years old and his favorite food is chocolate. He likes hot wheel cars and is easy going. From the first day I arrived we gravitated toward each other. He would often grab my hand or if there was no more room left, put his arm around my waist or grab my arm. The first time he asked to hold my water bottle I was a little nervous but handed it over. It wasn't long before I lost track of it. I went looking for it and saw Pippin in the distance still holding onto it. He brought it back to me and I wondered if he had been drinking out of it. The next day he asked to hold it again to which I handed it over. One of the boys sitting next him started playing with the lid and Pippin gently pushed his hand away and told him no. I realized he was guarding my bottle for me. He soon upgraded to holding my ipad, which he was very proud to do. He would never put it down or let other kids touch it. Always kindly he would tell them no. He let his friend Cleaver hold my water bottle but if Cleaver ever had a curiosity about what might be in it Pippin would remind him not to open it. 

     Pippin is kind hearted and his demeanor is gentle. He tries to find solutions when others are being demanding and I never saw him respond in anger. The wisdom and patience he exhibits is extraordinary to me considering not only that he is just a kid but also the hardness that life has shown him. He has allowed his pains to remain as hurts and has somehow kept it from turning to anger. 

     Cleaver, who is 12 years old is Pippin's good friend. He is a clown and is very outgoing. Cleaver started hanging out with us and would translate as much as he could for Pippin and I. Sometimes Pippin and Cleaver would spend time in my room playing video games, always taking turns. Listening to their giggles made me smile.

     Saying good bye was so hard. I was going to my comfortable home where I could get clean, eat as much food as I wanted and know that I was loved by my family but I was leaving a little boy who was dirty, often still hungry after eating his portioned meal and alone in this world, with no parents, no one to hug him and tell him they loved him as only parents can. He had to say good bye to yet another person in his life and it broke my heart. In a heart beat I would have taken him home and he would have come but it doesn't work that way. The only comfort I have found is that God loves him more than I. He made Pippin and He is with him and my prayer for Pippin is that He would learn to call upon his Father and find rest in Him and that he would become a great man of God and would keep his eyes heavenward. 

   

    Pippin's adoption fell through. He does not attend school. My family is discussing sponsoring him, it is a small step but I rejoice at every investment we can make into his life. Cleaver has been at HCRM for almost his entire life and has never been matched with a family. However he does attend school. Pray for them to be adopted. They are great boys. Pray for all of the kids adoptions. I am so thankful for good orphanages but every child needs a family. Pray that the government of Haiti would be open to adoptions. They are making it extremely difficult to adopt out of Haiti. 

   

      Your Sister in Christ, Lauren