Sunday, October 20, 2013

The fruit of the labour :)

I have had the great pleasure of meeting the one of the first kids ever to be taken care of by Avis,





back before there was an orphanage, back when only the church was built. He was ten years old when he found himself in the streets of Pacasmayo alone, abandoned by his own mother. He didn't have any documents to prove who he was, so when the law got a hold of him it would mean trouble. After wondering the streets begging for money for food for a while it didn't take very long until he got questioned by the police. "What's your name son" "do you have your DNI (national identification document) the officer asked. "No sir" came the reply. And then the strangest question, now you have to understand that to find an officer who would go out of his way for even a child was hard to find. "Do you believe in God?" Figuring that his chances would be better "yes" he replied. "Get into the car" came the stern demand. Obviously very scared he climbed in obediently. It didn't take long and the car stopped in front of a huge building. Opening the door the cop says, "this is your new home".
After a few knocks the door swings open to reveal a happy lady who called him in and gave him food, and just loved on him, Avis Goodhart. Unfortunately there was a rotten apple in the house, I believe unbeknownst to Avis. This person was not happy with the fact that Avis was starting to take in kids, she liked it the way it was with just the church, so to keep this story short this person won the battle and all the kids had to go back out on the street, because Avis was not an official orphanage. Our young boy was shipped of into the jungle because that's where he said he was from. And for years he did all he could to be able to eat every day. Today he is 22 years old, and life was getting increasingly more difficult to get by without any documents. You can't even travel without an ID. In thinking of what he could do, and getting frustrated by being turned down by anyone who might be able to help him, he remembered a godly women who had once taken him in. So he put his shoulder to the wheel all he could for one month, and he managed to work up enough money to get himself to Pacasmayo through "undercover" transportation.
Don't underestimate how difficult this was, we are not talking about America. If he gets caught by the police he might get thrown in prison and tortured because they think he could be a terrorist. But he finds himself to the orphanage without getting caught and he rings the door bell and asks for Avis, a name he will never forget. The paperwork has been started, it's a long process but he is on his way to having an identity Praise The Lord. He has managed to find himself an under the table job here while he's waiting. He has dreams of going to school and making something of himself.
We spent the day eating and playing volleyball and going to the beach to swim, and he wants me to teach him English so he's gonna come here every Sunday to hang out and learn English. God is a very good God.

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