I have known Pastor Nahum long enough to know when he tells me, "I have to tell you something," that I should get a box of tissues. Do you know how you can know someone so well that you can practically hear the tone of their voice and see their facial expressions even through the typed words you share in a chat? That is what it's like between me and Pastor Nahum. I heard the sorrow and concern in his voice as he said "I have to tell you something." He spoke carefully trying to lighten the blow of what he knew he had to share with me would cause my heart to break. I sat there and cried over my computer as we chatted.
What he shared with me happens regularly in Haiti but Pastor Nahum never becomes desensitized to the pain associated with it.
Through his typed words, I could see a darkness in his eyes as he told me, "It is a little baby girl."
As he continued typing with a faith I envy, I could hear the sadness in his voice as he spoke softly, "God loves the little kids."
The baby girl is 10 months old. She lives in a mud hut with her young mother in Pastor Nahum’s village. Today her mother was faced with a choice. It was not a matter of choosing between what will bring her the greatest benefit and pleasure. She was not deciding between restaurants or retirement plan options.
You see, the Haitian people are sure of one thing…no matter what choice they make, pain will result.
What is it like to live a life where pain is familiar and pleasure is foreign? When your choices are never about what will bring you the most pleasure rather what will cause the least pain?
I can’t personally answer these questions but I do wake up every morning in love with a whole village of people who CAN answer these questions.
Pain and suffering defines the physical condition of our Haitian brothers and sisters and when they are faced with a choice they either choose hurt or hurt. Pick one. The best they can hope for is an outcome with the lesser of the hurts.
This mom was choosing today whether to keep her baby or give her away.
This is an all too common choice Haitian parents are faced with. Through the tears I asked Pastor Nahum if I knew this mom. He said she remembers me but I might not remember her. It didn’t really matter if I remembered her or not. I know she is real and as a mom my mind cannot even conceive the pain involved in this situation. God’s endless act of grace and mercy in my own life causes me to spill over with a passion to show this young mother how much God loves her. I cried and prayed a lot for this mom today.
The father is either dead or has abandoned the mom and her baby…regardless he is out of the picture. So mom is left with her baby, no money, no food, and Haiti doesn’t have foster care programs to offer her.
What are her options?
- She can keep her baby and watch her die of starvation right in front of her face
- She can give her baby away to an orphanage…if they will take her baby in
What did mom decide?
For her, the lesser of the hurts was to give her 10 month old baby away.
She walked down the street of her impoverished village with her 10 month old baby girl in her arms and stood at the entrance of Pastor Nahum’s home/orphanage.
How could she have known Pastor Nahum is barely hanging on to feed his own children and orphans? How could she have known how desperate times are for him right now? How could she have known that he would regretfully tell her he can’t take her baby at this time?
With a character shaped by God’s Word, Pastor Nahum’s heart is never to turn away a child. But during this time, his struggle to feed the orphans he already has is overwhelming. There just is not enough support for him to take in another baby.
We are dealing with an orphan crisis of unbearable proportions in this 3rd world nation and this same exact story could have played out in orphanage after orphanage for this mom and baby today.
Now what happens?
Does this mom walk away only to watch her baby die?
Do those of us who have heard the story close the book, say The End, and wonder why we ever chose to read such a tragic story in the first place?
Do we move on with our lives accepting this tragedy just because we know there are millions of other tragedies happening just like this all over Haiti?
Do we think the love of Jesus is not big enough to make a difference in the poorest of places?
Do we turn our back on Haiti because Haiti is too hard to love?
Although Pastor Nahum is not in the position to take in this little baby girl at his own orphanage, he did not entirely turn her away. He believes every child is worth fighting for and he was not going to accept this as the end of this child’s story.
Pastor Nahum really believes God is bigger than the physical oppression and poverty they live in. He told this young scared mom he would fight to help her but for now, with nothing to offer this mom and baby physically, they went back to the mud hut they came from down the street. But there is a richness in the faith of the poor and Pastor Nahum believes God can move the hearts of the church to respond to the needs of this mom and her baby.
He prayed and then started sharing the story on the internet with his brothers and sisters who God has richly blessed with the resources capable of making a difference in a tangible way for this mom and baby.
In God’s grace hearts are responding. The ending of this story is unclear but Pastor Nahum can now tell the mom help is on the way for her baby. It’s another picture of God’s grace and compassion reaching out through His church to this baby who is precious in His eyes.
Every child is worthy of love. Pastor Nahum has tremendous needs to care for all of his orphans and those in his village who are continually turning to him like this mom did today. Haiti is not an easy place to love but we do it because we love God…we do it because we are the church. Let’s remember the orphans. Let’s show a dying world the church is alive! Consider donating to BTL (see how to donate on the right sidebar of this blog) and be blessed as your support shows the love of Jesus to Pastor Nahum’s orphans.
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