He leaped into my arms and my heart was gone.
We hadn’t been at the Haiti child development center more than five minutes when this child chose me. His thin body felt light in my arms. I’ve had the privilege of meeting children in many of the countries in which we work, but this one? There was something about this boy that I just couldn’t shake.
How could you connect with a child when you didn’t even know his name?
We soon discovered his name was Rochener. We asked to look at his child file. I couldn’t believe what I saw. We shared the same birthday! How is that possible?! My next question was obvious: Does he have a sponsor?
My patient husband knew that I could not be convinced otherwise — we would have to sponsor this child if he didn’t have a sponsor. Unfortunately for us, he did have a sponsor. I was sad to hear that, but happy that he was sponsored.
On Sponsor Visit Day, we asked Rochener to join us, to give him a reprieve from his daily life. We took him to the ocean and watched the waves.
We also took him into his first-ever pool. He ran around the hotel grounds, touching everything he saw. Drinking soda and juice. Playing with balls in the pool and wearing our sunglasses. Doing all the things little boys should do!
We ended the day giving him some small gifts, including fuzzy stuffed animals. Their softness made him squeal with delight.
After the day was over I felt a loss and sadness. I told my husband later that evening,
“I don’t understand why this little boy was placed in our lives this week. We won’t be able to write to him or see how he’s doing in the future because he’s not our sponsored child.”
My wise husband responded,
“For one reason or another, the Lord has brought Rochener into our lives so we can pray for him. We can intercede along with his sponsor. In heaven, we will be together and talk about that great day we shared.”
A week passed at home and my heart still longed to be a part of Rochener’s life. I called a friend at the Compassion office and gave her Rochener’s child number. I wanted to write a letter to his sponsors, pass along some photos and tell them about the precious child they sponsor. Then a miracle happened for our family. My friend informed me,
“Katy, his sponsor canceled. His sponsor canceled about two weeks ago. There’s no way the Haiti office could have known that when you were there, but Rochener no longer has a sponsor.”
Tears of joy streamed down my face as I knew this little boy now needed a sponsor. He needed us.
So today, I’ve introduced you to the child who chose us. God knew exactly what he needed and exactly what we needed. We will continue to intercede on his behalf … but now as his very grateful sponsors.