A Little Child Shall

Eddy's mom was orphaned as a child. Half Uzbek, half Kahzak, she was dropped at a Russian orphanage. She was equally dispensable when she came of age. Possessing no skills, having no anchor, home, or family, she was prime target for human traffickers. Soon she found herself in Switzerland. Eventually she had to learn several local languages to ply the trade. Marriage from that platform rarely works, and it didn't. Soon she was on the move again, and this time she met an east African. Since she was in her mid-thirties she decided to keep this pregnancy and stick with the father of the kid. Now, two years later, they have discovered that neither of them can take the other 'home' to a mother country, so they live, like many others, in a no-mans state of nationlessness. Eddy has birth papers from a country neither parent will ever have the right to stay in, or work in. Dad somehow makes money under the table, but he blows it on discos and girls. When he is home, Eddy's mom tries to get him drunk. That's the only way he isn't violent. Dad never knew love or faithfulness either. Witchdoctors and curses haunted his childhood. Death hung real in the air and fear is his constant companion. Drowning that beast is done with loud music and a louder life. The only time he notices his child is to trip him, see him fall, and mock him for getting hurt. Eddy is two.

When we met Eddy he consistently hit himself in the head, except for those moments when he was hitting another person. He spat mockingly, and had good aim with sharp objects. Mom was dejected and bitter. Hopeless, she had given up on offering Eddy any real life. But she climbed the three crooked stories of stairs to Simti's small apartment. Word had gotten out that we had a project going in the neighborhood. Simti is a single mom, refugee, and shares her one bedroom apartment with five other people. But she hosts the project as well. The first week there, she brought her downstairs neighbor. Galina had been screaming, beside herself, and Simti visited her, concerned. They had no common language, but when Simti offered to pray, somehow Galina understood. It made all the difference. By the time she joined us, she had stopped using her apartment as a brothel and turned her life over to God, hook, line, and sinker.

Now Eddy's mom joined our motley crew. By the time she left she had learned the simple trade of crocheting trash bags. She had also poured out her heart and accepted prayer on behalf of Eddy, herself, and the man she is living with. Yesterday she had a testimony. The father has been picking Eddy up and holding him. He talks to him and smiles. He stays around evenings. Yes, there are mountains of problems to overcome yet, but the best testimony was Eddy. He is a changed child. He's giving out hugs, offering you bites of his bread, and full of smiles. Amazing what prayer can do.

And it's a good thing too. Cause this week we have three new women, all rape victims, all pregnant. We have a woman with cancer, and a mother whose son has seizures since he had fever. As Eddy dances around in our midst, we stop and pray. I can't wait to hear what God does this week!