I Never Want Saying No to Get Easy...

It was Thursday. I had just returned to the office from lunch and there she was. A slightly built brown-eyed girl with a tattered t-shirt and dirty skirt, sandals worn so long they were paper thin hanging loosely from her feet which were dangling from the chair since they didn't fully reach the floor. When I walked in, I sensed she might be waiting for me. With school starting on Monday, the flow in and out of the office had been pretty steady but this was a girl I had never met before. As soon as I sat down at my desk, Ruth, the receptionist, came to say that the girl was waiting to talk to me. 

I sighed inwardly, said a quick prayer, and went to talk with her. Ruth translated that she lived just up the road from the campus, that she was 12-years old, and that all she wanted was to be able to go to school. She is the oldest of three children and she told Ruth that her mom couldn't afford to send her to school. 

Knowing we have lots of children already awaiting sponsors through Starfish Kids, and knowing that there are literally a million other kids throughout Haiti who aren't able to go to school, I wanted to say, "I'm sorry..." But, also knowing she walked all the way to the office alone, patiently waited to see me, and without demanding or begging just quietly said, "I want to go to school," I was moved by her haunting, hope-filled eyes, and her quiet resolve to even be brave enough to speak out for what she wanted.

I talked with the other Starfish Kids staff and we agreed, if she came into the office with her mother on Monday, we'd see what we could do. When we told her to return with her mom, she protested, shaking her hanging head saying that her mother wouldn't come. She said her mom had a baby and couldn't come, but the staff took up the conversation and said that yes, she could come and she could bring the baby along.

After she left, I went back to my desk and sat for a few minutes thanking God for His presence and peace, and for reminding me that Starfish Kids IS about helping one child at a time. The program is good and it helps so many children and it's easy when I'm sitting at my desk - removed from the personal interaction with the children and their parents - to make decisions about implementing the guidelines and rules, but OH how it's different starring into the eyes of a little girl or boy! And yet, if my heart gets so hard that it becomes easy to say no, that is an even bigger problem and I never want to get there either.

Starfish Kids' goal is to evangelize and education the nearly 7,000 children in our over 35 schools throughout Northern Haiti. Today we have 1,200 of those students sponsored. I pray that God continues to open doors and opportunities for us to share the story of Starfish Kids and to provide an opportunity for more and more children in Haiti to hear the message that Jesus loves them and He died for them through the gifts provided by generous sponsors. Just $25/month allows a student this chance. 

I don't know if the girl will come tomorrow with her mother, but if she comes, I'll do all I can to see that she gets a chance, at 12 years-old, to go to school for the first time, and I will trust God to provide the resources to make that happen.