Many of you who have served at Hope Haven Rwanda will recognize the tallest of these two boys. Richard has been a part of our community for years. He has already faced many trials in this life. I know details, which I won’t share here, that prove he has witnessed more trauma in his young life than anyone should witness.
In fact, I can honestly say that Hope Haven has likely saved his life.
I am not exaggerating. When Richard was found wandering aimlessly around the neighborhood one day by a Hope Haven intern, he was completely unsupervised, a toddler all on his own. Priscillah, our family director, began to pay special attention to him and was able to enroll him in school. This was a move that would change the trajectory of his young life.
Today, he is studying along with other students, while getting to know his younger half-brother, Keve. They were separated for years while their parents were apart. Today their parents are still separated, but both his mother and father have worked on campus over the years. Now his father is completely out of his life, and lives many miles away, but Richard’s mother shows up regularly to work on campus.
One day this summer, I visited with Richard and marveled at his award-winning smile shining through his mask! He is brimming with joy these days, even though life is still very hard for him, his mother and his half-brother.
Imagine my surprise when I walked up on Richard and Keve singing “Jesus Loves Me” together while their mother prepared food for construction workers in a nearby shelter! It wasn’t a school day, and they weren’t as clean as they normally are on campus, but their voices echoed through the field. I couldn’t wait to see if they would sing for me—and they did! I asked Nankpak to film it so you could enjoy it too!
1 Chronicles 16:32-34: “Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
Will you join me in praying for these two boys, and so many like them in our neighborhood?