For four months of this year I was a house-mom to 12 children in Peru. I started the mission with the kind of Spanish one picks up in Spain on work trips and short holidays. So I could say, 'una mas...gambas; cerveza; café" ...take your pick. I know what 'ensalada Rusa' is and can even manage a Catalan lisp - which outside of Catalonia is of absolutely no use. I could confidently ask and be asked, 'que tal?', (how are you?), alas my only response would have been, 'bien', whether or not I was bien. So really I had no idea how to speak European Spanish, never mind the Latin American version.
I had a couple of days of cleaning and settling in before the first child arrived. My co-pilot was a lovely girl called Yeny, whom God had hand-picked to help me for the first two months. She was local and so thankfully could understand everything and teach me too. Yeny is just 21 and one of the most patient people I have ever met in my life. God always has the best plan! So there we were never having done this before; trying to get the house ready and communicate with each other, bit by bit, with my Lonely Planet dictionary to help. All the children had been sent to their communities for a time as the permanent house-parents were unable to care for them; due to the house-dad suffering a serious illness. So at the beginning of Feburary, Yeny and I, were expecting them back any day.
And so it was that the cutest little 6 year old arrived, very shy and with matching dimples. Let's call him K for the purposes of this blog. Yeny and I were total strangers to him so off course he didn't take to us instantly but he obediently gave us a hug each when asked. I have to admit that little touch just melted my heart so it took quite a bit of restraint not to pick him up and cover him in kisses. That night was his first night back at the house but without his usual friends around him. But he seemed happy enough, chatting away with words I couldn't understand. That night he slept upstairs in the nearest possible room to me. Yeny explained to him that if he needed anything to call me as she would be sleeping downstairs. He was probably wondering why I didn't say much but just kept smiling all the time.
That night we all said goodnight and I tucked him into bed. He said a few things to me and all I could do, again, was smile. I went to bed with all these unspoken words bursting out of my heart. Words of comfort, words of love and blessing, I had them all there, just not in Spanish. So I fell off to sleep, praying for little K. Then in the middle of the night, I heard this cry, over and over, 'Tia! Tia!' So I leapt out of bed and there was precious K, wobbly from sleep standing in the corridor and struggling with really itchy skin. I got some cream and led him back to his bed. As I applied the cooling cream to his legs I saw how he had been scratching himself, some parts of his skin were scabbed and some even bleeding a little. I applied some ointment too and just soothed him. He went back to sleep much quicker than I thought. I stayed there for a while just to be sure he was okay. He was so little, so sweet and already within a few hours had needed me to help him. I felt such a surge of love for this little boy then and I knew that even without Spanish, he understood that I cared for him and he could trust me to be there for him.
I prayed over his skin that night and asked God to heal him and comfort him. He did not wake again but slept through the rest of the night and his skin has gotten better and better. So has my Spanish, or more correctly Castellano. God takes me to places where I have no ability or skill and then He gives me the ability so I can testify to His glory, that indeed all things are possible with God.
I learned about each child and their backgrounds as time went on. Precious K came from a broken home, his mother had a new partner who didn't want K around and his biological father didn't want him either. He is such a beautiful child, so valuable, thoughtful and sensitive. I could not and still cannot understand it. But I can say without a doubt, God has a plan for K. Father God has not abandoned him but made a way for him to grow up in a new home with a host of beautiful brothers and sisters, where he is loved; taught; nurtured and valued. And I, Tia Nikita, got to be a part of that for a little while, what a privilege.
So later on as I rapidly learned more Castellano, thank You God, K and I enjoyed great conversations as I tucked him in each night. We had many laughs and cuddles and I could say to him, 'te amo mucho', (I love you very much) as often as I wanted to.
I miss him with all my heart.
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