I would like to tell you about the new siblings I've found in Haiti. They are brothers, and they are age 14 and 11. Their names are Gyver (like McGuiver) and Holendgy (Oh-lawn-gee). I think I've told you about Gyver already. I have a hard time not talking about him.
I've told you their family lives in a tent on a slab of concrete. This is true. I've told you that sometimes it rains on them, and they have nowhere else to go. This is also true. They have no running water, no electricity, no shower, no bathroom. We don't know how they cook. We don't know how they iron their clothes. We don't know how they brush their teeth. We did figure out what happened to their father. He abandoned the family a few years ago. Just up and left without a word. His children today don't know where he is. Their mother struggles to provide for them - to feed them, to clothe them, to send them to school. I don't know how she does it.
Every time I see Holendgy and Gyver, they are smiling. I have been to their tent city many times now, and I have never seen self-pity, discouragement, or complaint on their faces. Quite the contrary! I have danced with Holendgy in the rain. I have sung songs in English and in Creole with him. I have prayed on my knees with Gyver on a rooftop under the stars. I have grinned at him across the room. I have eaten dinner with them. I have walked between a row of tents, holding their hands. I have listened intently as they tried to teach me Creole and laughed with them at my confused pronunciations.
When I go to the tent city and see Holendgy and Gyver, I give them a hug and say, "Ti fre mwen." It means "my little brother" in Creole. They smile and say the words in Creole that mean "my sister." I do not know if I will see Gyver and Holendgy again after I leave Haiti. I do not know what will happen to them or what will happen to me. But I do know that the thought of Heaven has become sweeter because of these two boys. I know that God has taught me something profound about His joy through the smiles on their faces. I know that I've welcomed two little brothers into my family.
"Ti fre mwen." The family of God is beautiful.
