It was 5:30 a.m. and still pitch-dark as we started to load the car with my parents’ luggage. They had spent four weeks with us, and now it was time to say goodbye.
As I stepped out of the house, someone greeted me in the dark, “Bonjour Tanti.” It was Francis sitting on one of our porch chairs. He had sneaked out of the dorm into the dark early morning to see my parents off. Having lived most of his life without a mother, he was touched by my mother’s love, and he was as sad as I was to see her go.
Francis is a former street kid who now lives in the orphanage next door. He spends most of his days at our house, and he is Toussaint’s most faithful helper in the fields. Unlike other street kids, Francis has never had any conflict with authorities. He has never stolen anything or been violent. The only times he gets in trouble with the gendarmerie is when his thirst for liberty causes him to run away from the orphanage. One time when he was only about 12 years old, he walked and hitchhiked all the way to Parakou (230 km away) before getting caught and brought back.
For now, Francis seems to have decided to stay at the orphanage, and the director has wisely chosen to give him a little more freedom than the other kids. We’re glad to have Francis around. He is a precious boy, though he still struggles with rules and a structured life. Twice we put him in school, but he never finished the school year. Soon he will start an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and we pray that will work out.
Sometimes Francis accompanies us to church, and he often comes to our Friday-night story and prayer time. Under pressure from some friends, he had planned to go back to his home village this year to participate in the animistic initiation ceremonies for boys. The day we learned about it happened to be a Monday, when we hold our weekly leadership training program. I talked to Hyacinthe, our local coworker. He comes from the same area as Francis, and they have a good relationship. During a break in the training program, Hyacinthe talked with Francis and told him about his experiences with the ceremonies. At the end of the day, Francis had made up his mind—he would not participate in the ceremonies, no matter what his buddies said. Praise the Lord!
We don’t know much of Francis’ history before he came to the orphanage. He isn’t eager to talk about it, and we accept that. He trusts very few people, and we know that his trust in us is a privilege. Please pray with us that we can lead him to trust in God, who loves him even more than we do and who has wonderful plans for his life.
