The Bravest Boy in the World

By Keith Stevens:  Today, as  I walked through the Home for The Sick and Dying Children of Haiti, "Sister M" pulled me aside and asked me if I was comfortable holding babies. I said I was and she said, "go and bring me the baby in crib #15."  He had to be about 16 months old, and was clearly dehydrated and lacking nutrition. I could feel every bone in his ribcage poking my hand as I picked him up. His body was pretty lifeless, and his arms were small and his dark skin was dry and wrinkled, hanging off of his small frame.  "Sister M" was the nurse and asked me to place the child on the examining table and to hold him steady as she would then prepare his tiny little hand to insert an I. V.  And so here I was, in the Home for the Sick and Dying Children of Haiti.  I can't stand needles, I always look the other way when I get a shot, and now it was my job to hold this child as the needle was inserted into this little one's vein. I said, "Lord, what do I do, what do I say to this little one?"  I wished his mom could have been there to hold his hand.. or his dad.. but it was me that God chose for this time and place. I thought about his parents and felt sad that the boy was all alone. So I held that little boy's tiny hand in mine, and told him, "You are so brave."  (That's what my mom would tell me when I was little and receiving a shot from the doctor.)  And as the needle pricked his skin, his beautiful dark eyes widened so big, and one large tear  rolled quickly down his left check and he cried so loud.  But I found myself taking on the role of caretaker and quickly comforting him and I let him know that I was there, and that he was the bravest boy in the world.  With that he settled down and the IV was connected, and the reversal of dehydration began.  As life was pumped into this little boy's vein's, I prayed over this boy and told him that God has a plan for his life, and for God to use him in a special way.  I thanked "Sister M" for all she does and told her that I have great respect for what she does every day.  She pointed up and said "it is all glory to God."  She then took and the I.V. pole, and asked me to follow her with the little boy in my arms.  She brought me to the lobby and asked me to place him in the arms of his mother, who had been there, watching me hold her child from a distance,

 the entire time. An hour later, in the lobby the boy was full of life in his mother's arms.