Weep for the Children

Yesterday, I was moved with compassion when I heard Mikael's story. Mikael is nine years old and lives with his family in a small slab wood and tin roof house in El Callejon, a poor community in which Students International has a presence.

Last school year, Mikael's father promised him a bicyle if he would study hard and pass his classes. Soon after, his father abandoned the family to move in with another woman whom he had gotten pregnant. At the end of the school year, when Mikael recieved his final grades, he had passed. He excitedly brought his report card home to show his mother. The next morning he stood at the narrow dirt street outside his house, waiting for his father to come. He waited until noon, but his father never came. Days later when he finally did come, he told Mikael that he wouldn't buy him a bike, because he didn't have the money. Mikael was devastated.

During an outreach in March, a teacher from Jupiter Christian School in Florida, heard about Mikael's story and left funds to purchase him his bike. Ligia, one of our staff who works in this community, took Mikael aside and told him how much God loved him. She told him that in his love, God had provided a bike for him. When Mikael saw the bike, he jumped up and down with excitement.

There are many neglected children in Mikael's community. Some are malnourished, dirty, and suffer from parasites. Children made in the image of God. Children who need love. Children who need to know that there is a God who cares deeply about them.

Students International has a preschool in Mikael's community in which twenty-four children are being given a solid spiritual and educational foundation. Pray for the children of the Dominican Republic. Pray for us as we reach out to them with the love of God.