Dear Friends,
My Christmas story this year is about little Fernando; the one, and the ninety nine!
Dr. Bill Allen, MTW* missionary friend of ours wrote from Cusco wondering whether we might have room in one of our Lima homes for abandoned boys for just one more kid. He had come across Fernando, and the Judiciary in the famous old Inca Capital did not know what to do with this boy who had an incredible record for his age, in the streets and children's centres in the city. Bill was happy to hear that early next year we are opening a new Home in the nearby Sacred Valley and that yes, indeed, we would not only make a temporary home for him in Lima, but would soon move him back to the Cusco area as the first boy in the new Home!
We have all fallen in love with this boy. Given his track record, we have not only kept a special watch on him but also taken the time to understand this boy whose background is different from any other we have ever encountered.
It so happens that Fernando was brought up with animals - mainly sheep, rather that with other human beings. He was put out to live in the pens, sheep folds much like those of Bible times, very common in Peru's Andean slopes.
Some abandoned boys never cry, which is very sad. Others, like Fernando, can. Except that he does not cry like a little boy. Tears streaming down his cheeks, he bleats, just like a baby lamb.
We offered him shoes. "Please not like the ones these boys wear!" He pleaded. "I want ojotas". These are what shepherds on the Cusco hillsides wear - a sole and straps made of old car tires. Someone brought us a pair recently and you should have seen Fernando running and jumping once he had them on!
We were told by the police in Cusco that every time he was captured and taken to some institution, he would smash windows and escape. None of that has been done in our Girasol home.
We now look forward to taking him back to our new home in Urubamba, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, near the world famous ruins of Machu Picchu.
Our desire now for this little one and for the other 'ninety-nine', is that they may feel safe in the arms of the Good Shepherd whose birth we celebrate during this Season. Pray that they may learn to recognize his voice and follow in his footsteps.
Paul & Marty
Los Cedros 470, Chaclacayo, Lima 08, Peru
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