William

Mercy is just when it is rooted in hopefulness and freely given. Mercy is most empowering, liberating, and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving. The people who haven’t earned it, who haven’t even sought it, are the most meaningful recipients of our compassion. Bryan Stevenson

I was fortunate to meet William at Mateares dump on a trip to Nicaragua in June. William is 4 years old, has never spoken and looks as one would expect a 4 year old would look who spends his days at the dump sorting through garbage to find what he and his family can eat, use or sell. His little face and eyes, and pants that were too big, tied with a plastic cord, made an unforgettable impression on my heart. William has been going to the dump every day since he was born. He communicates with hand gestures, but he has never been to a class to learn any type of sign language.

Servants with a Heart hosted several packing events during Love Week at Elevation Church in July. I was leading the event at the River Walk campus in Rock Hill, SC. During the service time before the packing began, I went around to all the classrooms of kids from age 3 to 5th grade. I told them about the food and how the packing they were going to be doing would make a difference for children’s lives in Nicaragua. I showed them a picture of William and told them about his life. Specifically, I shared that when he gets the food, our hope is that his mom will allow him to go to school and not have to look through trash at the dump to find food or things to sell to make money to buy food. I told them I was sure William’s mom does not want him to have to eat trash and she does want him to be able to go to school. The food packing they were about to do was going to help William have a better life.

Annabelle (age 4) and James (age 3) were at River Walk that morning and were moved by the story of William. They asked their mom that afternoon if William got his food yet, and they continued to ask her every day, not comprehending the distance and logistics involved to get the food to William in Nicaragua. In the meantime, Ashley, their mom, talked more to Annabelle and James about what William’s life was like. Annabelle and James decided they wanted to send William a blanket. Servants with a Heart found out more information about William, including that he has an 8 year old brother and a 10 year old sister. Ashley took Annabelle and James to pick out and buy some blankets for William and his siblings.

In September, Jeff and Suzanne Yoh, the founders of Servants with a Heart, took another group to Nicaragua. They carried the blankets to William and his siblings and were able to take some photos for Annabelle and James Needless to say, William was thrilled to have a Spiderman blanket all his own that was picked out just for him.

The pictures of William and his mom receiving the blankets showed a happy, shy little boy and a proud and appreciative mother. What I noticed is William’s face was clean the day he got to cuddle his new blanket. His mother knew there was a gift coming for her son, and I believe that someone valuing and caring about the comfort and future of her child gave her renewed hope for her little boy.