Daniel And Me (Heather Walker)

My devotional tonight was penned by a remarkable young lady named Heather Walker. Heather teaches and coaches at WCS and has made a huge impact in only one year. Previous to her move to Houston, Heather lived for a year in Haiti. Here is her story of a remarkable little child of God.

This little boy is Daniel. If I had to name the most influential people in my life, he would probably be among the top three. The first time, I met Daniel was at the clinic I worked at in Algier, Haiti. A worker brought him in from a nearby orphanage because he was ten months old, but only weighed 4 ½ pounds. His story is similar to many abandoned children in Haiti. His mother had been an alcoholic and drug addict. His father tried to care for him, but without formula or another source to feed him Daniel was severely malnourished. In desperation, his father left him at Hope for Haiti Crèche. The workers there, experienced with such cases, tried to get him on a nutrition program for critically malnourished infants, but he just couldn’t seem to gain the weight. He was brought to Canaan, the clinic I worked for, shortly afterwards. At one point, he developed a very severe fever and it was thought extremely unlikely he would live. He did.

A month after first meeting him, I volunteered to help out on the weekends to take care of some of the malnourished children at Hope. I cared for Daniel and another little boy named Andrew for several weekends. I loved them both dearly, but I have to say that Daniel touched me in a way I had not anticipated. He never cried; he was too weak for that. He could barely manage a whimper. When I cared for him and Andrew, I usually wasn’t able to sleep because once one baby was fed or changed the other one needed some sort of attention. So I remained awake just in case. Daniel didn’t sleep a lot either and so I would hold him when I was not feeding or changing nappies. He had the most expressive eyes and would hold my gaze for hours. In those quiet hours, I realized how the Lord must feel sometimes when looking at us. We may be weak and ugly by the world’s standards, but He still loves us. He sees all kinds of potential even when we are too weak to do anything but lay still and look for Him. He may see our illnesses, weaknesses and failures, but He can look past them to the beauty we are capable of.  

One year later, Daniel is a normal, healthy two-year old. He is with his foster family in Haiti and will hopefully be adopted very soon. Because of him, I have decided to pursue a career in medicine. The Lord placed Daniel’s case on my heart and I feel him calling me to care for others like that precious little boy. He is a miracle beyond imagining.  He was rechristened Daniel when he came to Hope because they said he would do miraculous things. I believe they are right. God has wonders in store for him.

“For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
                        Daniel 6: 26b-27

Bondye bon. (God is good)
-Heather

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com