Those Who Sow In Tears

I think it was the late Scottish Minister, Oswald Chambers, who said "Life is often more tragic than orderly" and sometimes it seems to me that some peoples lives are just filled with tragedies - like a friend of mine who, down the years that I have known him, has been made redundant several times, both he and his wife have had several serious illnesses, difficulties with their children, problems with the grandchildren, financial concerns and so on. I don't know how I would have coped in such difficulties.

However one of the most tragic stories to have touched my life in recent years has been that of a young autistic boy in the Philippines. Unable to talk or to walk properly, and with other medical problems, he was found abandoned in a city market place. It seems this child was unloved and unwanted

With nowhere else suitable to house him the city authorities placed him in a local jail for youth offenders where he sat alone in a corner, often in his own urine and excrement, largely unable to care for himself or communicate with those around him. Nobody knew his name or where he had come from. the staff referred to him as "Mr X".

Nobody took much notice of him until he was discovered by a group of young people from a church in England visiting the jail during a "mission trip" working alongside local Christian missionary organisations.

This little boy, and his terrible circumstances, was the inspiration for the House of Joshua Children's Home, a project that our charity is actively supporting in partnership with Lifenet Children's Foundation Inc.

Sadly this little boy, nicknamed "Dong" by my daughter Mary - founding principal of Lifenet, has recently died of a chest infection.

Read Mary's moving "letter to Dong" here on the Lifenet blog.

The Bible says, "Those who sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy" (Psalm 126, verse 5).

Dong's life may have been tragic but we must not allow it to have been a tragic waste. We must act. We must do whatever it takes to make sure that other children like him have a better life than he did.