Sunday, January 17, 2010

And the Heart Still Overflows

Joshua and Kyryl with Taras
Joshua and Kyryl with Taras the hedgehog

Some of you might remember a blog I posted almost two years ago about a little boy Joshua met on a playground. The little boy was dirty, his clothes were a mess and the kids were making fun of him. You can read about our first encounter with him by clicking HERE.

Since then we have seen him a few times around the neighborhood and have learned that his name is Kyryl and he is now seven years old. He's a quiet shy boy that Joshua says the other kids aren't very nice to. Joshua has continued to pray for him and an opportunity to show him the love of Christ since that first meeting.

Yesterday, Joshua found Kyryl playing by himself out in the snow and he invited him into our home to play. Kyryl was very excited to see our hedgehog and told us how he likes to find them and play with them. He really liked Taras. Joshua shared some cookies with Kyryl and they played with Legos together until it was time for him to go home.

Joshua decided to give Kyryl most of the Legos he was planning to take back to California with him. I know those were some of Joshua's favorite things, but he never hesitated when he loaded up a plastic bag full of them for Kyryl. We also sent him home with a little Ukrainian story book that explains the life of Jesus and how he died for us. Kyryl was very thankful and polite when he left. It really broke my heart as I helped him get his jacket and boots on to go outside. His clothes were absolutely filthy and his jacket had more holes and patches than I could count. We still don't know much about Kyryl's home life, but we can only imagine. I pray that Jesus will touch his heart and that he will always remember the kind little American boy who keeps a hedgehog as a pet.

Little Boy
This is Kyryl the first time we saw him almost two years ago.

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