From Tragedy to Triumph

“Auntie Erin, my mother would like to meet you,” David said to me a couple weeks ago. David is a 12 year-old boy who has lived at Transition House for one year. Unlike many of the boys, David comes from a loving family. He has nine siblings, two of them who also live at Transition House. His story begins sadly, but has an ending that proves God is in control. David’s father was an officer in the Nigerian Army. He was a very good soldier and had earned the respect of many. He fought in a battle last year and did very well, earning a bonus payment from the military. He planned on building a house for his family. He went to visit his extended family in his village. His brother found out about the money and poisoned David’s father. David’s mother, Maria, found out and went to the village. When she arrived, he had become paralyzed from the poisoning. She took him back home, where David and his siblings saw their father in this condition.



One morning David went into his parents’ bedroom. His father was lying in bed and his head, according to David, was completely turned around on his neck, facing the back. Maria was trying to move it back in place, but was not successful. Soon after this, says David, his father’s legs began ‘slapping’ and then he passed away. This was in March 2003. Shortly before this happened, one of David’s elder brothers, Paul, ran away from home. While he was living on the streets, he heard about Gidan Bege (House of Hope) and began attending the program for street boys, where they are taught English, the Bible, are fed, and are able to been seen by me or another medical person. He decided to stay at Gidan Bege and sent a message home to his family that he wanted to live there because he would receive an education.



Maria desperately wants her children to be educated, and without her husband’s income, she cannot afford the school fees for all of them. So, she decided to allow Paul to stay at Gidan Bege, and she also requested that David and another brother, Emmanuel, be allowed to stay. All three brothers live at Gidan Bege’s Transition House. David is one of the smartest boys there. He can read advanced books, is fluent in Hausa, English, and his tribal language, and is doing well in the school.



I asked David what he liked about his father and he said the following, “He always corrected me if I was wrong. He always wanted me to be reading books. My father always made sure I had what I needed and if I did not, he did whatever he could to give it to me. He was very kind. He never fought with my mother.” I traveled with David to visit his mother and his siblings. When we arrived at the gate of the army barracks (I was not aware his mother still lived there), we were told I could not enter because I am a foreigner. David went to get his mother so I could meet her. I asked her how I can pray for her and she said that she has been trying to get the money back that was stolen from her husband, but has been unsuccessful. She wants to move her family out of the barracks and into a house, as was the plan of her husband, but she cannot because lack of funds. Please pray that the Lord will provide a miracle! I praise the Lord for this testimony of His faithfulness. Even though it was a tragic thing that David’s father died and Paul ran away, God directed Paul to Gidan Bege, and now these three boys are thriving in their education and walk with the Lord.