When you help the least of these…

When you help the least of these…

You may remember Davidson, the 11 year old orphan who lives with his Grandmother who is deaf.

This morning at 6 AM he rang our bell. It turns out that he was up all night in pain because of a tooth ache. One of his “baby” molars had a big cavity, and was causing a throbbing pain.

Since I had to take Carol and Ricky to school, I gave him some Tylenol and told him to meet me at noon with an adult from his neighborhood so I could take him to a dentist I know.

In the meantime, I called up a Haitian friend who is a dentist and made an appointment for Davidson.

By the time I picked up Davidson to take him to the dentist, I could tell that he had been in pain a long time. I asked him where his adult companion was, and he said no one could go with him. So I made the decision to take him myself. To make the ride shorter, I asked him to do math problems in his head. I wanted to see how well he would do since I had helped him get a scholarship to attend school. He knew how to add pretty well, and could handle money as well. But he was weak on subtraction, multiplication and division.

When we arrived at the Dentist’s office, we waited a little while so it could be “cleaned”. Apparently it hadn’t been used in some time since my Dentist friend often visits refugee camps to provide dental services.

We placed Davidson on the dental chair, and he laid still. The Dentist decided it would be best to pull the tooth, since it was a “baby” tooth. So, being the son of a dentist, I explained to Davidson that he would be getting a shot, and then would feel some pressure as the dentist removed the tooth.

This was Davidson’s first time at the dentist, and I saw a lone tear streak down his face even before the shot. He was clearly afraid. So I tried to comfort him, and soothe him. But nothing could prepare him for his first shot of Novocain, which I always said was the most painful part of getting a tooth pulled! But the little guy was very brave and did not move, but cried quietly as the shot started to numb his jaw.

It had been a long time since I had been present during a tooth extraction, and I forgot how big the chisel and forceps looked. I was afraid I might faint since I had not eaten lunch and it was really hot in the office without electricity to run fans or anything. But Davidson and I both made it through with flying colors!
The Dentist gave Davison some antibiotics and did not charge us for the extraction saying it was part of his ministry to the poor. I gave him a small amount of money anyway to encourage and thank him.

On the way home I purchased a bottle of water that was mostly ice and told Davidson to lay it gently on his cheek to ease the pain of the extraction.

As he lay on the backseat of my 4-cab pickup while I fought afternoon traffic in down-town Port-au-Prince, I couldn’t help but thank God for letting me be part of “The good works God had prepared for me to walk in” that day.

But my adventure was not over. I needed to take Davidson home and talk to his Grandmother about the medicine he needed to take. So he lead me down a big hill, up a winding, narrow passage way where water ran when it rained, then up a lot of stairs to until we arrived at his Grandmother’s house. She was so thrilled to see me, she ran down from her roof and gave me a big hug thanking me for helping her grandson. The she led me inside her one-room house and showed me where rain comes in through the cement roof. But she is one of the lucky ones – she owns the house they live in, and it did not collapse during the earthquake.

After explaining how to take the medicine and leaving some money for them to buy some pain-reliever, I prayed with Davidson and asked God to reduce the pain and help him to recover quickly.

As I walked the long path back to my car, I reflected on how much effort this 11 year old makes just to get to school every day. I was drenched with sweat just walking back to my car!

I know I can’t help every 11 year old orphan in Haiti, but God put Davidson in my path today, and I helped relieve his suffering in a small way. Thank you for your prayers and support that allow God to work through me to be your hands and feet here in Haiti, helping boys like Davidson in a direct way, but also influencing over 1,000 young soccer players through the over 80 teams we now sponsor in Christian schools around the country.