FRANDI DUMEL AGE 8
Lives with mom and papa. Has 3 brothers and 1 sister. Has no bed. Sleeps on the ground with his brothers. He likes to play ball and run. He likes to learn new things like English. He likes to eat at school when there is no food at home.
February 2009, having recently retired, I went with a mission group from First Baptist Church, Brunswick to see something I could not read about in books.
I wanted to see poverty as God sees it. My assignment was photographer. I took a photo juxtapositioning the majestic mountains of Haiti with the desperate poverty in the foreground. Not until I got home did I see the naked child sitting within arm’s reach. Absorbed in the overall picture, the small detail, God’s heart, sat in front of me naked. My heart was convicted. How was I different from the rest of the world if all I did was unknowingly take his picture? I certainly was not seeing Haiti as God sees it!
The naked boy became my poster child. I was compelled to go back to Jubilee Blanc, find the boy and make it right. Time after time I returned and never found him. I dubbed him the lost boy representing, in my mind, all those overlooked who deserve to be found. In retrospect…. on all those trips, I didn’t come prepared with clothing for when I did find him. I was not a prepared sanctuary. My heart was convicted.
Trip #8… there he was! Still naked! I think he likes being naked. It was August 2010 and I was there to start school. I took that young, naked man by the hand and enrolled him whether he liked it or not! Wow. 8 trips and 1.5 years. I still had no clothing for him.
Trip #9…. His name is Frandi. I took his picture and interviewed him for sponsorship. His clothing was, ironically, a torn VBS shirt from summers ago.
Saturday night, Pastor Emory asked me where I’d like the group to go to church Sunday morning. I love the native ceremonies. This trip we had learned to play with the community. Thought process: we’re doing school, we’re building relationships, and we’re spending leisure time together= we should worship with the people of Jubilee Blanc. It was a first visit to this particular church by our group.
The church was perfect. Dirt floors, homemade decorations, a couple of benches, people singing songs. Usually we recognize the songs and can sing along in English. There, probably among 15 people present, sat Frandi! The enemy took hold and I wondered if this child was really the lost boy or if I just wanted it to be him. At that very moment, he crossed his legs just like in the picture. He also had a bald spot on his head like the boy in the picture. And I wondered…. what were the chances that a lost naked boy from Haiti and a old white woman from GA would cross paths in a remote church with 15 people and a visiting group that just happened to attend that service. I motioned to him and he came over and rested his head on my side.
We also pulled all those outside the building in and the pastor told the people to never worry about having the appropriate clothing to wear to church. How appropriate…. because I still didn’t have any clothing to give Frandi. All the opportunities – seriously, what was I thinking? The little lean-to building was rocking with worship.
All I had was a bandana. Bandanas are used in Haiti to protect your head, used to give dignity to cancer patients, used by cowboys to protect their faces, used to wipe tears and sweat. All I had to give the little naked lost boy was a symbol of protection. The conviction…. if we really want to be a sanctuary, in every level, we need to take being prepared seriously!
One last thing, on my first trip I was asked to prepare a devotion. I kept getting that old song from, like the 70s, in my head. So, I did a devotion on being a sanctuary. I didn’t know then that it is a song Emory and Mary often sing. God is good.
- Doreen Sigman
Update: Frandi is now in school. His teachers have taught him to speak English! Among other things, he can now say, “I talk too much!” He also wears a uniform, usually. Love.
