A Priceless Gift

Hope Force International hosted a team of 26 people from central Pennsylvania who came to participate in long-term endeavors in the Appalachian area of War, West Virginia. Craig Snow, HFI Project Coordinator for West Virginia, related a story that happened during this deployment.
"One of the team members was a 15-year-old girl, who had reluctantly joined the team in spite of having to celebrate her birthday away from home," Craig relates. "During the deployment, she was deeply impacted by a little 7-year-old boy. The little boy had been traumatized by the displacement of his family due to his mother's struggle with drugs and the impact of deep poverty on his life."

The poverty that the little boy lived in made an impact on all of the team members working with Craig. Unable to fully absorb what they had witnessed, some of the teens had to walk away with an adult to further process what they had encountered.

The little boy's world was one of isolation, loss and rejection... he certainly lacked an understanding of the "grown-up world" of drugs and its consequences. This precious little one remained aloof and withdrawn, even as other teens engaged his siblings. Moved by compassion, the 'Birthday girl' felt compelled to keep trying to interact with this displaced little boy. Persistent on engaging him with great effort and patience, a response began to come -- first shy interaction, then eventually, chatter and smiles.

Wanting to share this gift of hope welling in his heart, from a bare room with only a mattress on a floor of plywood, the little boy located the only toy that he had managed to hide away from all eyes....a teddy bear. He presented his 'birthday gift' to the young 15 year old who wisely, but with aching heart, accepted this priceless treasure.