The day we met 13-year-old Peter, an AIDS orphan, he was sitting alone on a rock placed in a sparse plot of dirt in the district of Gaza in the township of Chipinge, Zimbabwe. Chipinge, a rural agriculture community, is best known for the famous resident witchdoctor Sangoma Ndunge who recently died. Peter had the body of an eight-year-old due to lack of proper nourishment and personal care. He is under the supervision of his reluctant uncle who is juggling three marriages.
Sylivia, Peter’s neighbor, asked if I would pray for him. When he approached Peter, I could smell the odour of rotting flesh, something I have never encountered before. I immediately noticed Peter’s curled fingers and toes and the hideous scabs that covered the bottom of his feet and the palms of his hands. Inside, I recoiled from what I was seeing! It took everything within me not to react negatively. I knelt down and looked into Peter’s narrow face and large oval eyes. I had no words to speak, except for a prayer of mercy and pleading to God to intervene in this boy’s hopeless state.
Holy unrest fell upon my mind that night as I lay, tortured by the images of Peter that would not cease floating through my mind. I asked God what He wanted me to do and the response was, “Go and bathe him.” The very thought of that made me cringe but I agreed in my heart to obey the quiet nudge of God.
The next day, we went to visit young Peter with a bucket of warm water and a bottle of lavender oil. I bent down before him, and it was at that moment I was reminded of the words of Jesus: “When you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40). A large crowd of people gathered around this unlikely scene of a foreigner washing the feet of a forgotten AIDS orphan. Neighbors looked on and marveled, questioning why this white man would be washing this boy’s body. I myself also asked what God’s motive for this could be. It appeared that God was showing off His perfect love in a hopeless situation. I left that day thinking my divine duty was now complete. But God’s mission for me was not yet complete. He had more planned for Peter and I.
The next day, I went to retrieve Peter and physically carried him to the church building where the Bible School students were eating lunch. It was lunchtime when we arrived. I sat Peter down in a chair and brought him a plate of sadza, chicken soup and boiled kale greens. He was so grateful for a hot meal and ate his lunch with focus and vigor. This was rare for him. Peter could not do much for himself because he could not walk. He was dependent on others to care for his basic needs due to his ambulatory challenge. Once all the Pastors had finished their lunch, I asked them to focus their attention on Peter and his dilemma. The petition was for them to pray and ask that God would help young Peter in his dire state. During the cacophony of group prayer, I asked Peter if he could try to stand up. Miraculously, Peter rose to his feet on his own strength. Then I asked him to try to walk and he did. In the first few steps, the group assisted Peter and everyone saw that God was performing a miracle right in front of their eyes! Peter proceeded to walk back and forth without assistance in front of an audience of faithful servants of God whose prayers turned from shouts and demands of heaven to waves of tears, mercifully forced upon us by God’s manifest presence which overshadowed the unified believers. That day, Peter walked out of the meeting he was carried to, hand-in-scabby-hand with me. In the span of only an hour, Peter was the recipient of more attention than he had received in his whole life combined! Hope was thick in the air that Peter’s situation would improve.
The next few days were mission-critical. We needed to find Peter a caregiver and a permanent home. Each meeting showed promise but only ended with excuses about why the plan couldn’t work for Peter’s situation. In the meantime, Peter’s miracle story spread throughout the village, with each siting of him walking to school enriching and affirming the heaven-sent miracle to all the witnesses.
Our last day in the small village of Chipinge, I walked up the dirt hill to the little hut where Peter lived. Introspectively, I spoke to God and complained about how miserably I must have failed Peter since no caregiver or home had been found. As I turned up the final stretch of dirt path to see Peter, I noticed the boy sitting on a rock as if he anticipated my arrival. In my self-loathing moment of despair, that familiar divine voice said, “You have not failed. Peter walks and everyone has seen My power in his weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). The warmth of God’s wisdom flooded my heart as I approached Peter with a confident trust only God can give. I said my goodbyes and encouraged Peter to continue to do what God had started: stand up and walk. I reminded him that God raises victors, not victims, and that his life was now an inspiration to many who had lost hope. Each time people see Peter walk, they will know God is still performing miracles against all impossible odds in the village of Chipinge.
Three days after arriving back to the safe surroundings of the United States, we received a sad text message about Peter. The adulterous uncle who had reluctantly taken care of him since his parents died decided he no longer wanted Peter to stay in their home. He drove Peter out of town to a remote farm where a distant cousin lived and left him there, unannounced and with no resources to support his daily needs. Peter was discarded as an unwanted stray dog. Most upsetting, however, was that he was left exposed with a more significant chance of dying from neglect. Immediately upon receipt of this update, I questioned God’s divine strategy as I evaluated this heartless act, an evil human checkmate. The group of Pastors who witnessed the original work of God scrambled into action upon hearing thus news and went out to the distant place where Peter stayed. They are now committed to helping the young miracle child ‘pick up his bed and walk’ (John 5:8).
To this day, I continue to receives calls and text messages from Chipinge keeping me up-to-date on Peter’s circumstance. God’s plan is enduring and Peter’s very life is in His hands.
Please join us in believing and praying for a safe, permanent home for Peter. If you want to help us support Peter financially, please give here. Thank you.
