Cristian

Of all the children that participate in the feeding program at Camp Betel, Honduras, Cristian has stood out to me the most during my visits to the Camp over the past two years. He was the boy who ran out of his grandmother's house to jump and wave every time our buses drove by. He was the boy who participated in all the fun and games of Vacation Bible School. He was the boy who hit the pinata, sang the songs, and received clothes at Christmas time. He was also the boy who wore a bandana to cover the tumor taking over the right side of his face.

When I first met him, he was nine years old. He came to our medical clinic to receive vitamins, pain medicine, and bandages for the frail, thin skin on his face. Other members of our team got to know him through the Vacation Bible School program. In July 2010, Cristian ran and played with the other kids, even with the bandages and the bandana.

Cristian's battle with this tumor has been a long process. For many years, Cristian lived in a small house with much of his extended family. About three years ago, a man from a local church built a house for Cristian and his mother right next to his grandmother's house. This project got Cristian out of the crowded and noisy house, and gave him his own, clean, quiet room and his own bed.

When we were there in August, Cristian wasn't doing so well. He was confined to his bed and was not able to eat. Several of our team members visited him and his family one afternoon while we were there. That night, Cristian lost consciousness for a while. We took bandaging to his house, but there was nothing else to do. On September 17, we received word that Cristian had passed and is now with Jesus.

Sara Sowers remembers, "Cristian was really an incredible little boy! He affected and, I believe, changed the lives of almost everybody who met him! He had a wonderful, carefree attitude about life. A great relationship with his mom and his cousins. I remember him hurrying to VBS each day (with the help of 3 little cousins) a few years ago when we were there. Despite having very little sight, he loved playing catch and sliding on those cement slides at camp!

I spent a lot of time with him the week we were there. We had been playing catch with different color beanbags and on the second day he started holding the bags really close to his good eye and calling out the colors, correctly, of each bag. When I gasped in shock, he belly laughed like he had just played the best trick on me! Which he did!

He is greatly missed by many who had brief encounters with him. But he is tremendously missed by his mother, grandmother and all his family."

I don't tell you this story to make you sad or to make you sorry. I tell you so that you rejoice with us in his life, that you rejoice in what you have, and that you realize what some people don't have. This is the mission of Simple Matters - to realize that others have less, and that we can do something about it. We cannot change all the issues of poverty in Honduras. We know we won't be able to change all the issues Cristian and the others in his community face every day. But we can do something.
Jordan Teague

Board Member