Bagas, Benny & Britton

(in the pics: Benny, Brit's picture for Benny, & Bagas)

When Brit was born, Josh and I decided to sponsor a child through Compassion International.  Our goal was to sponsor a child, close to the same age as Britton and then write to the child and when Britton was old enough, he could write to his "brother" and his "brother" would write back, hoping that someday Britton would meet him.  Our "adopted son's" name was Bagas.  We prayed for Bagas, wrote him letters, sent pics of the boys and he would write back and send pics of his family to us.  I truly enjoyed reading about Bagas.  He called me Auntie Misty, and the rest of the family was Uncle Josh and my Brothers, Britton and Aidan...I loved it.  I learned so much about his country and what his days consisted of.  Recently, we received a final letter from Bagas.  A letter that both broke my heart and caused it to soar.  Bagas and his family were doing so well, that they were being released from the Compassion program.  It was our final contact with our son/brother.  Compassion sent us a new friend, and his name is Benny.  And like Bagas, he is from Indonesia.  He is 9 and his days consist of "taking care of children, playing soccer and playing with cars".  There are 4 children in his family.  He is the oldest.  Today, as I was reading about our new "son", I called Britton in and told him about Benny, showed him on a map where Benny lives and told him what Benny likes to do for fun.  Britton's eyes were shining.  He said, "maybe someday I can see Benny.  I will take a soccer ball with us and we can play soccer and play with cars."  I said, "that would be awesome wouldn't it?"  I then asked him if he would like to color a picture for Benny or send him some cool stickers.  He said, "How about I draw him a picture?" I said, "sure."  A bit later, he brought me his art and my heart lurched.  He drew a picture of himself and Benny playing soccer.  When I showed the picture to Josh, he said, which one is Benny...I said, "I'm not sure, they are both happy."  In the picture, though they were wearing different shirts, they were both happy, smiling and playing soccer...Together...No racial differences, no sign that one "has more" than the other..Equals...BROTHERS...Britton took the picture of Benny up to his room and hung it up on his bulletin board, he said he will pray for him...I have no doubt that he will...In Britton's mind, Benny is just another boy in another place, waiting for the day when they can play soccer together...

As I have said before, Britton has taught me so much...in this situation, my mind is overwhelmed...Britton didn't just "love" Benny b/c he felt sorry for him, b/c he is superior...no, he loves him b/c he just does...they are BROTHERS...in soccer, in cars and in Christ...Equals...