Memories of Daliso

As Camp Hope 2013 is approaching, I can't help being reminiscent of previous camps. My first mission trip to Zambia through Every Orphan's Hope will always hold special memories for me, not just because it was the first time I served God, but because there was one special young man whom I have never been able to forget–Daliso.

When I met him, he gave me a very common greeting that you see from some of the boys when they are trying to "be cool" but there's more to it than that. It's like they're saying "hello" but at the same time they're saying, "I'm still not so sure about you. I don't know you, so I'm not going to let you too close." It's like a subtle head nod but with the chin going up and the eyebrows raised slightly. Those of you who have seen this know exactly what I'm talking about. So, back to Daliso...this is the greeting I got, no words, just the chin nod.

As the first day of Camp Hope began, my partner teacher, Christi and I started with our class. We found out quickly that Daliso was a handful, to say the least. He wouldn't talk to us, but loved to cause disruption among the other kids in the group. Having been a teacher of upper elementary and middle school children, he was my favorite type of kid. I've always had such a heart for that student who is the trouble maker in class and liked to make them my project. I found out early in my teaching career that it was those kids that would turn into some of my favorite students. Ultimately, they just needed someone to believe in them, too. Their heart was good, but past experiences had given them a tough exterior.

Daliso had that tough exterior, he wasn't going to make our class easy. The first day when Camp Hope ended, the staff and adult volunteers gave an apple and orange to each child that attended. Daliso got his, then he "tricked" another younger child to let him see his and then he ran off with it. Christi was watching what he did and as this other little child was crying she found Daliso and made him return the fruit to the child. Although what he did was wrong, thankfully our training reminded us that there was no telling when the last time he had eaten was and many of these children don't know when their next meal will be. It's not uncommon for the stronger to take from the weaker, sadly...all too often this is the life of an orphan. That ended our first day of camp. Even now I laugh at it, knowing how this story continues. I came up to him while Christi was reprimanding him and just watched but didn't say anything else.

The next day, Daliso was my new friend. I saw him in the morning and whatever he expected was not what he got. I went up to him, said, "Good morning," and sat next to him. I stayed with him as much as possible just talking to him. Now, he hadn't said one word to us yet but only talked to his friends in Nyanja. When I would ask him questions, he would just give me that same head nod with the eyebrow raised, acknowledging my words but not giving me anything else. Throughout that day, I learned a few things about Daliso that broke my heart. The most significant was that Daliso was a young boy of about 10 (he didn't know his exact age) and he couldn't read or write. He had never had anyone to support him for his schooling. He didn't tell me this, but as we were allowing children to find passages in the Bible we gave them. He would often just sit and look at it, turn the pages, and wait until either I or Christi came around to show him where to go. Christi was also a teacher, so she and I discovered quickly that half of our kids had been in school and the other half had never had any education. Daliso was curious during this day, he watched a lot and did the crafts, but as the other kids began to get comfortable, pray with us and talk about their lives, by the end of the second day, still no words from Daliso.

The third day...still the same. No words at all.

And then came Thursday, I pray that as I grow older and my memory fades, this day never does. That morning when we arrived at camp, many of us just hung out with the kids as we were waiting for the other children to arrive. Daliso came up to me and pulled out of his pocket this small toy man to show me. This gained much attention from the other kids and although I encouraged him to let them see it, you could see he was very protective of this toy. It wasn't shiny or anything our children would ever think as a "cool" toy, but to him it was a treasure. As he stood near me, I watched him take it out, look at it, then put it back in his pocket. Then, he would take a piece of wire he found and start bending it. This process would continue for quite awhile and I discovered that he was using the toy man as a model to create a wire man. Once he saw my amazement at his creativity, he began to smile. I remember looking at him when he was done and said, "All he needs now are some clothes." He disappeared for awhile and when he came back he had some wax paper he found on the ground. He was tearing pieces off and wrapping it around the man for clothes. Then after he was done, he handed it to me. I tried to give it back and when he shook his head I realized he had been making the gift for me all along. What a  great day we had. We had presented the gospel story the day before and as many children met with myself and Christi asking to accept Christ, Daliso watched from afar, but he kept me in his sight. I had made a friend.

That night after camp, we all came back to watch the international Jesus movie and had a dance party. Daliso was there and he had the best smile ever. Still no words, but he grabbed my hand for me to come over and dance with other girls from our class. After dancing, we watched the movie and he sat close to me. At the end of the movie, he hugged me goodbye and ran home. What a great day we had. His heart was changing, he knew that I was his friend, and the tough exterior was no longer present.

The next morning when we showed up at Camp Hope, Daliso was waiting for me by the gate. As soon as I walked in he said, "Teacher, the movie last night about Jesus."

"Yes" I said.

"Teacher, he didn't do anything wrong."

"That's right, Daliso," I said.

He stood there for a moment, then he said, "Teacher....that made me cry. That's not right."

All I could say is, "It makes me cry too," and I hugged him.

This was the first words he had said to any of us all week, and this is what he chose to talk about..WOW!

He went off to play and I went with the other teachers to get ready for the day. Now, many would say I missed an opportunity, but if I learned anything about Daliso that week, it is that he had to come to things on his terms, not mine. I had seen his heart changing each day and so my only prayer that morning when I woke up was that God would continue to stir his heart and that by the end of the day he would be a child of God.

Later that morning, as I sat in the dirt praying with another young girl who wanted to accept Christ as her Savior, it happened. I looked up and Daliso was no longer with the class but he was standing 5 feet away, looking at the ground, moving the dirt with his foot. I can still see this, he wanted to talk to me but he wasn't sure. I will never know what he was thinking. Was he thinking that Jesus was for everyone else but not him? Did Daliso think that he wasn't good enough?

As I got ready to walk back to the class with a young girl, I gave her a hug, told her that I would see her in a moment and walked up to Daliso. He still didn't look at me but only his feet as he pushed the dirt back and forth.

"Daliso, did you want to see me?"

All I got was a head nod, again.

Then he said, "I want Jesus" and he patted on his heart.

God answered my prayer, he belonged to the Lord. I don't think I will ever forget visiting with him about accepting Christ...praying with him, hugging him, and him accepting my hug.

It was at the end of camp on that final day that I truly began to understand what Camp Hope was really about and what Every Orphan's Hope did on those days. Don't get me wrong, I knew what we were doing there, but sometimes when you have to explain it to others, I often hear, "Oh...so it's like a VBS?" Sure, the format is like a VBS, but Camp Hope is more.

As the end of the day began to approach, kids in all the groups started realizing that this was it. The teachers were going home and the camp was coming to an end. It was impossible to not look around and see tears in the eyes of teachers and children, alike. You get so close to these children in such a short time; they enter into your heart in a way you could never imagine. You have given many of them something they may have never felt–a hug with unconditional love. It can be heart-breaking to leave. We got on the bus and the tears poured out. I couldn't stop them. I would look at some of the kids in my class and they were crying, too. It hurt in a way I never imagined.

Then I saw something I never expected...Daliso. The bus was pulling out and driving down the street when Daliso came running after it calling out, "Teacher, teacher!" When I looked at him, he wasn't crying though and it wasn't a run out desperation. He was waving and smiling, the biggest smile I had ever seen on him. He was happy. Even as I write this, I can't help but smile and my heart warms. And it's when I got home that when I tried to understand what I had learned, in the end I came back to Daliso.

He became a new creation in Christ. The young man who wasn't going to let anyone touch his heart, whose tough exterior couldn't be broken felt the love of Christ. He smiled and waved and he had something no one could take away from him–Christ. I believe as he ran after the bus he knew that, for him, it wasn't an end but just a beginning. That is Camp Hope–new creations. Every year after that I've seen this happen with other short-term missionaries and my mind always flows back to him.

I still pray for Daliso and I haven't forgotten his prayer. He wanted to go to school and learn to read, something we take for granted every day. That's what he wanted. I also still have the gift he gave me, and I pick it up often to remember...to remember how God can change a heart when nothing else can, to remember that Christ brings hope to all when there is nothing else, and to remember that Camp Hope changes lives.

As Every Orphan's Hope is raising funds to send 500 orphans to Camp Hope this summer, please consider visiting their site to send a child to camp. The gift you give is immeasurable.