Let's talk about Walter ..................


To talk about Walter we need to meet his family. He is a 12 year old boy, the eldest child of six.
His father is in prison.
His mother is with the family, but in poor health.
The rest of the family...

Kevin is the 2nd oldest. He is 10 years old. He is small for his age. He is becoming rebellious and no longer attends church. He spends a lot of his time with his friends. Yesterday he spent the day playing with a plastic bottle tied with a string so that he could pull it around and around, Kevin has a beautiful smile that never quite reaches his eyes. He has never been to school.

Lespie is a child that has had the responsibility of being a mother to the younger children. She is now eight years old. She misbehaves sometimes to draw attention to herself. It is hard to always be responsible and it is rarely any fun. I have seen her walking around with the house keys, keeping track of her little brother and sister, feeding them, brushing their hair, gathering up the families belongings while the mother is away. Whenever we take them out to eat or play she runs to the house, cleans all the kids, makes them change into their "best" clothes, brushes their hair, hunts for enough shoes for everyone to wear, packs up the house and locks the door. She is a little girl that has not had much time to be a little girl. She has never been to school.

Belkie, sweet little Belkie with the sparkling eyes and shy smile. She is five years old and the first one in the family that stole my heart. She loves Randy. Whenever she would see him she would run and run, throw her arms around his legs and lift up her eyes that were overflowing with adoration. Randy will swing her up in his arms, give her an awesome hug and a belly splitting tickle. She would literally climb mountains, forge small rivers, and spend the entire day following him around. Unfortunately she is no longer able to chase after Randy with the speed and dexterity that she nce had. She fell down a flight of rickety old stairs. Randy went to her house to check on her and she was so happy to see him that she pulled herself across a rough wooden floor on her hands dragging her legs behind her. Randy reached down to pick her up and she cried out in pain. Her leg was broken and she had not been to the doctor. It had been several days, we took her to the hospital and they set her leg, but it has not healed right. She still limps. She is not as fast or as nimble as she was and I think she will always limp, but as children so often do she is bouncing back and making the best of it. She is most defiantly faster that I am. (I know that that is not saying much) She is a bright and loving child. She has never been to school.

Bryan is two and is the cutest little boy I think I have ever seen. He smiles and ducks his head whenever I call to him. I love this little guy. He is sweet and loving and more than a little shy. He will let me hold him but he always hides his little face in my shoulder and rarely talks, he only smiles. He is now spending more time with his older sisters wondering around the mountain. He is short and his shorts always hang well beneath his knees. I love to tickle him and play peek-a-boo to get one of his special smiles. He is no longer the baby in the family. He does not much like the new baby in the family.

Claudia is a month old. She is beautiful and I have been tempted to steal her away. She is new and precious, she has not gone hungry yet, she has not been left alone on the mountain yet, she hasn't had to walk around mountains in bare feet or in shoes sizes too big or small yet, she hasn't pieced together clothes to cover her naked body yet, she hasn't had to ask people for food, clothes, or help, yet. Notice I say the word yet, it is just a matter of time in this family before she starts missing meals, she is left alone, she is naked, she is sick and gets no care. Only a matter of time.

The family lives in a torch house built this past year. We check on them on a regular basis, we try to send clothes and medications. The house often has little or no food. We do what we can. We pray and we pray. We bring them to our heavenly Father. We can not solve all of their problems but we know who can.

But this blog is about Walter. Walter is the man of the house and will always hold a special place in my heart. He is always smiling and I don't know why or how. Could I smile if I had to live his life? Let's look at Walters life. He is twelve years old and is responsible for his family. He has never been to school and will never be able to go to school. He has to provide the little bit of money that the family gets by on. He is one of the many children that you see on the streets selling pieces of gum and candy. He spends his whole day walking between cars begging people to buy his gum. That piece of gum will help feed his five younger siblings. He walks for miles or catches a ride. He tries not to ride the bus, he is small and an easy target for robbery. If he does not make money then he goes home and they might go hungry. What an incredible responsibility for a twelve year old boy. He has asthma. We didn't know this until he ran up to the top of the mountain to help us one day. His breathing was ragged and he became pale. I turned on the truck and the air conditioner. He said he was just hot and tired, but after only a minute I knew we were in trouble. We loaded into the truck and then began a crazy drive down the mountain to a hospital. His breathing was shallow he was sweaty and wild eyed, he could know longer speak to us. We poured cold water on his head and kept his face as close to the cold air as possible. I have had no experience with asthma. He then stopped breathing and passed out. I was so afraid. My heart stopped and my prayers were not coherent (I know that God listened to my heart and was with us). We tried to perform cpr in the truck as Randy literally flew to the hospital and Rodger ran into the hospital with Walter. The hospital staff rushed him to the back and began to work on him. I was allowed back to be with him after he was stable I sat and talked with him, he was so afraid. His mother was not there and even if he is the bread winner of the family he is still a child. So being the fact that I am a mother I reached out to him and in doing so gave him my heart. I ask why he didn't tell us he had asthma, He said he didn't think about it. I ask about an inhaler, he looked at me and with a small smile said no money. That's it. A child's life in danger everyday because of the cost of an inhaler. No money.

Walter had recovered and is still working. I am sad. I know that he doesn't have many options for his future, he can't read or write. He can't get any vocational training, he has to work. I am asking that everyone who reads this blog to place Walter on your prayer list. God loves Walter and has a plan for him.

I ask for your prayers for our family and for God's will in our lives. It is so hard somedays when we see so much pain and need in the faces of so many children. But with God's help and guidance we will continue to serve to the best of our abilities. Thank you for your prayers, for your support for the many needs, for your encouragement and for your time.

If you want to know more about Walter, his family, getting children in school, the Manna Project, building houses, providing food, sponsoring a family, providing medications, helping with evangelism, sponsoring our Sunday school classes or coming to Honduras to serve please post a comment or email our family at klugefamily@gmail .com

Love,
the Kluge Family