“Take that Mask Off,” he said…

Last night several of our youth from church went down to Atlanta to work with an inner city church’s Trunk or Treat. We had a great time playing games, painting faces, painting pumpkins, serving food and much more. My friend, Suzie, had these great masks and it was such a hoot watching people’s reactions as we would walk up and stand beside them, waiting for them to see us. Most jumped; some laughed; others ran.

There was a little boy that stole my heart. He was four years old and shivered in the cold. He had no shoes and he wore a jacket that was too big for him. He first came up to me and sheepishly said, “Take that mask off.”  After a while, I sat with a couple of girls from the youth group at the face painting table and took off my mask. To my surprise, the little fellow came over and climbed in my lap.

As I began talking with him, it seemed like he was there alone. This pierced my heart to the core. How could someone leave such a precious child alone at a church in the inner city? He had sores both in and on his mouth, and his nose was caked with mucus. He was obviously sick. Oh how I wanted to wrap my arms around him and bring him home and protect him.

After I had fed him dinner and played some games with him (about an hourhd passed), his seven year old sister found him. She had his shoes, and she asked me to put them on his feet. As I put on his tennis shoes, I wanted to cry as I realized that there was no adult there with them. No one to protect them. As they left, my heart hurt for them both. So young. So at risk. So precious.

I haven’t been able to get this little one out of my mind. I have prayed for him continually since I met him and I will continue.

As I write this, I am hit with the reality of what Christ did for us. We were wanderers; lost without anyone to help, when He laid aside His deity to become man so that he could rescue us. Christ doesn’t just feed us a good meal and save us from our current troubles, but he saves our very souls and will one day rescue us from this world; He adopts us as His children and He promises to never leave us. What a mighty God we serve!