The next morning before the children woke, Julie walked by the bushes just to see if there were berries. Since the first day Daya had brought food, they never reappeared.
She returned and spent about 40 minutes reviewing the Exodus story Wow, Lord, You really provided food for 40 years for about a million people. I guess providing for our little group each day is really easy. She spent another 20 minutes praying for the orphans and Michael and Logan. I don’t think I’ve ever prayed that long in my life!
After everyone was awake, Julie shared the Exodus story.1 The children loved the frogs and the gnats and were especially attentive when Julie told how the Lord provided manna every day for them to eat.
Julie led the children in a prayer for the Lord to rescue them from the dump and to rescue Bhanu and Kumar. Ravi translated, and the children repeated. Several of them closed their eyes and prayed fervently. Wow, thought Julie, they’re becoming little prayer warriors.
Through Ravi’s translation, Julie had learned more of their stories and about their personalities. From this, she would ask the Lord for a specific plan to help each child.
If she didn’t hear anything definite, most days she would take a child for a walk to the market, even though she couldn’t buy anything for them or herself. They all seemed to enjoy the special attention and the colorful change of scenery that the market provided.
Julie had been waking earlier than the children and spending time in prayer, asking for wisdom and compassion.
“Lord, You referred to a key to unlock Nilaya’s heart. After I scratched her and almost beat her with my purse, she won’t trust me. I can’t blame her.”
It’s not just you, Julie. All her life she’s been rejected and abused, and no one has loved her well or at all. It’s not that she doesn’t want to trust; it’s that she can’t. No one around her has ever been trustworthy, until now. She hates being left out, but she is driven by her fears. But I am going to bind up her wounds and heal her hurts. Watch and see what I do with Nilaya in the next few days. Today I will give her courage to approach you. Welcome her and praise her lavishly. Show My love to her today. I have chosen you to show her a new way.
“How do I show her a new way?”
Consistency and follow through. Each day promise her some small thing; begin very small, a back scratch, a conversation, a walk—and then do it. Over time she will learn a new pattern. And smile. No one’s eyes have ever lit up when she came into the room. For now, she must receive My delight in her and My love for her through you.
Julie watched the children play from her vantage point, sitting with her back against the lone tree.
This heat really zaps my energy. So lethargic. All I want to do is rest. She wiped the sweat from her brow. How do they survive without air conditioning?
With Shoba sleeping beside her, she dozed off and on and dreamed she heard a baby cry. The next thing she knew, Nilaya was shaking her shoulder, and there was definitely a real baby crying. Julie smiled at Nilaya, who looked at the ground. Nilaya tried to hand the infant to Julie, who paused, slathered hand sanitizer up to her elbows, and then received the newborn that was wrapped in rags and bundled in a light-weight, dirty blanket. Holding the baby with great care, Julie looked into its big, dark eyes.
“You are so precious. Where did you come from, little one?”
“Thank you, Nilaya. You rescued a baby. Thank you so much.” She put her hand on Nilaya’s arm. Nilaya beamed at Julie’s tone of voice, even though she couldn’t understand.
“Poor thing, she’s probably starving. Oh, Lord, what can we do? I don’t have any money. And how are we ever going to keep a baby healthy and clean at a garbage dump?”
After applying hand sanitizer to her index finger, she inserted it in the baby’s mouth, and it calmed down.
“Whew, ancient pacifier.”
Ravi had just arrived. “Ancient what?”
“Nothing, it makes the baby happy.”
“Where did we get a baby?”
“Ask Nilaya. Oh, sorry, maybe not. Someone must have dropped her, him, whatever, off this morning.” Julie checked. “It’s a girl!”
In minutes all the orphans were surrounding Julie, peering at the baby.
“Lord, show us what to do and how to care for this precious baby. Amen.” All the girls wanted to hold her; the boys were more cautious, but still curious. Ever vigilant, Julie used almost the whole bottle of hand sanitizer, making sure that every hand and finger that touched the infant was sterile.
The boys eventually left, but the girls spent hours being little mothers, fascinated by the baby. Julie smiled as Nilaya slid in close so she could keep a hand on the infant. Ravi had stayed as translator so Julie could give instructions.
“Support her neck. Hold up her head. She’s so sweet.”
The more the girls spent time with the baby, the more captivated they were. They made faces, trying to get her to smile.
“Translate, please, Ravi. Nilaya is a hero. She saved the baby’s life. Nilaya, you are a wonderful little girl. I’m so proud of you.” Julie reached her arm around Nilaya as she spoke. Nilaya beamed. Thank You, Lord, thought Julie. What a breakthrough.
“Could I, would you, let me hold the baby?” asked Ravi.
“Of course you can.” She positioned him against the tree for back support. Julie was surprised at how tenderly Ravi handled the infant. He cooed and rocked and even sang a lullaby.
“That’s beautiful Ravi.” Julie stared adoringly at the infant and Ravi.
He looked a little embarrassed, but confessed, “My mother used to sing me this song so I could go to sleep.”
Julie smiled. “Now, everyone think of a good name for her.” All the girls shouted their own names as suggestions, with the exception of Nilaya, who was silent.
Lord, what do you call her?
Ravi looked up at Julie.
“I have a name for the baby. Could we name her Sharavathi?” Ravi looked hopeful.
“What a beautiful name.”
He looked back at the baby.
“It was my mother’s name,” he said as he ran his fingers over the baby’s cheek.
“Since Nilaya found the baby, I think Nilaya should name the baby.” Sitting a little taller, Nilaya almost grinned as Ravi translated.
“Nilaya, what do you think about the name Sharavathi?” Looking up, Nilaya nodded, her face brightening.
“Sharavathi she is. Can we call her Shara?” Nilaya nodded again, unable to squelch her smile. Ravi grinned from ear to ear and handed her back to Julie.
Wilson’s voice rang out, alerting everyone that Daya had arrived. Before Julie knew what was happening, they were gone to the garden except Ravi, who hid on the other side of the hedge to watch.
Daya sat two large groceries bags next to Julie.
“What? A baby?”
Julie nodded.
“Someone must have left her at the dump early this morning. She’s probably less than a week old. Nilaya was digging looking for something to eat,” Julie shuddered, “and saw this little bundle move.”
“This is not unusual. Couples want to have boys so they will be supported in their old age. Many times they kill the girls and try again.”
Julie gasped and reflexively held Shara closer.
“She needs food, and she needs to be cleaned. I have no money to even buy milk and a bottle.”
“I will take her,” said Daya.
“To the police station?” blurted Julie. “What will they do with her, or to her?”
“The police care even less about abandoned babies than they do orphans. I will take her to my friends at church. There are two sisters, Chanda and Champa, who love children. They will take good care of her until someone will adopt her.”
“Are you sure they will take good care of her?” Julie asked, while staring into Shara’s eyes and brushing her fingers over Shara’s thick black hair.
Daya looked at her as if she had asked the stupidest question ever.
“Yes, they are Jesus-lovers, too, and love children very much. If I take her—”
“Shara, we named her Sharavathi.”
“If I take Sharavathi now, I will have time to take her to the sisters on my lunch break. But I must hurry.”
Julie breathed a silent prayer and rubbed her nose against Shara’s.
“You are so sweet. I wish I could take you home with me. You would be my special baby.” She choked back tears as she reluctantly handed the baby to his outstretched arms.
“Don’t worry. I promise she will be cared for very well.” He left in a hurry.
Ravi observed the whole thing and sprinted to the garden.
“The police eat orphans and old dead people and they eat babies, too!” yelled Ravi. “And he’s going to eat Sharavathi. He’s going to eat our baby!”
A few of the girls shrieked. Wilson clutched his walking stick and several boys gasped. “I saw him. He took Shara and then ran away!”
“Are you sure?” asked Shoba.
“Yes. I saw him leave with her in his arms.”
“What can we do?” wailed Sashi.
Nilaya dropped to the ground and began to cry.
“He’s gone,” moaned Ravi. “We’d never catch, him even if we knew where he took her. Why did Auntie give him our baby?”
“Did he bring food before he left?” asked Sammy in a hopeful voice.
Ravi nodded.
“It wasn’t poisoned yesterday, and if he’s going to eat the baby, he’s not going to be hungry for a long time, so he wouldn’t need to kill us today,” said Madhu, who was always thinking.
“But,” said Praveen, pointing his index finger, “he didn’t know we had a baby today, so maybe the food is poisoned.” The older children, now distracted from the baby, pondered this; the younger ones just looked confused.
“Auntie must be very hungry to trade the baby for food,” said Sapna.
Ravi spoke up, “But I don’t think she knows he’s a bad guy like Mr. Shah.”
“Can’t we just go see the food?” asked Sammy, who felt his stomach growling.
“Maybe we can tell if it’s poisoned,” said Madhu.
The group marched solemnly back to Julie, who greeted them with unbounded excitement.
“The Lord answered our prayers. He not only provided us with food today; He provided a place for Shara. Isn’t that great? Our new friend knows two sisters who will take care of Shara.”
Julie didn’t understand why the group wasn’t more excited after Ravi translated for her, but she started laying out food in piles. Is it my imagination, or is Sashi frowning at me? When they saw the food, the children’s focus left Shara and turned to relieving their hunger.
“OK, let’s pray. Jesus, thanks for providing our new friend, Daya, and thanks for the food he brings, and thanks for saving Shara’s life. Amen.”
There was dead silence.
“Ah-meen,” Julie said. She sanitized their hands; then they gathered their food and sat. Once again, all eyes were on Julie. She didn’t realize that when she ate her roti, after a few seconds hesitation, everyone else did, too. She pulled a plastic lid off of a foam cup.
“What is this—rice and something?” She smelled it and crinkled up her nose. “Very spicy.” She took a small taste, made a face, and put the lid back on the cup. Reluctantly the others did, too.
“It’s poisoned,” whispered Praveen.
The children were even more alert now. They peeled their orange when Julie did, but waited until she ate a few segments to follow. At the end, she popped her sweet in her mouth. “Oh, that’s good. It’s lemon.”
Sammy, in an uncharacteristic show of will power, waited extra long and was the last one to eat his.
Julie picked up the trash and realized all the foam cups were still full.
“Praveen, you didn’t eat your rice. Ravi, yours is full. Nilaya, you didn’t eat yours either. Ravi, what’s going on?”
“Umm, we did not think it tasted good either. Also too spicy for us.” He kept a somber face and could see Praveen staring at him out of the corner of his eye.
“Ravi,” chirped Julie, “are you planning to rescue more children? Daya will help us, he will protect us from Mr. Shah. He can rescue Kumar and Bhanu.” Julie gathered all the cups and put them in one of the sacks. “I’ll keep these for later, and when you want yours just come to me.” They’re pretty serious for having eaten such a wonderful meal. Even the bananas didn’t seem to cheer Ravi.
As the afternoon wore on, Julie had the distinct feeling that the children were meeting as a group and she was excluded. That’s unusual; the boys usually play as a group, and the girls gather and play where I am.
When they noticed her strolling toward them, they quit talking. She walked away, and they started chatting again.
Julie’s feelings were wounded. She prayed. “Lord, what’s going on? It’s like I’m persona non grata all of a sudden.”
Talk to Ravi, was all the Lord said.
Julie strolled to the group. They all fell mute and stared at the ground.
“Ravi, I need to talk with you. Will you come, please?” She tried to figure out what to ask. I guess I’ll start with food. Can’t go wrong with that!
“Here, Ravi,” said Julie, handing him two cups of rice. “You can have mine, too.”
Ravi’s eyes grew big, and he shook his head as he scooted away a little.
“Go on, Ravi, eat it. It’s not like you to turn down food.”
The more she insisted, the more anxious he became.
“What’s wrong?” She scooted near him, but he scooted away.
“Ravi?”
“I can’t; don’t make me eat it.”
“OK, you don’t have to eat it. Here, I’m putting it back in the sack.” She sat quietly while asking the Lord for wisdom.
“What’s wrong? Please tell me.” Finally the burden Ravi was carrying became too much to bear.
“The food is poisoned, and he ate Chavvi and Shara, and then he’s going to eat us, and then he’s going to find some old dead people to eat. Why don’t you protect us?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“The policeman.”
“Our policeman? Daya?” Ravi nodded and burst into tears.
“Did you know he was bad? Were you going to let him eat us one at a time?”
“Where did you get such an idea?”
After several minutes of prodding, Ravi unraveled the whole story. Julie picked him up, and he collapsed into her arms.
“Oh, Ravi. I’m so sorry you’ve all been so scared. It’s all a big misunderstanding.” She explained the situation to Ravi, who gradually stopped crying.
“Go get everyone. Tell them I’m going to eat the rice to prove it’s not poisoned.”
After Julie explained the misunderstanding through Ravi, she held up the foam cup, smiled, and took a large bite of rice. The orphans watched anxiously. She stopped chewing. My mouth is on fire. Her eyes watered, and she tried to hide the burning sensation and stifled the desire to cough.
I’d give anything for a juice box or an ice cube! She resisted the burning urge to spit out the rice and forced herself to swallow. She felt her face flush and perspiration bead on her forehead.
“Ummmm, good,” she said through clenched teeth. I always order mild sauce when I eat Mexican food. I think I’m going to die! She steeled herself and took another bite, but didn’t chew this time. She swallowed it just to get it out of her mouth quickly. My tongue must be medium-well by now. The children watched attentively. My esophagus is permanently scorched. Help me, Jesus.
After a few moments had passed, the other children all grabbed their cups. Julie sighed in great relief.
“Here,” she said, holding up her cup. “Someone can finish mine!” While I crawl in the bushes and expire. She watched the children delighting in the rice. How in the world can they tolerate that?
“I’m going to go for a walk, and I’ll be back in a little while. Tell the children to just relax and play, Ravi. You’ve all had a rough two days.” She turned around, opened her mouth, and fanned it with her hands.