I don’t think Jonas has ever been seen without a smile on his face! He is the happiest little boy in our orphanage. It has been less than a year since we found him during the taping of one of our television programs. We had gone for a food distribution, and one of our co-workers saw this little boy working alongside grown men in the fields. Pulling him aside, our worker began to hear the child’s story. He was one of the many “restavek” slave children. These are children whose parents have died, and they have now been sent to a family member or sold to work in someone’s garden. His horror stories would make a grown man cry.

We took him away with us. He had never been in a car, had a shower, sat at a table, or put on shoes. He had never been able to eat, without being beaten “for not working hard enough.” He had never been to school until he came to us, so he is far behind. But, what he lacks, he makes up with his smile. In December, he had his first Christmas! Let’s see what Jonas will grow up to be! This is “one lovable kid!”

Sherry