A Mission of Hope
By Mike Sutherland

Every year for the last five years, my wife, daughter Jennifer, and I spend two weeks during the summer going on mission trips with an organization called Y.W.A.M. (Youth with a Mission), whose focus is working with kids who live on the streets. This year was our second year to lead a team to Recife, Brazil. Our team was very much needed in Brazil, as there are four million children and young adults living on the streets. In addition to working on the streets, we led a vacation bible school and community outreach.

Another area of the Y.W.A.M. ministry is working with families who live in a local dump site. What happened on the Friday before we came home will remain in my memory forever. We received the following email from another Y.W.A.M. team after we returned home:

Dear Friends,

I want to share the story of Joao Victor with you. He will be 2 in August, but as you can see, he is very malnourished. Last Friday, our team was in the garbage dump with a team from Michigan that was serving at our base. While visiting some homes, they found Joao Victor lying on a bed in his own excrement. I shared this information with Mate and he said, "We need to get this baby today!"

Severely malnourished Joao Victor, weighing only 11 pounds.
So off we went and found him lying in the same bed. After sharing with his 20-year old mother our desire to take him for medical treatment, she consented. She bathed him and we were on our way. Right away, we arranged an appointment with our pediatrician. We were ushered in and the doctor looked on in disbelief. Joao Victor weighed only 11 pounds. At this point, his condition is so bad that he can't do any exams. The doctor said that Joao Victor is in the final stages of malnutrition and she has not seen such an extreme case in her 15 years in Recife. He has pneumonia, possibly tuberculosis, a severe ear infection, scabies, lice, etc., and has to drink soy milk, as his system can't take real milk. We bought the first batch of medicines and special food, which cost over $100.

Our plans are to keep him in our home and with the help of staff on a rotating schedule, to take care of him and nurse him back to complete health. I am a bit concerned that he might have AIDS and we will be getting him testing when he is strong enough.

Please be praying for him in the days and weeks.

Blessings,
Mate and Julie

We were definitely in the right place at the right time. Hopefully our team will have played a part in saving the life of this child.

Anyone interested in knowing more about international missions or who may want to help with the care of this young child can contact me at the Flint office
(810-234-6582).