My Encounter With a Champion

As I stood at the back of this humble chapel, taking in this amazing moment, one particular child attracted my attention. He had one blind and clouded eye — but the other had a gleam in it. One of his ears was missing, but the other hung on to every word the priest said. His smile was bigger than everyone else’s, and he seemed to be oblivious to the third degree burn scars that covered his head, shoulders and chest.

After the children all received their Boxes of Joy, I got to meet this incredible child — 8-year-old Libio Miguel — as well as his mother Nidia and little brother. I learned that two years ago, while Nidia was away working, a gas lantern spilled on her precious son’s head. The family’s story of faith and survival was inspiring. How any young child could withstand such injuries was hard to fathom, but it was even more difficult to comprehend in light of the burden of poverty the little family was also enduring. I was deeply touched as they told me how God had moved people of faith to respond to Libio’s needs, including funding his major surgery.