Remembrances « Word Made Flesh

Remembrances

Word Made Flesh lives and serves among the dying. We remember our friends who have passed on and continue to carry their love and their stories in our heart. Please take a few moments to read the memorials of some of the WMF children and friends who have died.

We pray that their deaths would provide us an opportunity to remember others like them who will die today and to respond in love on behalf of those who should not needlessly die tomorrow.

Remember Benita
- Volunteer with Sierra Leone
  Date of death: Nov. 1, 2008; age: 26
  Memorial by: Dan Henry
  
  Benita Amostina Williams was a friend of many of the WMF Sierra Leone community and the beloved of one. She died Nov. 1, 2008, under questionable circumstances (the exact cause of death is unknown). She died at the age of 26 but lived those 26 years to the fullest.
  
  As a child she helped her grandparents run a mission station that nurtured many churches upcountry. After surviving a 10-year civil war, she ministered to many children and shared what she had with others who had nothing. At her funeral the church was full, as was the courtyard outside. The crowd attending her funeral was so numerous that it overflowed into the streets.
  
  She loved God and so many of her neighbors. She showed her love for God by singing. She showed her love for others by cooking. She had an abundant love for children, an enduring love for her family, and a unique love for me. She remained in the love of Christ until the end, and she is sorely grieved.
Remember Capital
- Friend of Nepal staff
  Date of death: Jan. 19, 2009; Age 21
  Cause of death: Complications due to AIDS
  Memorial by: Brook Birch
  
  Jeebas “Capital” Thapa was a beloved friend of WMF Nepal for many years and a member of the Kripaa Sadhan family. Known for his deep love for Jesus and desire to love and serve the Lord, Capital always knew how to bring a smile to our faces. Over the years, WMF staff walked with our brother Capital through many stages of his life, journey with Christ and struggles with drug addiction. Capital had a deep longing to be used by God to help others in their struggles in life, and to be used to serve the poor himself. After struggling for several years with drug addiction, Capital passed away at the age of 21, due to complications with AIDS. We are so grateful that Capital is now with his loving Savior in heaven for eternity.
Remember Hanz
- Friend of Bolivia staff
  Date of death: July 22, 2009
  Cause of death: Intoxication and hypothermia
  Memorial by: Andy Baker
  
  Hanz grew up on the border of Bolivia and Brazil. As a young boy, he lived with an alcoholic father. In his adolescent years, he moved in with relatives only to suffer repeated incestuous rape. Escaping his home environment, he found his way to the city and began working in the red-light district. Dressing as a woman, Hanz spent close to 10 years in the sex trade.
  
  We first met Hanz in El Alto in 2003, on a dark street a few blocks from the House of Hope. Our community made repeated attempts to move him off the streets, several times with apparent success. During a conversation the first time he entered therapy, Hanz said he wanted God to help him forget the past. His therapy became more complicated with time, and Hanz was never able to stay off the streets for more than a few months.
  
  On July 22, 2009, Hanz died of a combination of intoxication and hypothermia in La Paz. Several times, he had desperately and profoundly cried out to God for mercy and the will to change, and our prayer now is the same — “Lord, have mercy.”
Remember Jeferson
- Close friend of WMF Brazil Staff
  Date of Birth: Sept. 3, 1989
  
  Date of Death: Sept. 2, 2005
  
  Cause of Death: Gunshot wounds
  
  Memorial by: Ben Miller
  
  Two years ago, I met a young man named Jeferson. He had just turned 14, and was living on the streets of Rio. He soon became a big part of my life; seeing his playful grin and hearing him laugh as he yelled my name across the square were signs that it was going to be a good day.I remember sitting with him on Mother’s Day. I was asking some of the boys questions about their mothers – things they liked about them, things they missed, fun memories, etc. We laughed and got sad, and a few of the boys asked me about my mother who died when I was young. They wanted to know how she died and how I felt about it. Jeferson didn’t say much. He just sat quietly next to me. I answered their questions as best as I could and was touched when one of the boys sympathetically patted Jeferson and me on the shoulder and said in a soft voice, “It’s hard to lose a mom.” With those words, and the compassionate touch, Jeferson began to cry. So we sat on a moldy, falling-apart couch with our arms around each other’s shoulders, and we cried and laughed, and remembered.
  
  I remember eating spaghetti and pizza with him (his favorite meals). We buried each other in the sand at the beach. We played card games and board games and computer games. We watched Batman together. We teased and joked and laughed. We prayed together. We sang together.
  
  When he was over at our house, he heard one of the Servant Team members sing the worship song, “O Praise Him.” Jeferson loved to have me sing it. “Sing that song – you know …” So I would, and when I reached the chorus, he would join in. Somehow, I feel he’s still singing.
  
  Friday, Aug. 26 was his 16th birthday. I saw him the day before his birthday, and we made a plan to spend the day together on Saturday. I was supposed to go downtown and pick him up in the morning. From there we were going to go to the beach for a swim, watch a movie, then go back to my home and have pizza and a pie that Jenna (WMF staff) baked for him. As I walked away that Thursday night, I yelled to him “Happy Birthday! Don’t forget! I’ll see you on Saturday …” But I didn’t see him – that night was the last time I ever saw him.
  
  He didn’t show up Saturday. I couldn’t find him. None of us saw him the next week either. Wednesday, Jenna (WMF Brazil staff) was downtown and ran into Monique and Very, Jeferson’s sisters. They had bad news. Jeferson was dead. He had been killed – another victim of Rio’s senseless drug wars. He was killed because of where he was from and who his friends were, and because he ventured into the wrong neighborhood. Jeferson lived in a CV-affiliated favela and was invited to a party in an ADA-affiliated favela, with a group of friends. They went, not realizing it was an ambush. Jeferson, along with four of his friends, were killed.
  
  The funeral was the day after we heard the news. As I stood beside the coffin, the reality of Jeferson’s death fell upon me. Looking at him lying there, covered in white flowers, a bruised lump on his forehead, his eyes closed, his skin cold to the touch, I wept. He wasn’t going to wake up. I wept over lost opportunities. I wept because I missed my friend. I wept because he was alone and in pain when he died. I wept because I had not been able to save him. I wept for the pain of his sisters and his friends. I wept.
  
  In his book, The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann states that tears and mourning are acts of prophetic criticism, because they emphatically declare that all is not right with the world. Something has happened that should not have happened, and tears are our acknowledgement of that. They are the starting point from which we must travel on our search for hope. And that hope, though hidden in the most unlikely places, still remains.
  
  I know Jeferson was washed in the blood of the Lamb. And I cling to the promise for him:
  
  Jeferson is before the throne of God and serves Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tent over Jeferson. Never again will Jeferson hunger; never again will Jeferson thirst. The sun will not beat upon Him, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be his shepherd; He will lead Jeferson to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from his eyes (adapted from Revelation 7).
  
  I know that one day, I will see him again. But not yet. There is still much to do.
  
  Ben has serves among youth who live and work on the street in Rio. He is the Servant Team Coordinator. Please pray for our Rio staff, they live in dangerous “red zones,” drug war zones where they witness much violence and experience much loss.
- A Poem for Jeferson, by Rich Nichols
Remember Tatiana
- Close friend of WMF Peru Staff
  Date of Birth:
  
  Date of Death:
  
  Cause of Death: Drowning
  
  Memorial by: Jamie Reed
  
  I stood beside Tatiana’s hospital bed and said goodbye to my precious friend and treasured sister. Her hand in mine, I kissed her face as I told her how much she was loved and how thankful I was to know her. I whispered to her of the freedom, love, joy and belonging she would know in heaven as the beloved daughter of the King who knows her fully and loves her perfectly.When I said goodbye, I could not stop kissing her or let go of her hand, knowing that it would be the last time I saw her alive. It was the hardest goodbye I have ever said because I was not ready to say it. I love her so much.
  
  Tatiana never awoke from the 5-day coma she slipped into after nearly drowning in a river that runs through Lima. She died only a few hours after I said goodbye to her. She left the place of her suffering and was welcomed into the place of her rejoicing.
  
  Tatiana was 19 years old when she died, and had a 19-month old son. Though I, and many others, ache with the pain of losing her, I testify before God that He is good and that I am thankful. I am thankful for having known Tatiana, for having been blessed with a very special friendship with her, for having been able to know her intimately and to have shared so much with her, both joys and sorrows.
  
  As I think about our final goodbye, I know how appropriate it was; for during the time that I knew Tatiana, I received countless hugs and kisses from her. They were the good kind of hugs that have so much love and meaning behind them. She held my hand so many times, as we walked or talked; she had the gift of showing her love through touch.
  
  The tears that fell and bathed her face as I kissed her were appropriate because she never held back tears. Tatiana would cry and
  
  laugh at the same time as she opened her heart and shared with me.
  
  Tatiana could light up a room and probably all of Lima with her smile and laughter. She lived and loved fully; she didn’t hold back. She loved and forgave those who had wronged or hurt her with an amazing gift of grace that astonished me.
  
  Tatiana could be outrageous and obnoxious in a way that could frustrate and make me laugh at the same time. She remembered those she loved, calling them on their birthdays and holidays even if she hadn’t seen them in years. There was a time when she would call me every day just to chat and fill me in on her day if she hadn’t seen me in person.
  
  Tatiana loved the people in her life, and I know that the Lord must have looked upon His daughter with joy while she was on earth. How much more He is enjoying her presence now. One of the street kids told me that if we cried, Tatiana would be sad in heaven. I replied, “She isn’t sad there, you know. She is dancing, dancing in the delight of the Lord.”
  
  Jenny, a worker from another organization in Lima and a special friend of Tatiana’s, was visiting her in the hospital the morning before Tatiana lapsed into a coma. Tatiana became restless, wanting to communicate something but unable to speak because of the tube in her throat. Jenny gave her a pen and paper, expecting her to write of her pain, her fear, her desperation. Tatiana wrote faintly, “Thank you for everything.”
  
  Thank you for everything my dear, sweet Tati. I miss your laughter, hugs, squeezes and tears. I miss our long talks, your phone calls and visits. I miss seeing your beautiful face and loving smile. I will always carry your love in my heart.
  
  It was indeed a delight to love you and be loved by you. Dance, my friend. You are free.
  
  Jamie serves among street children in Lima in the position of Social Worker. She has served with WMF for three years.
  
  Please remember to pray for Tatiana’s little boy, who will grow up without his mother.
Remember Anusha
- Beloved child of WMF India
  Date of Birth: Dec. 7, 1998
  
  Date of Death: Nov. 3, 2003
  
  Cause of Death: Complications due to severe physical disabilities
Remember Poornima
- Beloved child of WMF Chennai Home of Peace
  Date of Birth: Unknown
  
  Date of Death: June 2, 2000
  
  Cause of Death: Virus
  
  Memorial by: Chris Heuertz
  
  Over the past five years Word Made Flesh India has buried nine of these precious children. On Friday, June 2, 2000, Poornima was the most recent. She was with us for four and a half years. I remember the day when I went to pick her up from the Missionaries of Charity where she had been abandoned. I carried her limp body into the children’s home that would become her refuge for the remainder of her short life.Poornima had no muscle control in her body. She was unable to sit up, let alone feed herself. She was also unable to communicate beyond the cries and moans she would breathe out in moments of need. Poornima was blind and deaf. But it was through her blind eyes that a prominent business man in Madras experienced God’s love. After meeting this sweet child he remarked, “Through the blind eyes of this child I saw God looking back at me with His love.”
  
  Today Poornima’s crippled legs are dancing in paradise, her blind eyes are opened and drinking in the beauty of our Master, and her deaf ears can now hear His tender voice affirming His love for our dear sister.
  
  Though she was with us only a short time, she brought joy and love into our home. Poornima will always have a special place in our WMF family.
Remember Esther P. Noel
- Beloved child of WMF Chennai Home of Happiness
  Date of Birth: unknown
  
  Date of Admission: November 29, 1997
  
  Date of Death: December 9, 1997
  
  Cause of Death: Malnutrition
  
  Memorial by: Patrick Samuel
  
  Esther was found abandoned on the beach soon after her birth. She was sheltered under the care of WMF for only a little over a week before she died. Esther came to the home suffering from malnutrition and cerebral palsy, and is believed to have been HIV+.Baby Esther has become the seventh cherubim to enter into the Holy Presence of the Lord Almighty as she peacefully passed into eternity at 8:00 p.m. Dec. 9. We were taken by surprise at her radiant smile just before breathing her last breath without any pain or discomfort. The smile on her face seemed to convey her gratitude for the service we have extended her.
Remember Megeswari
- Beloved child of WMF Chennai Home of Peace
  Date of Birth: unknown
  
  Date of Death: May, 1997
  
  Cause of Death: Complications of cerebral palsy and pneumonia
  
  Memorial by: Patrick Samuel
  
  Megeswari was a dear girl with severe mental and physical disabilities. She died from complications due to cerebral palsy and pneumonia.
Remember Keren Ragini
- Beloved child of WMF Chennai Home of Peace
  Date of Birth: April 13, 1992
  
  Date of Death: May 12, 1996
  
  Cause of Death: Virus
  
  Memorial by: Patrick Samuel
  
  Keren was brought to WMF in a state of extreme physical and mental disability. A quadriplegic from birth, she suffered tremendously. Her body was quite small for her age and she was unable to communicate verbally. Most days she displayed a pleasant smile, especially when someone would sing to her. She died due to a virus that her weakened immune system could not resist.
Remember Nandhini
- Beloved child of WMF Chennai Home of Peace
  Date of Birth: July 12, 1990
  
  Date of Death: May 12, 1996
  
  Cause of Death: Virus
  
  Memorial by: Patrick Samuel
  
  Nandhini was an abandoned little girl who suffered from both physical and mental disabilities. She contracted the same virus as Keren and death took her life the same day.
Remember Abraham
- Beloved child of WMF Chennai Home of Happiness
  Date of Birth: January 1, 1996
  
  Date of Admission: April 17, 1996
  
  Date of Death: June 23, 1996
  
  Cause of Death:
  
  Memorial by: Patrick Samuel
  
  Abraham’s mother was an orphaned woman who became pregnant after being raped at the sewing shop where she worked. Having no family to turn to, she contemplated having an abortion, but did not follow through with it. A social worker had compassion on the woman and cared for her during her pregnancy and delivery. Soon after giving birth to Abraham, the mother and child sought shelter in the WMF children’s home. Abraham’s mother was given some sewing work to do for the home, while Abraham received much needed health care and attention. Abraham came to the home very ill, suffering greatly with diarrhea and vomiting. He passed away just two months after joining the WMF family.
Remember Prema
- Beloved child of WMF Chennai Home of Happiness
  Date of Birth: August 20, 1995
  
  Date of Admission: November 1995
  
  Date of Death: November 29, 1995
  
  Cause of Death: Malnutrition/HIV
  
  Memorial by: Chris Heuertz
  
  Prema’s name means “love.” She was abandoned in a government hospital. Because she was HIV+, no one wanted to care for her, not even the nurses and doctors. When she was brought to WMF she weighed 1.5 pounds and suffered greatly from starvation. Prema and all the WMF staff who cared for her fought daily for her life. Patrick Samuel, Project Manager, even gave his own blood for her life. But after 11 days, Prema’s emaciated body could survive no longer. She took her last breath on November 29th, 1995. Prema’s name is appropriate because through her life, God taught many of us how to love.
Remember Sarah
- Beloved child of WMF Chennai Home of Happiness
  Date of Birth: March 25, 1995
  
  Date of Admission: April 28, 1995
  
  Date of Death: July 4, 1995
  
  Cause of Death: Malnutrition/HIV
  
  Memorial by: Chris Heuertz
- Sarah is the name given to this precious child by two Servant Team members, Brent Graeve and Jared Landreth. Sarah was abandoned at a Hindu Trust by her mother who is suspected to be a prostitute. When the Hindu Trust found Sarah to be HIV+ they also abandoned her. When she was admitted to WMF she was 33 days old and weighed approximately 3 pounds. She suffered greatly from malnutrition and dysentery. She is the first child of WMF to have died.
Remember Suryakala
- Beloved child of WMF Chennai Home of Happiness
  Date of Birth: May 15, 1996
  
  Date of Death: April 20, 2006
  
  Cause of Death: Complications due to AIDS
- Memorial by: Chris Heuertz
- Although much smaller than other children her age, Suryakala, also known as Surya, held a huge place in my heart. She made a tremendous impact on me and everyone who met her. Her soft, quiet voice was sing-song perfect. Her eyes were beautiful and full of life. Her smile was tender, innocent and pure. Although her body was terribly weak, Suryakala embodied strength.
- Suryakala died due of complications from AIDS. Phileena and I last saw her just weeks before her death. She looked great. The antiretroviral prescription that she was taking had helped her so much. I remembered clearly how sick she had been and celebrated her dramatic health improvements. I hoped for the future that could be hers, and grieved the childhood she had lost. Just weeks after our visit with her, she took a drastic turn for the worse. She died April 20, 2006 in peace and without pain.
- I met her seven years earlier, when she was just 3 years old. She had tuberculosis, and I remember holding her frail body against my chest to try and keep her warm; every time she coughed, it shook her entire frame. She was so weak she could hardly hold her head up. I left Chennai that time, fearful that I would never see her again, believing that her sickness would overcome her. To my surprise, she recovered and not only did she recover, but she seemed quite healthy, and her little body began to grow.
- Phileena and I spent much time with Suryakala each time we visited India.
- She had lost her mother to AIDS; her father was very sick with AIDS when he brought his two daughters to our childrens homes in Chennai. Just a couple of years ago, Surya’s father also died from AIDS. Phileena and I were in Chennai at the time and spent as much time as we could with Surya and her older sister. During that time of grieving and mourning with them, my love for these two young girls deepened.
- I count it one of the greatest privileges of my life to have seen Surya grow from an undernourished little girl to a thriving 9-year-old, grieving with her during the loss of her father and making memories that are now cherished treasures.
- I imagine her now, full of health and life in the loving arms of God. I imagine her now, surrounded by the countless other children whose lives have been tragically cut short. I imagine her now, reunited with Esther Noel, Ragini, Abraham, Baby Sarah, Prema and the other children from her childrens home who have also gone to be with the Father.
- Today there is a small, white-washed concrete cross that bears her name. It rests with her remains in a graveyard in Chennai, India, surrounded by her brothers and sisters, other children who we have had the honor of loving.
- All those little white crosses are a memorial to us they remind and compel us to continue the fight for the lives and lost childhood of the nations.
- In Surya’s life, she was perfect in her uniqueness. In her death, she lives on as symbol of hope for the millions of other children like her who suffer today. And for us, Surya’s death is a prophetic reminder of the thousands who will fall without a tear children who wont have a grave to visit and friends who mourn their deaths.
- Read another reflection about Suryakala from Angelene Samuel (WMF Chennai staff)
Remember Kamal
- Friend of WMF Nepal
  Date of Death: June, 2008
  
  Cause of Death: Complications due to AIDS
  
  Memorial by: Brook Birch
- Kamal Shrestha was a beloved friend of WMF Nepal for many years. After entering Kripaa Sadhan, WMF Nepal’s drug-rehabilitation home for men, in February of 2007, Kamal found freedom and healing from many years of IV drug use and life on the streets. He was reconnected with his family, and brought joy to many people’s lives. As a community, we were blessed to watch the fullness of God’s redemption and grace come upon Kamal and his family during this time. In June of 2008, Kamal succumbed to complications from AIDS and passed away.
Remember Luis Ramos
- Friend of WMF Peru
  Date of Death: Aug. 17, 2008
  
  Cause of Death: Tuberculosis and pneumonia
  
  Memorial by: Jose Martinez, Friend of Luis Ramos and WMF
- Sometimes we think that life is cruel, but this is not the case.
- God always has a purpose.
- I can give thanks that God has taken you to his side,
- So that you won’t suffer here anymore.
- As we do here in sickness, lacking love and affection,
- And all the things that we lack in this life.
- We only want others to take notice,
- That our only fault is being different from you.
- We are from the street but just like every other human being,
- We are simply looking for someone to love and care for us.
Remember Maria
- Friend of WMF Bolivia
  Date of Death: Aug. 30, 2008
  
  Cause of Death: Intestinal Tuberculosis
  
  Memorial by: Andrea Baker
- Maria Aguilar Cardi died of intestinal tuberculosis. Tuberculosis, although a curable disease, is highly prevalent among women prostituting in El Alto. WMF walked closely with her and her family in her last days and paid her final hospital bills. The community is now seeking support for the four children she left behind. The two youngest children, ages 2 and 3, have been received into a local Compassion International program and are currently waiting for sponsors.