Another Yaya

This is a pic of several of the kids that play with Caleb and Ben. Yaya is not in the picture. It turns out that I don't have a good pic of Yaya. Too Bad.

Another story of an interesting experience. God does not waste anything.
What do I mean by that?

One of the kids that have befriended Caleb and Ben is a young boy named Yaya.
Since September, soon after we arrived in Kadiolo, he has been a consistent face
outside our door, waiting to play with our kids.
He is one that had come to Sunday school several times,
and even made a profession of faith with Lydie, one of our Sunday School Leaders.

A few months ago, Caleb was playing rough with him, and threw one of his shoes down
a well. I knew he could be beaten for losing his shoes, so I took him to the
market and bought him a new pair. So our relationship was good with this
young kid.

Friday, we had 5 kids in the yard to play. It was too many, and after a while,
I sent them home. We all went to the other house to work a bit, leaving Aminata
and Jonas at our house...
Apparantly some of the kids went back to our yard without us there.
Yaya stole 2 Cokes, and took them outside of the yard, and offered them
to the other kids.
They refused, and took him back into the yard to tell Aminata what he'd done.
So when I came home I had to deal with the issue. It was a small thing,
only two cokes, but Aminata and Jonas insisted that I go talk to his parents.

So I went, hoping that my involvement would not get him a huge beating,
but hoping that his parents would be aware so they could discipline him.
Jonas went with me to help speak. It was a good thing,
because Yaya's father was home, but didn't speak much french.
So I explained the whole thing to him, much like I just did to you. Yaya has been
a good friend to my kids, about Caleb throwing his shoe, and about me replacing
the shoes. The I explained about the theft, explaining that it was a small thing,
but it needed to be addressed.
Yaya's father took my story with such grace and understanding. He really got the
message, that I was not there because his son offended me, and I wanted
him beaten. But that I cared about Yaya, and wanted the best for him.
He proceeded to tell me that Yaya was supposed to be working in the field that day,
and had lied about where he was going. Oops.
But he was so thankful about my visit. Yaya hadn't come home yet, so for Saturday,
and Sunday, I worried about wether he'd be beaten or not. I hope you
understand where I'm coming from, for him to be disciplined yes, beaten up, no.

Anyway, today I went back to the yard, hesitantly, not sure what news I would find out.
Yaya was not there, but I was able to ask if he'd come home. He had, and
he father assured me that it was arranged. (Whatever that means.) He encouraged
me that today Yaya was out working in the field. He again was happy to see me,
and graciously accepted my visit.

This story is not yet finished. But like I started out, God does not waste anything.
The friendships of our children, even bad events, can become opportunities to
know new people and build relationships. I had never met Yaya's parents before,
really never thought about it. But now I know a another man who needs Christ,
who is an interesting and gracious guy...