Roy wasn't much different than a mummy when I first met him. He was covered from almost head to toe in this horrible crusted skin lesions. It was so bad th
at his mom had abandoned him and was no longer caring for him. Althoug
h he wasn't dead, he was being treated as such. We didn't help by wrapping him up as a mummy after we had washed and debrided his skin. He made a good recovery in the hospital and his grandma and her friend who brought them to the hospital, continued to care for him. He went home with his grandmother with medicines to help prevent his skin disease from coming back again. I hadn't seen him in months, but was recently walking from the ward to OPD and I see this little kid who I thought I recognized. I stared at him, he stared at me. I finally asked, nem bilong em? Roy - yep, I knew it. He was here for a checkup, Susan has seen him a few times since he left the hospital. He is doing well on his meds and hasn't had any major flair ups of his skin disease. The best part was that he was with his mom, his mom who had abandoned him, who didn't want him because he was sick, was now a part of his life again. I couldn't ask why or what happened, but was thankful for their renewed relationship. I was also thankful for his grandma who had looked after him when others wouldn't. I was reminded of Christ who was willing to love, to associate, to dine with sinners, with lepers, and others who were unclean. He erased any barriers to love and asked us to do the same.