It was just a week ago when he dropped in for a visit. I personally had never had an extensive conversation with Herman, the youngest half brother of Doris. Actually he didn't come to visit, but was sent by Doris to ask for an advance on her salary. She was very sick and needed to see a doctor. But he was in a mood to talk and quickly forgot his mission. Early on he wanted to know where Papa Jim was. Papa Jim always gives him something to drink. So I fixed him a cup of hot milk, which is what he asked for. Soon he was asking me if I would bake a cake for him for his birthday. I let him know I would be happy to bake a birthday cake for him, but I needed to know his birth date. Then he said he wanted a birthday party. Well, I couldn't promise that. I explained it would depend on how busy we were at Shiloh on that day.

And then he got down to the heart of the conversation. It turns out that he is set on going to America. In fact he recently started attending a “church” of some flavor. On two occasions they “prophesied” over him that he would go to America. As a result he began attending their prayer meetings two nights a week. He candidly confessed that his only motivation was to tell God that He had to get him to America one way or another. He was quite convinced that God can be manipulated to do things to our liking. It quickly became obvious that this 20 year old young man had his ears stopped up. He had neither the time nor the interest in listening to any council or advice. About an hour into the conversation, when he began talking about using Face Book to find a white American girl who could help him get to America, get a good paying job, and get married (preferably to her), I decided it was time to make him listen to me. I told him first one story and then another about the dangers of meeting people through social media. He still didn't have ears to hear, but I kept on talking anyway. Finally, finally he began to listen to my advice, just a little bit.

It seemed to me that Herman is a lost soul. His greatest problem is that he does not yet know the Lord Jesus as his Savior. But beyond that, in his entire life nobody has loved him enough to invest the time and effort to raise him properly. His mother had four children by three different men. While it is true that his father is the only one that she lived with, the relationship fell apart. His dad soon married someone else and had a family with his real wife. Herman and his brother (who died a couple of years ago) quickly became unwanted leftovers from a previous relationship. Their mother then married a Frenchman and went off to live the good life in France. That marriage ended in divorce, as did another marriage to a different Frenchman. When Herman was in his mid-teens his mother was killed in a car accident in France.

I really didn't know many of the details of Herman's life, but he reminded me of someone who was frozen emotionally at five years of age. His behavior was very appropriate for a five year old, but completely over the top for a twenty year old. My heart ached for him. I wanted to scoop him up in my arms and hug him. Oh how badly I wanted to give him a bedroom at Shiloh and let him join our family. But I knew that this was not possible. And I also knew that the God Whom we serve is by no means limited to Jim and Alice Tucker. He is more than able to help Herman become a fully functioning adult man. Several days later I discovered that Herman was indeed five or six years old when his parents split apart. Variations of this story is repeated over and over again here in this country, as well as all over the world. How my heart aches for children who never had a proper upbringing.