Rescued Child

Yesterday as I left work, walking to my parking lot I noticed a little boy who appears to be about 5 years old. He walked out of the Victoria Secret store and was wandering aimlessly down the street. I observed his behavior and my instinct kicked in that something was just not right. I walked to catch up to him and asked him "where is your mommy?" He turned and looked at me puzzled and attempted to keep walking. I stopped him again and asked the same question.  "Where is your mommy?" I was hoping she was in the Victoria Secret store I'd seen him just walk out of and that at any moment she'd come out and snatch his hand, like we mothers do when we feel our child has gone too far away from us. Instead he responded, "in a hotel." I responded, repeating what he said "a hotel?" He says "Yes, a Hospital hotel." Now I am puzzled, but know that it could be a possibility since we were are about 3 blocks from the medical center. At that moment another woman runs up to us and says to me that she had observed him earlier walking alone for at least 2 city blocks. Did I mention we were in Westwood, one of the busiest districts in the city of Los Angeles, during rush hour? We looked at one another and knew that this little boy had managed to wander far away from whomever his gaurdian was.

Together we began to walk him back in the direction from which he came. Meanwhile, another lady observing the situation asked if she could be of assistance. We asked her to call 911 and let them know we have a lost child. We walk him to a Coffee shop where we managed to keep him occupied while we waited for the police to show. We continued asking him his name, his mother's name or if he knows his phone number. People are staring at us because it is obvious he doesn't belong to us. His Nigerian accent made it even more difficult to decipher his words. He kept trying to tell us his name but we could not understand him, so in his frustration, he began to get loud and restless that we won't let him go about his way.  

In our attempt to keep him still we noticed he had a plastic bag attached to his side. It was a colostomy bag. This little boy was under a doctor's care for a very serious condition. How was it that he ended up wandering the streets? He did not look disheveled, and he was extremely polite. He had just managed to slip away from someone, undetected. Was he at the medical center for treatment? Did he walk out of his hotel room while his guardian was sleeping? The possible scenarios entertained all of our minds. Regardless, we wanted to see this child back in the right hands. 

We all showed a sign of relief when we saw the police arrive and they continued to ask us and the little boy questions to try and determine how to find who belonged to. Feeling that there was nothing more that I could do and knowing he was now in good hands I finally headed towards my car again. Hoping that he would soon be reunited with loved ones instead of being taken to social services like many children whose parents are unable to be found. I was troubled throughout the night as I prayed for this little boy and also for the parents or guardians who were probably going insane trying to locate him. There is no feeling like not knowing where your child is...

Thank you Holy Spirit for moving me just at the right time. Had I not intersected him at that moment, who knows what the outcome would have been.

It takes a village... we all must be responsible for watching over our children.

Thank you for reading

Angel_ahhh