John

This is John.
He is a child waiting for adoption in Burkina Faso.

After the crowd from an evangelism campaign dispersed, a local pastor found John, a small boy of about 4 years old. The pastor took the boy home with him thinking that he had been separated from his parents and that his parents would return looking for him. A few days later, the pastor took John to Social Action asking for help. On April 27, 2007 John came to live at the orphanage.

Upon arriving at the orphanage it was discovered that John was epileptic and he had several seizures. For some time after each seizure, John was not able to talk or to respond to the care-takers. John is now taking medicine for the seizures and it is rare that he has one.

At the beginning of his time at the orphanage, John did not talk. It was thought that maybe he was deaf. But, as the seizures stopped and as he adjusted to his new surroundings John started talking. He speaks Mooré, the local dialect and he understands and speaks a little in French.

The orphanage workers say that John is shy around adults but that he loves to play with the other children. He is kind to the other children. When there is a disagreement or a fight, John withdraws and comes out again when he has calmed down. When another boy is pushing him around, John will fight back and try to defend himself, even sometimes when the older boy is bigger than he is.

John has not been sent to school for 2 reasons. At first it was because it was thought that he was deaf. The second reason, according to the director, is because the orphanage does not have the funds to send the children to school.

The orphanage care-takers feel that John is completely normal physically and mentally and said that he is very rarely even sick with malaria or a cold.

Please pray that John will find a loving home.