I have dealt with abandoned children cases in the past, but the other day, when I did this particular intake, the word “unknown” haunted me as I wrote it line after line on the admission form.

Name of child: unknown
Date of Birth: unknown – Date Found: June 14, 2011 Age of child approx 2-3 yrs old.
Place of Birth: unknown – Place Found: Marketplace
Name of Father: unknown
Name of Mother: unknown
Medical History: unknown
And so on…

The little boy was sleeping in the arms of the case worker that brought him to our facility. His body was full of scabs, sores and open wounds. His hair had to be shaved to treat the wounds on his head. He wakes up as he was being handed to our nurse, he starts crying as he stared at the eyes of another complete stranger.

Still trying to process the reality in front of me, I think to myself “truth is stranger than fiction.” Just a week ago, we did an intake on 4 siblings ages 8 months to 6 years old who were abandoned in their home for 5 days until a local community official took them to Social Services. The grace of my sovereign God allows me to believe that He is in control and to Him, these children are KNOWN!

As I was interviewing the Social Worker who brought the little boy, I asked what name she wanted to give him– she paused for a second and said she’ll name the child after her cousin, Emmanuel. In my head, I was like “great choice!” To her, “Emmanuel” was just her cousin’s name – but as a Christian, I know what Emmanuel stands for – God with us! I did not think for a second that the choice of name for this child was coincidental. God was truly with this child during the time he was left all alone in the marketplace, He was with this child when he obtained every single wound in his little body, He was with this child when he was crying for his mom and when he was crying from hunger. God is with this child now, here at Babyanne’s Mansion.

- Karen

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