On our most recent refugee relief trip to Iraq, we hosted a medical team from Word of Life Church in Sweden. Their team also brought along team members who were able to put on a kids’ program while the parents were treated medically. This turned out to be a life-changing event for one boy in particular.
This is a story about, Basil, a 7-year-old little boy who came to a kids’ outreach hosted by one of our ministry partners earlier this year in Iraq.
Basil’s mother was receiving medical treatment from one of the nurses and shared how she was not able to control her son Basil. She told the nurse she has had to drug him with sleep medicine throughout the day and lock him in a room by himself so the rest of the family could live in peace. We were heartbroken for Basil and his mom when we heard this news.
The nurses that day provided some parental counseling for Basil’s mom on how to handle Basil in a more appropriate manner. They also invited her to bring Basil back to the kids’ program the next day. The team was ecstatic when Basil arrived the next day. It was his first day in a long time not being drugged up and locked in a room. He was able to play with other kids and participate in the games. Basil told our team that this was the best day of his life!
In Basil’s mind he had been released from prison. His mom was relieved that she was able to receive some simple parenting tips and no longer had to live in shame or guilt on how she was treating her son. She simply didn’t know what to do.
We are confident that Basil will never forget that day in his life.
