Pépé wants to come and live with Roger & Denise

For nine years we had a children’s program in Colonia Rio Vista, about 15 minutes from the American border in the Otay Mesa area. It was a rough area. Drug pushers, addicts and drunks could be seen at any time of day on any of the dirt roads or street corners. For obvious safety issues, it was not an area where anyone not familiar with the area would want to
venture after dark.

The leader of the Colonia had requested our help for the many children that were living in extreme poverty and often abused physically or sexually.

The children came every Wednesday to the shack they called the “town hall”. Many of the children came with their moms, including Pépé. We would gather the kids who for the most part, were quite rambunctious with no concept of discipline. But the Lord gave us tricks to get their attention and have them participate in the weekly lesson.

They loved to sing, especially if Roger would handed them the microphone. They also loved to memorize scriptures. We used balloons, banners, colored paper sheets to help them to memorize the scripture connected with the weekly lesson.

Each child had their copy of the lesson and they had to write down answers to questions related to the lesson. Once finished they would line up, the boys with Roger and the girls with me, and we would correct their “test”. Small stars were glued on the sheets whose answers were right, while the others kids were sent back to their seats to make the necessary corrections. We made it easy for them as the answers were on the first page of their individual lesson and often in bold letters. Once we finished teaching, the kids fully understood the lesson of the day. Because we also had children that could not read, we always had a graphic related with the lesson, so they could color while the other kids were working on their lesson. Yes, those little ones also got stars no matter how good or bad they could color.

After the lesson we always had a treat for the kids. When we first started to teach in that area, we had kids that would arrive just for the snacks and groceries. To correct this situation and motivate them to attend bible study, we took the names of the children in the order in which they arrived. Groceries were then distributed in that order. Every child that would arrive during our praise and worship time would have their names on the list. But those that arrived later, would not be on the list and would therefore be the last ones to receive. It was a good plan and the kids soon learned that punctuality was very important. 

Pépé and his family lived in nearby Colonia, but this little guy never missed a bible study. He was the oldest, probably age 6, and came with his other siblings and with his mom who always seemed to be pregnant. She was an angry woman, never smiled and would slap her kids in front of everyone.

His father was a drunk and a drug addict. He never came to our bible studies but occasionally, he would show up to see if his kids had received groceries. Because he spent all his “pesos” on booze and drugs, his family would have often been hungry, if his kids had not attended our TLCCM bible study program.

Except for the 1 year old, the other three kids and the mother showed signs of physical abuse. This sad excuse of a man and father was always dirty, unshaved and rude. He never said thank you. On several occasions, we noticed that Pépé seemed to be the child who was the most physically abused.  He would arrive to bible study with a black eye or bruises on his body. He had the most beautiful brown eyes and those eyes stole both of our hearts. He always wanted to help when we gave out groceries. Roger had him give out the bread or the cookies. We always made sure to thank him and after the other kids left, we would give him an extra bag of cookies.

Pépé took this attention to be genuine love and compassion, something he probably never encountered previously in his young life. He would stand close to Roger or myself and stay there until it was time to go home. I guess he felt safe around us.

One day as we were getting to leave, Roger was busy loading the empty boxes at the back of the van. Often the American customs official would check the empty boxes to make sure we did not have anything or anyone hiding in those boxes. I was also busy loading the items we had used for our lesson. Because the side door of the van was open, Pépé climbed into the van and sat on the seat behind the driver’s seat. I thought nothing of it as he sat there very quietly while both were getting ready to go back to San Diego.

Once Roger got in the driver’s seat ready to leave, I told Pépé he needed to come out of the van and join his mom so they could go home. But he just sat there and completely ignored me. I repeated my myself, but still Pépé did not move. I climbed into the van and sat beside him to explain to him one more time that we had to leave. He then he moved from the seat unto my lap and put his little arms around me his little hands clutching unto my clothing. Again, I told him that we had to leave, But I got no response. Roger got out of his seat and came by the side door to coax Pépé out of the van while his mom and his siblings were still standing nearby. I was getting somewhat emotional and quite relieved to see Roger take over but he was equally unsuccessful in convincing Pépé to get out of the vehicle.

Suddenly, Pépé looked at me with his big brown eyes and said: “Hermana, I want to go to the United States and live with you and hermano Roger.”  Well, that got the tears flowing down my cheeks and I turned to Roger to help me with a solution to this heart-breaking situation. Both of us were now sitting on the back seat and Pépé is still hanging on to me for dear life. I honestly cannot remember how long we sat there trying to reason with this little boy.

After a while, Roger looked out the van window, and saw Pépé’s dad heading our way. He was probably drunk and hungry and wanted to see if his kids had received groceries. He would not have been pleased to see his little boy sitting on the back seat of our van. He also could have accused us of trying to kidnap his little boy. This was not a good situation. We certainly did not want a confrontation with this drug addict and heartless father.

Roger told Pépé that is dad was coming and that he would be very angry to see him in our vehicle. “Mijo, (which means my dear), we do not want you to get in trouble with your dad. We certainly do not want him to slap you or punish you for being in our vehicle, so, let me take you outside so you can take your bag of groceries and go home with your mom.”  Pépé looked through the window and when he saw his dad, he reluctantly let Roger take him out of the vehicle. Emotionally drained, I moved to the front seat of the van, so we could leave.

As he got back to his seat, Roger said a quick “hola” to Pépé’s dad and we left. In my side mirror I could see this sweet little boy watching us leave. I remember crying all the way back to the American border. Roger was also emotionally upset, and while we waited in line to get back to the USA, he told me that this was one situation that he never wanted to go through again. 

Later that evening with our emotions still raw from this difficult situation, we prayed for Pépé’s safety. We also realized how desperate this little guy was, so desperate that he was willing to come to the USA and forever forget his family and his pathetic life in the slum of Rio Vista.

While on the mission field, we encountered many sad situations, but this situation had to be one of the most emotionally heart wrenching of them all. 

Many years later, as I write about this situation, I remember this little guy’s arms around me and the sad look in his eyes when he sat on my lap hoping Roger & I could offer him a better life.

Pépé continued to come to our TLCCM program for several more years until the Lord instructed us to move out of that drug infested area. After we left Colonia Rio Vista, we never saw Pépé again. 

But this precious little boy I will never forget. 

Denise 

P.N. This is a picture of the shack we had to use to teach bible studies to the kids in Rio Vista. Pépé is not in this picture.