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Brian and Jesse Monda are serving as GreenLight Interns in Peru, working with Arthur and Mary Alice Ivey. Here they share a story of an abandoned baby and ask you to join them in prayer.

It all happened so quickly. It still seems like it was a dream.

One night, following prayer group, Brian and I decided to stay at the Iveys’ for a little while to catch up on some emails. We sent some emails and were enjoying some conversation when we heard it – crying.

“That sounds like a baby is right outside the door,” Brian commented. We continued to have some conversation, not ever thinking a baby was actually outside the door. We just thought someone was passing by. That’s when we heard a frantic knock at the door. The kind of knock you hear when someone is trying to get into the house. A scary knock.

Arthur opened the door. “There is a baby in your bushes.”

I gathered this two-month-old baby into my arms and held him. We called the police. We waited, prayed, and cried.

The police arrived and questioned us. They took pictures of the scene and explained to us that they would take the baby to the hospital to get checked.

“Then what?” I asked. “The baby will be taken to an orphanage.” The policeman walked over to take the baby from me. With tears in my eyes, I handed the little boy over. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

Why? Why did this happen? What was the mother’s life like to be so desperate to give her child away? Why didn’t she knock on the door so we could possibly help her? What is she thinking now? Does she still think that the “gringos” have her little boy, and that he is living a better life? What is going to happen to that baby? Could we have done something more?

I cannot answer these questions. I may never be able to answer these questions. Brian and I have been praying, really praying, for the mother, for the baby, and for all the people who were impacted by this experience.

It has changed our lives, and there will not be a day that goes by that we do not think of that little baby. All we can do is trust that our Father has a plan. He has a plan for that baby, He has a plan for the mother, and He has a plan for us.

Our hearts are broken, but we are going to trust and pray. Every day. Please join us.