Update on Karim

A couple of weeks ago I received the news that Karim has not been brought to Mass for some months now. His parents do not bring him. My friend, Charbel used to bring him, but became very busy and no one else from his parish ever brought him. Now Charbel is moving away from Lebanon. He is one of the few that consistently visited and loved Karim. I understand that another person that visits him from the parish is a young mother named Clara, who brings her little baby girl, Jane, to visit Karim. This is a delightful thing for Karim, because he loves babies, and Clara lets Karim play with her two-year-old who also loves Karim. Clara has consistently brought her little girl to visit Karim ever since I brought him back to Lebanon in June. I believe she is the only other one that continues to visit him regularly. I am thankful that someone found it in her heart to make Karim a part of her life; to find time to visit with him and to fit him into her schedule. I am sure God is pleased with this. He is not able to receive the sacraments because he is not taken to Mass and no one comes to bring communion to him.

I heard from Father Antonio that the landlord of Karim's family told them that they have until the end of January to leave the house they are in and find another place to live. I do not know why he is demanding this. It is a devastating thing for several reasons. First, they have been staying there for so many years, in exchange for Younes (Karim's father) working the garden and giving the bulk of the produce to the owner. Second, we used $7,000 of Karim's fund money in early 2008 to renovate the building to bring it up to a standard that was healthy enough for him to live in, including putting in running hot and cold water, a bathroom with toilet and bathtub, kitchen sink with faucet, new floor, roof over the patio to protect Karim's skin from the sun, patched the roof, etc. Finally it was suitable for Karim to live in. Now I pray that he will be in a different house that will at least have the running hot and cold water and a toilet. In addition, he needs a tub large enough to be able to soak his skin in. Otherwise, he will be so prone to infection again. Perhaps the new house will be closer to the church and he will be able to make it to Mass if someone will at least help him cross the busy street.

Please pray for Karim once again. His story continues, his disease continues to ravage his little body and he is still in need of our continued prayers. When he first returned to Lebanon some paid attention to him and walked with him and he was included in a few parish functions, but his loneliness returned after the first month or so when life went back to usual. I believe Karim is a suffering saint.