Christopher - our son.

As I'm sure you noticed, my blog took a vacation while our family went through a summer of fun and intensely hard work here in Davao. I will at some stage take the time to blog about the summer and the time in Australia but first we have something far more important to share.

Our newest family member, Christopher.

Christopher has been with our family for over a year but I did not want to share his life story and his eventual becoming a part of the Biggs family without his permission. Chris is 17 years old now and he has stolen my "mum heart". Not to say it is not a bit of a shock to suddenly add a teenager to the family but the journey has unlocked a new and quite inspiring "type of love" in my heart.

Christopher first came to our attention during the summer camps of 2008. His face screamed "life sucks, does anyone care?" He was selected for a small group who met with Glen every morning and even though his tough exterior seemed impenetrable, his heart was eventually reached by displaying God's love not judgement or criticism.

Chris' story when I first heard it was confusing and shocking. His mother was a drug addict and dealer, when she fell pregnant with him. She did not want to keep the baby but her sister told her she would take the baby. Chris' mum did not stop the drugs during the pregnancy, nor the alcohol or other illicit activities. When he was born, his Aunt took him and became his mum.

During last year's summer camps his Aunt, who had been like his mother for years died after a long and painful battle with cervical cancer. The hospital system here is substantially different to that in Australia or America. She needed a "watcher" or someone by her side constantly. The watcher is the one who goes and buys the drugs or blood she needs, they are responsible for the food and bedding for the patient and themselves. Chris' Aunt's battle with cancer had cost Chris a lot, he had left school to be her watcher, had no income or regular food for months and had resorted on occasion to unimaginable methods to get money to feed his sister.

The death of his Aunt was bitter sweet for Chris, he could see that she was better off being gone but now he was alone and couldn't see much of a future for himself. Chris' grandmother asked us if we would take responsibility for Chris and care for him in our family. Due to the unimaginable bureaucratic red tape Chris is not allowed to be legally adopted by anyone due to his age and other factors but he has been in our care since he was 15 years old.

Recently, when he has been trying to enrol in his final year of high school he was asked to provide a birth certificate for proof of identification. He had never received one and so began the journey through bureaucracy. Unfortunately, it turns out that his Aunt and Uncle never legally adopted him and so his name on the birth certificate, which he still can't have yet, is different to the name he has completed all his schooling under. This adds a whole new and somewhat eventful journey through government departments to help Chris graduate.

Our family recently met, Queenie, his younger sister. She had been living with friends but was in the process of being moved to be with another Aunt. She was so malnourished it was heart breaking. Queenie had been raped recently and when Chris had found out what had happened he took her away from the danger and organized for an Aunt to take care of her. She was willing to do so because Queenie was a girl and young.

Ethan and Jasmine both love having Chris in our family and it is so sweet to see the innocence of their love. When people comment that he can't be their brother, their simple answer is "of course he is." So as you pray for our family please remember Chris because "of course he is part of our family."