A Name for Sankwa

If you heard us speak when we were in the USA, then you surely remember the story of Sankwa. Sankwa arrived at New Day after being dropped off at Social Welfare by his aunt and grandmother. They didn't even know his name, they just called him "Sankwa" which means "Boy" in Tonga. We had initial questions and doubts (we knew he and Misheck couldn't really be brothers), but Social Welfare assured us that this was a child either orphaned by death or abandonment, and God showed us clearly that he belonged at New Day. We were shocked this past week when Sankwa's biological father arrived at New Day looking for his son. Here is his story: Sankwa's father, Peter, had 2 wives. He has 8 children by his first wife and 2 children by his second wife...Sankwa was the youngest of these two children. When Sankwa was 3 years old, his mother died, and as is customary in Zambia, Sankwa was sent to live with his aunt, since he was still very young. He lived there for about 4 years until his aunt died. When she died, the children (Sankwa, Misheck, & Baby Faith) were sent to live with their grandmother. She kept them for about 2 months until she finally realized that she could not feed or care for these children. So she took them to the Social Welfare office in Choma, and New Day was given custody of Sankwa & Misheck. Apparently, during those 4 years, Sankwa's father assumed that Sankwa was living with the aunt. He knew that the aunt had died and that the boys had gone to the grandmother. He had been in and out of the hospital very ill for 2 years, and even when we saw him we could tell he was not a healthy man. Peter's mother, Sankwa's grandmother, recently asked Sankwa's father to go and find her grandson. After doing some traveling and questioniong, he found out that Sankwa was living at New Day, so he came to visit him. When we asked Sankwa's father what he wanted specifically, he said that we "could keep him for me." Or, since he is not an orphan, if we forced him to take him back, he would do that. We explained that technically, Sankwa is in the Zambia Social Welfare system and cannot be taken back without a fight. When he arrived in May of 2011, he fit the description of an orphan, one whose mother died and who had been abandoned by his father. We had his father sign him over (again) to New Day custody, but we explained that really it was just a technicality - the government (Social Welfare dept) had already given us custody of Sankwa. You may wonder how 7 year old Sankwa handled all of this...in the same way many Zambian children who have been through hardships do - with a detached attitude, ready to go back and play with his friends. Although this situation was frustrating to us (why were we told his father was dead when he was alive?), we know that God placed Sankwa at New Day, and we are rejoicing in the fact that our precious little boy is no longer called Boy. His name is Bernard, which in Zambia is pronounced more like Bennett, so we are calling him Ben. :)