“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want…” Aidan and Austin begin. These thirteen-year-olds are reciting the entire Psalm 23 in the Bible in English together in unison. Their parents, Sunil and Juby, who were standing close by, were thanking God with joyful hearts. Why? For giving them those God’s own children.
Now you must be guessing what is so special about them. Indeed, they are full of specialties. If this is a question for two marks in the exam, ‘Aiden and Austin are two of God’s most beloved children’.
To understand them, we need to know more about Austin and Aidan. These twin babies were born with a genetic defect that occurs only in one in half a million children. Known as Lowe Syndrome, the symptoms of this disease are reduced intelligence, impaired vision and decreased physical growth. The condition is caused by a genetic defect in the OCRL gene on the eighth chromosome. Despite these shortcomings, God has blessed Aiden and Austin with a lot of talents.
Although they lack the physical and intellectual growth of thirteen years old, the spiritual growth of these two children is many a thousand times more than that of we who have grown up in every way. Austin and Aiden can’t even put together five words and form a sentence. Their answer to all the questions asked used to be in two or three words; and today they say about a hundred Bible verses, many prayers and the names of the books of the Bible without missing the order, that too in both vernacular Malayalam and English. Also, God has been writing many things including small songs and beautiful chants in their children’s minds through the parents.
Sunil, who was working as an engineer in Singapore, came home for his wedding with Juby and returned to work. In two months Juby joined him and she started to work in a company as an accountant. Months later, both of them called their parents back home with the good news that they were going to have a baby. But later the babies born with this disease faded the happiness of the entire family.
“At first we were complaining to God, doubting why this was done to us. But later we all were able to accept the fact. Even with advanced medical systems and after a number of scans and tests the children could not be diagnosed of having any problems. All the test results reported ‘normal’. So we had to realize that this was something that God has allowed only for our sake. But as parents, all our hopes were crashed.” Juby recalls their experience in the early days.
“Normally babies express their joy and happiness in some way when they see their parents. But in our case they never seemed to recognize us. We would come back after work, hoping for some miracle to happen. But not once did our wishes and prayers come true. They just lay motionless like dolls. Besides the burden of work, the issues of the children did create unimaginable pressure on our minds. Many a time my mind was boggled by the question of what I was living for” – Sunil is sharing the situations he went through.
By the age of two, Austin and Aidan were stunted; and unable to talk, sit up, or walk on their own. Despite this, Sunil and Juby continued the medical treatments and therapies without giving up hope. There have been days when they wished their children speak at least a single word. There were experiences of waiting for hours to hear something from them. But they realized that all their attempts and waiting were in vain. They went forward with tears, prayers, for a healing.
“The Lord shall teach thy sons.”
Juby was worried, how the babies would be taught even if they were enrolled in a school. But she firmly believed that Jesus would give her the power to do everything. Juby had heard a Bible verse in a sermon she heard on YouTube. That was like this: “All your children shall be taught by the Lord”, Isaiah 54:13. Whenever she was worried about teaching the children, these words echoed in Juby’s mind: “All your children shall be taught by the Lord.”
The word is true, and it was fulfilled in their lives. Whatever Juby teaches, Aiden and Austin have it memorized by the time they say it thrice. Doctors recommend that babies with this genetic mutation should be taught only one language to avoid confusion. But with Aiden and Austin, Juby decided to take a little more risk. Being in Singapore, the language they heard the most was English. Similarly, the accent of the words they learned was very beautiful. So Juby taught them first from the Book Psalms the 23rd chapter in English motivated by the kids’ school principal. They are the alumni of Lawrence Montessori Schoo,l Mysore where they performed their first Gospel verses in front of a large crowd on their school’s annual day.
“It was a matter of great joy and hope for us as we were longing to hear a word from them. So we began to teach them verses from the Bible. It was a great compulsion for them to go for a walk every evening. During those times I used to start reciting verses from the Bible and they started to repeat them. Now they know many ejaculations, and various prayers in both Malayalam and English,” Juby says.
“Both of them draw pictures now. They have not drawn any other picture than Chalis and Pattern. The other day, they have drawn a two-dimensional image of the Holy Eucharist elevated by a priest. If they want to draw something, usually they take a pen and a book and draw” – Juby reveals. Only Jesus and the saints are in the minds of these angelic children, as Luke the Evangelist testified that the lips speak from the fullness of the heart.
In the early days, Juby and her children used to attend Holy Mass from outside the church. But now they smarten up and attend Holy Mass standing inside the church; perhaps more reverently than we all!
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Sunil and Juby recall that sometimes people look at them with sympathy for their boys. They add that parents with babies like this need a happy interaction, not a sympathetic gesture or action.
“Many a time there are people who approach us and watch our boys with a kind of sadness. We are surprised that even people with sufficient knowledge and education behave likewise. We are now leading a normal life. All families with children like ours are like that. Therefore, I have often felt that pleasant interactions are the most important thing. And our advice to parents who are having these kinds of children is to never lose hope. Do accept the situation of our children and not give up hope.
We live with hope. I am sure that God will give us happiness and peace at least one day, at least one day before we die. Maybe it’s the day before death or when we are eighty. But we have hope” – there was a glimmer of hope in Sunil’s eyes while he was speaking.
Juby is a mother dedicated to her two children, Aiden and Austin. Despite her higher education and better job, everything else paled in front of that mother’s determination to make her children the best God had given her. Aidan and Austin also have a small YouTube channel called ‘Jesus Kids’.
“We feel that it is a great blessing of the Holy Spirit that they learn everything while being told. When we were in Mysore, the speech therapist once said that their mind is like a blank paper with nothing written on it. I can write whatever I want. But then I doubted for a while that I would have anything to write. Now I have a lot to write and imprint on them. Children like this are often portrayed as a curse or a blessing. But it depends on how you see them. Our children are indeed a great blessing to us. As parents, we are also very happy when we see God’s own children proclaiming His word in the world” – Juby adds joyfully.
We must understand that God has hidden blessings for us even in our great crisis. This family is a testimony to many. They are spreading rays of hope through their gifted kids. After saying each Bible verse, Aiden and Austin say “thank you Jesus, Praise you, Jesus”. This part of praising was never taught by anyone. They learned themselves. Yes, they are saints. The twin saints whose heart is imprinted with the Gospel by God Himself!
Sunisha V.F.