He came! He really came!!

February 8, 2013

Today will go down as one of the best days of my life. 

A boy with a congenital malformation of his right foot and lower leg, for whom I've been praying that he would come to the hospital for treatment since August, finally came!  

Here's how it happened.....

A few days ago, Ruthie, Sam and I walked to the nearby village, called Chazo.  That’s not how you spell it, but it is how it sounds.  It is about a 15 minute walk from Kibogora.  Along the way, little children began to follow us.  First just one or two took our hands, then a few more, and finally, we had our own little party of children, walking with the Muzungus down the road to Chazo.  This is nothing unusual; curious and friendly children accompany us whenever we walk anywhere – I guess Muzungus are just really entertaining road companions! 

Towards the end of the walk, our following had dwindled back down to only two little ones.  The others had turned back after we crossed some imaginary line which their parents must have instructed them is the “go no further” boundary.  We arrived at the first Duka (store - think mall kiosk crossed with without the mall, and made of crude wood - sort of a mall kiosk/lemonade stand combo), still about 200 yards away from where Chazo begins.  I decided to buy each of our little travelers an orange drink.  I’m fairly certain there is no nutritional value in these orange flavored bottles of sugar water, but kids do love them!  Ecstatic with their surprise, our last two little friends beamed and waved goodbye to us as we walked the last yards into Chazo village. 

When we arrived, we saw the young boy, age 10, whom I have been looking for since November!  Ever since I first saw this young man in August, I’ve been praying – more like begging – for God to help me to help him.  Until this morning, it seemed like my prayers were going unanswered.  

This little boy’s older brother, aged 16, carries him on his back everywhere he goes.  They beg for money and for food.  The boy’s name, I discovered today, is Peter.  His foot and leg are SO messed up, it is simply AWFUL!  

His brother, named Emmanuel, is aptly named.  He IS Emmanuel - “God is with us” - for his little brother!   Without him, I guess Peter wouldn’t be able to go anywhere or do anything.  They seem to have a very sweet relationship. In the times I’ve watched Emmanuel with Peter, I’ve thought of the verse in Proverbs 17:17 -  

“A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.”

Anyway, in August, September, October and early November I saw these boys, and each time I begged them to come to the hospital.  I told them I would pay for him to get treatment, but they couldn’t understand me.  They never showed up.  I was so sad, b/c I could never find them when I had a ride for them.   A few times, I hired a car to Chazo to look for them so I could give them a ride back to the hospital, but on those days -- Murphy’s Law -- I never found them.  I would see them when I least expected it, just milling about the village begging.  It killed me to see them like this and not to be able to help! Then, in mid-November, I didn't see him anywhere.  It was like he had just dropped off the map.  We returned to the States late December, and I was starting to think I might never see him again.  

I vowed to myself and to God that, if it was the only thing I did while living in Rwanda this year, I WOULD, if God would help me to make it possible, find these boys again and convince them to come to the hospital and get treatment for Peter’s foot and leg.  I didn’t know how I would fulfill this vow if I couldn’t ever find them, but I was so desperately hoping I might be able to see them again. 

Well, guess what?  Yesterday, as we were walking into Chazo, there they were!  Right on the side of the road!  I was so happy and excited, I think I might have scared them.  I could NOT contain my excitement that I found them again! I felt like doing cartwheels!  This time, I was determined to make SURE they understood what I was asking them to do.  I felt helpless, because, in case you don’t know this, saying a foreign language LOUDER and LOUDER, AND REPEATING YOURSELF OVER AND OVER, doesn’t help anyone to understand what you are saying.  J 

The boys kept looking at me like I had just dropped down from Mars.  UGH!  I motioned for them to NOT leave.  To stay right there.  Somehow, they understood.  Then, I frantically searched around for some Rwandan who spoke English.  Suddenly, I found a duka owner who did, who agreed to come and help me. 

He also gave me a pen and a piece of paper, which was so generous of him.  IT is very difficult to ever locate paper and pen here when you need it! 

I wrote out a note for the guards at the hospital, saying to please let these boys through the hospital gates and arrange for them to have a bed if they came during the night. The note told the boys that I would pay for their food while in the hospital and would pay the boys’ medical bills, so they should come right away and stay at the hospital.

Then I asked the duka owner to explain the note to the boys and to add in anything he needed to explain so they would come to the hospital.  I told him I had asked them to come many times previously, but they never showed up, and I REALLY needed them to come this time! 

After all of this, they said “yes, they would come”, but I didn’t have much faith to believe it, because they had always said yes before. 

However, this morning, Frederick, the social worker at the hospital, showed up at our house saying a young boy had come to the hospital during the night who had a note from me saying I would pay for his care! 

I was feeding the chickens when Frederick arrived, and I was so excited, I almost forgot to lock the chicken coop.  I came running out of there as fast as I could, and flew into the house to wash my hands and throw some gifts for the boys into a bag, and to get some money to pay for some food for them as well.  Hannah, Ruthie and Sam were all so excited that they came as well and really, none of us could hardly believe it was true. 

I felt like I was living in a dream. 

They finally really came!

The timing is amazing, because we have a very talented team of orthopedic doctors from the USA coming this next Monday.  Surely, they can do something for Peter! 

We all went down to the hospital to greet them.  There they were, in the men’s surgery ward, with their father.  He looked so old, tired and poor.  And sad.  And maybe a little embarrassed.  I didn’t want him to think I judged him at all for not procuring help for his boy before now.  I cannot begin to understand what this family has been through.  They are very poor, even by Rwanda’s standards.  They cannot afford to buy health insurance, and without it, the cost for care for their boy would be impossible to EVER pay, even in their entire lifetime.  This father obviously loved his son, and was concerned for him. 

I feel like I am living out many of the verses in the Psalm I read this morning, verses about praising God for his goodness to us.  

"I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; 

I will tell of all your wonders.

I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 

For you have upheld my right and my cause;

you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.  

Sing praises to the Lord, enthroned in Zion;

proclaim among the nations what He has done.

He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.  

But the needy will not always be forgotten,

nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish."

From Psalm 9 - verses 1,2,4,9,11 and 18

I gave them 3 of the baseball hats that Pastor Joe Taylor, of Southern Oaks Baptist Church, sent with me to give away as gifts, and a ball donated by Brandy McCoy.  Each man or boy in the ward (about 40 people) got a coloring book and a box of crayons, donated by Hayley Marlar, Ruthie's class at Peterson Middle School and our church's youth group,  and Peter and Emmanuel each received their own adorable Beanie Baby, donated by my mom and Harold and Robbie Smith from First Methodist.  To top it all off, I gave the Dad and both boys a new shirt.  The teen boy and dad received tie dye shirts made by two friends of Ruthie’s, Meg Blevins and Dacey Harvey, and Peter received a smaller shirt donated by Shirley Christian from Austin, a friend of my mom’s.   It seems so unfair that I get to get all the fun out of giving these things to people, when I didn’t even provide them!  I wish all those who have donated could be here to give the gifts themselves. 

Later in the afternoon, I went back to the ward to check on Peter, and to bring him some juice and bread.  I realized he was wearing a very hot snow skiing outfit, an all in one jumpsuit type thing.  He was sweating terribly, and the sleeves and pants legs were pushed up as far as they would go in order to obtain some relief from the heat.  How did I miss this before?  I don’t know.  But, I quickly helped him out of the top portion of the snowsuit and put on his new tshirt instead.  However, he was still stuck with the pants part of the snowsuit, as I had no pants that would fit him.  (He didn’t have anything on under the snowsuit.)  I went into the social services part of the hospital, to ask if they had any shorts or cooler pants that Peter could use.  At the very same time I entered, a sweet young woman social worker named Consolee was entering for the very same reason!  She had recently met Peter and realized he needed some cooler clothing!  We had so much fun looking through the donated clothing closet to find some pants that would fit Peter.  As we looked, I asked her if I could help him have a bath somewhere, as he was very, very dirty.  It has probably been at least six months since he has had any kind of bath.  That’s just a guess, but I think it’s got to be about right.  Turned out, Consolee had that covered, too.  She had already made an appointment for him to be bathed by one of the physical therapists within the next hour.  I was overjoyed! 

I’ve seen Peter and Immanuel at least 8 - 10 times before, and never, ever have I seen even a hint of a smile on either of their faces.  Even though I’ve bought juice and mugate (bread) for them each time, even though I’ve given them little trinkets which usually brighten children’s faces – I’ve never seen even the beginnings of a smile.  Their lives were just too hard, too hopeless, too difficult, and I believe they have frankly just been too tired to smile!  But this morning, hearing from Frederick that they would be here a while, that doctors were going to do all they could to help them, that we would pay for Peter’s care and for their food while they stayed at the hospital….and after I gave them their new shirts….. I saw the biggest smile on both their faces – even on their Dad’s face. 

I sort of wish I had a "before" and "after" picture of Peter and Emmanuel, so you could see the difference, but I never wanted to take a picture of Peter before, because I knew he would know I was documenting how pitiful he looked, and I thought that would make him feel even worse.  So, you'll just have to take my word for it, that the picture above is a picture of incredible new hope and improvement!  

NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, can beat this!  I feel like one of those people in the Disney World commercials who say, …….  "I’m goin’ to Disney World!” 

Except, I’ve been to Disney World, and Disney doesn’t even come close to the FUN, THE JOY, THE ABSOLUTELY FULFILLMENT -- THE THRILL that I got to experience this morning when I saw the smiles on these three precious children of God’s faces. 

Today will go down as one of the best days of my entire life.  

It’s right up there with the day I married Tim, the day I gave birth to each of my precious children, and the day I became a Christian.  I pray I will never forget today.  I pray I never forget the joy, excitement and the almost disbelief that it could really be true that they boys had come when Frederick came to the chicken coop to tell me the boy and his brother were at the hospital.  I pray I never forget the joy I felt when I saw Peter, Emmanuel and their dad smile after they received their new clothes.  I pray I never forget the thrill of knowing that Peter’s wounds will be tended to at last, and the extreme sense of satisfaction I’ve felt that I have been used in God’s healing plan for Peter and for his brother, Emmanuel, who has spent the last 10 years doing nothing other than caring for Peter. 

My dream and prayers for these boys don’t stop at getting medical treatment for Peter.  When Peter is well, I would like to be able to provide an education for these boys as well.  While Frederick was with me at Peter’s bedside to translate for me, I was able to ask the boys if they attend school.  I thought I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear for myself.  Frederick relayed to me that neither has ever been able to attend school, due to Peter’s illness.  Emmanuel couldn’t go because he was needed by the family to care for Peter.  Peter couldn’t go because he is a crippled invalid.  (But not for long! Yippee!)

School isn’t free in Rwanda, though it is mandatory.  The father looked so sad when the boys were explaining why they hadn’t gone to school.  Again, I did not want to hurt the father’s dignity, and I tried to assure him that I understood it had been simply impossible for them to go.  Before I even thought or prayed about it or anything, I heard myself telling Frederick to tell them that when Peter was made well, we would sponsor both of them for school – that we wanted them to each get an education. 

Oops.  I don’t even know what that means!  Will they have to have a private tutor at first to get them up to speed with others in their age groups?  Are there any kind of remedial school opportunities?  I don’t know anything about this.  However, I am determined to do whatever I can do to make sure this does happen.  I should have waited a bit more before I spoke (sorry, Tim!), but still – I feel sure God wants us to arrange this.  I must find a way to educate both of these young men. 

There is NOTHING like living in Rwanda (or any other 3^rd world country) to affect a major thankfulness-increase in a person.  Who in America would ever feel absolutely, utterly THANKFUL to be able to attend a public school, free of charge, for 13 years?  Who would be GRATEFUL for free textbooks?  Who?  No one!  We in the USA just expect this.  Even children who are over-the-top blessed to attend private schools or home schools usually only see their wonderful advantage as a given in their lives, and not as a luxurious privilege.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to rant about ungrateful children or teenagers!  I think our kids and teens are GREAT!  It’s not that the youth of America have a problem with appreciation, nor with thankfulness.  It is just that they, and we, haven’t seen what so much of the rest of the world is missing.  How can we be thankful for something that seems so automatic, so regular, so normal?  Unless our eyes are opened and we realize we are being given a GIFT, and that what we are receiving is actually a rare thing, something desperately yearned for, but never attained by many of the children of the world, we cannot be thankful.  Education is a GIFT.  Food is a GIFT.  A school building – with air conditioning and a real floor and desks and chairs and smart boards or blackboards – with pens and pencils and notebooks and report cards and teacher/parent conferences - all of this is such a GIFT.  Come to think of it, adequate access to health care is a GIFT as well.  Having enough food to eat is a GIFT.  Having a home or apartment, a bed to sleep in, electricity - even a broom to sweep the floor.....these are all GIFTS.

If you haven’t thanked a teacher or school administrator today – or an adult taxpayer who pays for your school in the USA, why not do that today? And if you haven't thanked God for the many GIFTS in your life, gifts which we all often take for granted, why not do that, too?  

And while we’re all practicing thankfulness, will you join me in thanking God that He answered my prayers and brought Peter and Emmanuel to Kibogora Hospital?  And will you pray for Peter, and his doctors, that he will be healed and that God will give wisdom to his medical team?  And will you join me in asking for a way to send him and his brother to school once he is released from the hospital?  

I thank God for you!