And The Lame Shall Walk...

Nearly two years ago I began working with files for all the patients in our Nicaraguan communities that needed special care. The needs range anywhere from medicines to glasses to surgery to ongoing care.

One boy especially caught my eye. His name is Joiner, and he was five years old. He was born with a cleft palate and club feet. At the time, the request was to buy Joiner knee pads as crawling on his knees was his only way to move around. He had extremely thick callouses on both of his knees and they were causing him discomfort. Knee pads. That is all that was asked for.

Joiner's picture has been sitting on my desk since I first learned about him, and he has continuously haunted me. In one of my first trips to Nicaragua I met a little boy who had had his club feet surgically corrected and he was running and playing with his friends. Why couldn't Joiner have the same fate?

The quest soon began to find Joiner a sponsor. Shortly after I joined staff I met a man who had sponsored yet another little boy to have his club feet corrected. He talked about what an honor it had been to help the boy and to let him know if there was ever another similar case. Bingo!

I began contacting the man, explaining Joiner's situation and presenting the opportunity to help. Each attempt went more or less unanswered. This past January I was speaking to a community coordinator about a potential water project in their community, and wouldn't you know... Joiner's dad was pushing him on a bicycle through the community. I soon learned that another NGO had corrected Joiner's cleft palate a few months before and he was doing well. Joiner sat patiently as I took his picture. He was extremely shy and not used to having much interaction.

I soon returned to the States and sent the potential donor Joiner's photo and gave him an update on Joiner's status. Still no response. It wasn't until about a month and a half later on a Friday afternoon after a really hard week that I received the call.

Man: "Does Joiner still need a sponsor?"
Me: "Yes...?"
Man: "I will have the check in today's mail."
Me: sobbing.

I immediately began emailing our doctors and director in Nicaragua to let them know to get the ball rolling on Joiner's surgery. In my mind, a wand would be flicked through the air, fairy dust would scatter, and Joiner would be walking. Not the case.

Two weeks later, Joiner was taken to a doctor who insisted that at the age of seven, Joiner was too old for the surgery and he needed his legs amputated. No no no! I would not take that for an answer.

After a few trips to and from Nicaragua, carrying precious x-rays, we found a hospital nearby that would donate the surgery and Joiner's stay. Still not the answer I was looking for. No way was I going to bring a boy and his mom, who had barely ever left their extremely remote community to the US for a long period of time. I don't know which would be more traumatizing- the surgery or the experience of coming to the US.

After long stints of my impatience, we FINALLY found a doctor to do the surgery in Nicaragua. Two in fact. We chose a doctor at the Nicaraguan medical school.

Two weeks from today Joiner's legs and feet were casted to stretch his legs and begin straightening them. Last Wednesday he received his second set of casts which straightened and stretched his legs even farther. Today he got his last set of casts. Next week he will (hopefully) be ready for surgery on his feet. After that, surgery on his knees. Then he will have leg braces and tremendous amounts of therapy until he is able to walk. The entire process is expected to take eight months.

I had the great honor last week to be staying in the same city as Joiner with my group. We met and hung out with Joiner each day during our stay, possibly Joiner's only visitors during his stay. He got coloring books and other goodies, visited a coffee shop and restaurant (a first!), and took pictures as he explored the city square. We instilled in him that he is capable of doing all things through Christ and he has many people praying for him. Overall, we loved and spoiled him as much as we could.

Today I had the honor of sharing pictures of Joiner's adventures with his sponsor who immediately sent me an email. He essentially explained that he has been having a bad week, getting caught up in small details and inconveniences of life and hearing about Joiner had put everything into perspective. It "put a smile in his heart".

It is hard for me to comprehend all that God is doing in this little boy's life. I read about Jesus telling the lame to pick up their mat and walk, but it seems like that was something of the past. In truth, it is happening right now... right before my eyes. Christ is still performing miracles, and it is so exciting!

I have a picture of Joiner and me on my desk now. He does not leave my mind. I often times think about how he has never been to school and how he has no friends. His mother used to hide him in the kitchen to keep people from seeing that she had a son with deformities. Our staff didn't even know about Joiner for quite some time. That is no more.

Joiner's eyes lit up when I asked if he wanted to go to school. He told me he wanted to become a teacher. My prayer is that he will never lose that passion. He gets a second chance at life- a life full of friends and school and employment and anything else put before him.

The lame will walk... and do great thing.

Joiner and his mom were a bit nervous and shy the first day.

Joiner and his mom enjoying a coffee shop for the first time.

When asked what he wanted his picture with, Joiner wanted the lion.

The photo reminder I look at everyday in my office :)

Joiner was amazed by this pool of water because his community does not have water.

We were lemonade buddies. :)

Joiner's very first meal in a restaurant. 

The Real Hasta Pronto!

There is a church I work with that sponsors a specific community. The congregation is all very enthusiastic about their partnership and goes to Nicaragua three or four times each year. I have the great joy of accompanying them each trip and have gotten to know some of the community members quite well. 

As a whole, people in Nicaragua are skeptical when people tell them they want to help. Time-and-time again people have said this with no or very little followthrough. 

There is a man in the church's partner community, Los Pinos, named Victorino. Victorino is probably in his 60s and has seen a lot of changes in his life. He has seen many groups come to his community saying they want to partner, and he has seen them never come back. Naturally, on the church's first group, he was skeptical and did not believe them when they said "hasta pronto!" or "see you soon!". 

Victorino in front of his house.

The second group that traveled to Los Pinos was welcomed in Nicaraguan fashion with songs and greetings from several of the community members. As we were standing in the community center, watching the kids sing their hearts out, I looked up and saw Victorino walk through the back door. I watched as his eyes scanned the line of us gringos to see if he knew anyone. There were two returning church members on the trip as well as myself. Victorino and I locked eyes and he got the biggest smile of relief on his face; he knew "hasta pronto" was for real. I nearly cried, which would not have been unlike me in Nicaragua. I was completely overwhelmed by the sense of Victorino's satisfaction and excitement. This was enough to make the trip for me.

I could go on and on about Victorino, but those stories are yet to come. Until then... hasta pronto!

You Cannot Plan Moments Like These

I have just returned home from a two week trip to Nicaragua. One week was in the familiar area of San Ramon, and the other was in the unfamiliar area of La Paz Centro. There were many notable moments from these two weeks, which I will hopefully take the time to share. 

Right now, there's one moment that sticks out the most to me. The group I was with was working on a housing project outside La Paz Centro, which is the network that I am the least familiar with. This community, La Palma, has not had many guests from the US and the workers were completely skeptical and cautious around us. While I may be reserved and quiet in the States, that is nowhere near who I am in Nicaragua; I am much more free. I began making jokes with the workers, making sure they and the group members knew about each other. After all, that is why we were there. 

One of the workers was Alberto, who I quickly grew to love. He has a calm spirit with a deep desire to enjoy life and the people he is around. Alberto's wife came with three little girls to bring him lunch the first day. I introduced myself to his wife and the girls, who ended up being their nieces. Like everyone else, the girls were really shy and had no desire to answer my unending questions about their name, age, and anything else I knew how to ask in Spanish. 

I have learned, when all else fails, pull out your camera. I began taking pictures and videos of the girls and showing them what I was doing. I can still hear the giggles the girls let out as they watched themselves scroll across my phone screen. 

As you can see, Alberto and his wife were just as happy to join in on the fun. They sat timidly behind the girls, not wanting me to know they wanted in the pictures too. If that's not sweet enough, the dog decided to join in. ;)

The one on the left is five-years-old, and the twins are three-years-old. The twins were unable to figure out how to hold up three fingers, so they signed all kinds of numbers when I asked them how old they were.

As with most kids in Nicaragua, I eventually attempt to take a selfie with them. When I squatted next to the girls to position myself for a photo, the girls would not sit still. They kept throwing their arms around, clapping, pointing at the screen, attempting to show me how old they were, and doing anything else they could imagine. It took me a minute, but it finally dawned on me that they had never seen themselves move first-hand. They have no mirrors and no pictures of themselves.

I could not resist capturing this moment, so I continued holding my phone up, acting like I was taking photos when I was really taking a video.

They are too precious.

The day after this, the group went to a neighboring school in La Sabaneta to do a project with the kids. The group had a portable printer, and they took each kids picture, glued it to a piece of paper, and then let the kids decorate the "frame". When we showed up to the school, it did not take long to have three little girls running up wanting a hug. Yep. The girls from the day before. 

I wish I could have paused time during the school event. As I was standing there, close to my new friends, I was watching the kids react to seeing their photo. It took some convincing to get some of the kids to realize that it was actually them in the photo. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the twins grab her paper and give herself a kiss on her photo. 

You cannot plan moments like these.