 November 17, 2007 |
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Today was a day not like the first few. I made a call and said I wanted to revisit the family with the woman that had lost her leg from a wall falling during the typhoon. She had been devastated after losing the house she and her husband had worked so hard for, and from the pain of her terrible injury. Even though I thought I understood that the purpose of this trip was to see firsthand the damage from Typhoon Xang Sane, I just could not contain myself and just make "plans". I believe that I serve a God that allows us to act when we can. We had to do something to give this woman back some of the hope that had been robbed from her young family.
I asked him how the wheelchair had changed his life. “Completely!” he said. “I do not have to crawl, I can go outside all the time, and my wife is happier." When I talked to his smiling wife, she said "It is much easier to take care of him, bathe him and take him outside, but most importantly, now he is happy again!" And they both began laughing! |
Our distribution partner, 
By the time we arrived back in her small village, word had gotten out. Neighbors were smiling, children ran around, and suddenly there she was. A different lady then we had left only a day before! Someone had told her - GIBTK is going to build her a house! Here she was with an undeniable new sparkle in her eyes that only grew brighter as we told her that this "rumor" was true. I have seen so much devastation on this trip. It was a real joy to be with this family as they saw a dream begin to come true. Changed lives!
As we were leaving, I saw a man sitting in one of our Free Wheelchair Mission wheelchairs, smiling – he was the second past wheelchair recipient I had noticed in last two days. He was just sitting there watching us, enjoying the sun and all the action going on in the street. I went over to him and asked him how long ago he had received his chair. With the biggest smile you could imagine, he said that he’d had the chair since Oct. 2005.