What is "sillas de ruedas" you ask? It is life-giving. It is peace. It is honor. It is respect. It brings new possibilities. It is love in action!!! Do you want it? I do. For most "sillas de ruedas" translates to a wheelchair. Yet, to the many we touched today, it was all of the above and so much more than our feeble words can express.
Through our obedience and your support we are this day His hands and feet. It brings us great honor and privilege to introduce Maria, whom YOU were able to minister in partnership with us.
Imagine this, you are a gainfully-employed 26 year old mother of three who cleans streets in Lima, Peru. Suddenly, while faithfully conducting your duties, a car loses control and hits you leaving you crippled. This is Maria's story. She has been using mismatched crutches for 13 years with her right, flaccid leg. Not only does she lose her independent mobility, she now has limited use of her arms due to having to use crutches.
Now follow us into Maria's home. It is dark, your feet land on hard dirt floor, it isn't dirty, but it smells musty. You see two small beds against two walls, and a wooden dining table. Quickly a realization sets in that this is their bedroom, dining room and living room all in one.
Keegan, a 17 year old team member, and our Peruvian partner, Martin, gently placed Maria in her wheelchair. While Keegan and Martin were on their hands and knees adjusting her wheelchair, she exclaims, "This is the first time in my life that I have felt so peaceful." A flurry of Spanish tumbled out of Maria's lips; words of gratitude, trusting God, holding tight to His promises. You start to piece together that some time ago, her neighbor received a free wheelchair and she felt rejected, yet she never turned her back on God and she continued to serve Him. What strikes a chord deep in your heart is that Maria is a faithful servant and believes God is faithful regardless of her present circumstances. So today she receives a gift from God...a wheelchair...but to Maria it is life-giving, it is peace, it is honor, it is respect, it brings possibilities, and it is love in action!!!
"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:30-31
2 comments:
Wow, beautifully written. I felt as though I was there with you. Thank you!
Gives some perspective to our lives, does it not? Am I faithful when others receive what I need? Oh Lord, help me to be so faithful!
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