Journal, December 22 & 23, 2009

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

I'm taking a few days off from journaling.

Merry Christmas
From Dick and the Crew.
(Here in Guatemala we are still allowed to say that.)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

I know that I said that I was not going to do any writing this week but I wanted to write about the Godincidence that took place just a few hours ago while it is still fresh in my mind.


Yesterday David who works at Hope Haven's wheelchair factory over in Antigua asked me if I could come in and fit a wheelchair for a little girl who's mother would be bringing her in today. I told him that I could do it and asked if it would be OK if I brought along a little boy that I had heard about who needed a wheelchair. David told me that they would love to give this this little boy a wheelchair, so this morning I picked him, his brother and his mother up at their home and then headed over to Hope Haven's wheelchair factory.



After seating the 2 kids David showed me a few boxes that had my name on them. He told me that they had arrived yesterday on a container of wheelchair supplies and he had no idea what was in them. I first though of just throwing them into my car and not checking their contents until later but something prompted me to look into one of the boxes. Before I had a chance to check out any of the other boxes David called me over to one of the garbage bins that are just outside of the building.





A little boy was rummaging around in the garbage trying to find some thing of value. This is not all that uncommon here in Guatemala but what caught David's attention were the shoes that this little boy was wearing. They were an unmatched pare of ladies open toe shoes. The little boy seemed quite amused that we had taken an interest in his shoes. He told us that they were the only shoes that he owned. Not only were they in terrible shape but they kept falling off from his feet. This was especially bad because this little boy spent most of his time scrounging around in the garbage bins where there is a lot of broken glass and other dangerous tings to step on.





Now here is where the Godincidence of the week came in to play. Hope Haven Antigua is a wheelchair factory and not a shoe store. Nearly every container that arrives there is filled with wheelchair related items. Shoes are not wheelchair items. What do you suppose was in the box that I had just peeked into? A few minutes later David was fitting Luis Andreas into a brand new pare of shoes. I am quite sure that this the very first Christmas present that Luis has ever received.

Have a Merry Christmas
Yours in Christ; Dick


May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14