Two Incredible Boys!

Luis is a charming 5-year-old born with spina bifida resulting from a malformation of the spinal cord. He has some loss of strength in his legs due to this.  He came to us accompanied by his parents and big brother who all have Jesus in their heart!  Luis was full of curiosity and interested in all that was going on around him.  As you can see from the expression on his face, he was quite excited to sit in his wheelchair for the first time.  He quickly learned to self-propel it around the room.  We then reined him back in so we could adjust the footrests and move the wheels forward to help with his propelling. 



Hey Mom!  Look at me go!!

Clete Yoder, our mechanic, took out his tools and started to raise the footrests which were originally way to low.  Luis leaning forward to observe the action,  commented, "Um, more adjustments."  Clete said, "Yes, more adjustments.  Would you like to help?"  Clete then took out a ratchet wrench, gave it to Luis, and showed him how to crank the wrench while Clete held the nut still.They soon had both footrests in a good position.  Clete also cut down an adult walker and made a child's walker for his young protege. Not an easy task.           

Luis' Walker and an Adult Walker.  Bet you cannot guess which one is Luis'.

Since he is living in a family of believers, it is our prayer that Luis' name will soon be written in the Lamb's Book of Life.  Then one day, he and Clete can travel together on Wheels trips, modifying wheelchairs all day long until Jesus comes!

 Below is a picture of 7-year-old Niver and his mom.  They live on a very small farm with his dad and two younger siblings.  Their language is Quechua.  To speak with them, I spoke in English to Ivan, my interpreter.  He then spoke Spanish to Maria who lives near Niver.  Maria spoke Quechan to the mother.  When she replied, the whole process was reversed.  It was a most interesting conversation!

Niver has some of the best trunk and neck strength I've ever seen in a child his age!  But his awareness of his legs is very poor.  After showing mama several different exercises to help increase his awareness of his legs and perhaps prepare him for standing, I stressed the importance of working with him every day or the window of opportunity for standing  will close.  His mom wants to work with him an hour each day, but knows it will be difficult as she helps with the farm and has two younger children to care for.  I asked about folks from her church helping out.  She says they only attend church sporadically!  Maria, our Spanish-Quecha interpreter, who then spoke up said she lived near Niver and would love to work with him for an hour each day!  The Lord is in the details!  He is the one who directed Maria to serve  with our little group at our station. There were a couple of Spanish-Quechan interpreters available, but she was the one sent to our station.  As she watched the exercsies and heard of the need, the Lord spoke to her heart.  Maria was already a  believer. When Niver's mom left our wheelchair station, she, too, had prayed to receive the Lord! Now Maria can help her to grow as Maria visits Niver's home each day.

Please pray for all the disabled and their families.  Life with a disabled member is always very challenging.  Those who we see are at the distribution site because their families make a great effort to get them there.  But every day, there are 5 -10 recipients who have an appointment to receive a free wheelchair, but they do not show up.  Usually it is because their family is unwilling to make the effort to get them to us. Pray these families, especially.