~by Mike Ribelin~
Today was a different day for us because we were rained out of yesterdays home visits. We decided to have three teams and complete the rest of our home visits in the morning before the predicted rains started. Tom and Renata, Jill and I started the day off with Gilbert as our driver and two LWA staff, Innocent and Bora in a very old but reliable Land Cruiser.
Our first visit was to little Darlene’s home. She is a delightful little bundle of joy about 2 1/2 years old. She suffers from mild cerebral palsy, but her real problem started when her mother died in a bus accident, but before the bus crashed mom threw Darlene out the window so the toddler survived but suffered a brain injury. She is being raised by her mother’s best friend of many years and her husband. The mother’s new born little girl added an extra special time for Renata who had the honor of holding her during our visit. Darlene had a wonderful time playing ball during our visit, the whole time sitting in Tom’s lap. We prayed with the family for God to continue to heal Darlene.
The second visit was to Igabe Yvan’s home, where we were greeted by his loving mother. Yvan, whi lives with Down syndrome, has faced challenges that require strength, resilience, and above all, love as he has already endured one heart surgery. He is receiving specialized care from heart doctors to address important medical needs. He didn’t let all this hinder him from playing ball with us during our visit. It was a delight to spend time with Yvan and his loving mother and father and to pray for his continued improvement and possibly being able to talk in the future.
The last visit took us up what appeared to be a washed out jeep road from the previous days rain and Gilbert did an amazing job of driving the old Land Cruiser up the steep grade. We were visiting Joanne Ineza Keza, also known as JoJo. She lives with Down syndrome and was born with a congenital heart defect that required urgent medical attention. This visit took an unusual turn when we were introduced to a friend of the family, Bonaventure a preacher and self proclaimed prophet. Also joining us was a neighbor who dropped in with her little boy and the mother’s sister, who we were later told was pregnant. We were a bit confused by all the extra people in the home, especially Bonaventure. Unfortunately, Joanna was not feeling well and just wanted to cover her face during our visit. Innocent did a remarkable job at interpreting Bonaventure’s style of preaching and healing my body. Found out after our visit from Gilbert he was likely not at all what he proclaimed he was. (Could have fooled us)
After our rewarding morning of home visits we returned over some extremely bumpy roads back to Bumbogo for another delicious lunch.
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