Picture of Jesus Healing the Crippled Man
Article written by Keith Toews
In one of my first emails I talked about Jonas, a young man who has walked with his bum on his heels for 16 yrs. Literally, he was about 3 and a half feet tall and never could straighten up. He had had a sickness as a child and his legs and hips were curled up to where he was a cripple. Never could walk upright. He told me personally that he was this way because he had a “bad spirit”. He lived by handouts and doing a few odd jobs where people gave him food etc. Jonas has been coming to our places and been walking over an hour to church on Sundays. We have been happy that he seemed to be getting past the idea that he just had a bad spirit etc. The missionaries, Clinton and Ruth Holdeman, have been helping him out with some food while we were all thinking and praying for a way to get him setup with a job or something that he could do. Clinton found a doctor that made braces for Jonas to help straighten his legs and was getting ready to start therapy with him to see what the possibilities would be. After Jonas’ first therapy session, the therapist came out and said “LOOK! Jonas can walk! I don’t have an explanation. It is a Miracle!” He never even used the braces! Today Jonas is a changed young man. He walks upright normally. He is happy and is the talk of town. EVERYBODY is praising God and giving God the glory for the “gwo mirac” (big miracle). Some days Jonas can hardly walk thru town because of the crowds that press in upon him, talking to him, clucking their tongues, touching him, loving him. I waded into one such crowd and found Jonas sitting on the ground, unable to move because of the press. I pulled him up and together we walked out thru the crowd and away down the street. People were following and waving their arms, looking up in the sky, shouting “thank you Jesus” etc. Now some could cynically say that he could have walked all along but in 16 yrs just didn’t ever try. But we rather choose to give God glory and thanks for the fact that ....today, Jonas can WALK! “Merci Jesu!”
Now even though the clinic had nothing to do with Jonas walking.... the impression is out there that the whites in Oriani can heal all things. We pray for wisdom on how to handle all the people that are coming in. We even have people who have been paralysed for 5 yrs who come expecting solutions. We know Jesus can heal, and we can keep pointing people to the great physician, healer of bodies and souls.
The clinic has seen a thousand people this last month. The rainy season has been upon us. Yup, it has rained about every day the last month! So, that has brought in more respiratory issues, pneumonia etc. than usual. So very many sick kids!
Last week we packed up the family including Ashley and Lacey and went to the DR. We sought out medical supply outlets etc, and also bought groceries. We buy the long life, non refrigeration carton milk here sometimes and yet in the DR it is 1/3 the price of Haiti, so we bought 288 litres. (75 gallons). Some medicines are the same price as Port-au-Prince but others are half the price. The highlight of the trip was on Sunday when we got to see the whole DR church all assembled for their annual meeting in the congregation where Benjie and Faith Schmidt are. Seems like a nice bunch of young people in the churches there. The DR is a different place than Haiti alright! There are smooth roads and nice stores everywhere, but something felt really good about getting back to the chaos of Haiti. We immediately again enjoyed the big quick grins, and despite (or some people say ``because of``) Haiti`s problems, these people have a quick sense of humour. I could spend half a page telling you about the arguing , the gesturing, the running around to different desks sitting under flapping blue tarps, the corruption, the road that is under 30 inches of water, the complete mess called the Dominican / Haiti border. But I will spare myself the agony of remembering all that. We had 75 gallons of milk, 46 gallons of diesel, 9 people with luggage, 5 solar panels, groceries, and 6 boxes of medicines in the Ford Excursion. Coming home, our tail was really dragging all the way up the mountain! We put the lift kit in but now we need heavier springs it seems.
As I write this at 10 pm... I hear a LOUD band of about 30 men yelling, singing, beating on drums, walking by our house. I just ran out and tried to find out what it was all about, but couldn’t get a clear answer. I think some were drunk. I think it was all about somebody who had died. They traditionally hold an all-night party with wailing, playing dominoes and drinking etc.
Our family is doing well and the kids are done school. They finished with good marks thanks to Lacey`s good teaching skills. The 3 younger children all talk enough Creole that they can play and converse with the neighbour kids quite well. The older boys have been working at fixing up a couple of motorbikes. We have a garden with sweet corn, green beans, peas, okra, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. This is our first garden, but maybe next round we can do a bigger one. Candace is also enjoying walking to the market area, buying supplies at the many little tables and tarps of everything from fruits, vegetables, fertilizer and used clothing. We just love these muddy, filthy markets and all the fun people and friends you see there.
Please pray for....
1. A suitable nurse to come in fall to replace Kim when she goes home. (1+ yr commitment would be nice.)
2. Wisdom for the future of this clinic, and our family here.
3. For Kim and Ozias and their daily flood of patients. ( a Dr in an office in America generally sees 10-20 people a day, Here they each see 20-40 a day, which makes it hard to spend the time with each that they would like)
4. For me that I can correctly decipher how to help needy situations like when and where to take people as they need to go to a hospital. Also how and when to help such a one when they are simply too poor to go. (much could be written about all that) In these times I often go aside and pray... “God, I need help deciding this again. Please send me a feeling from the Holy Spirit on what to do”. Sometimes it clears up and I go ahead in faith, other times its hard to know what course to take.
I thank you all for your support and may God bless each one of you our friends. Time is short , eternity is long.
Love Keith and Candace
Tev, Zack, Cam, Chase, Christina
Telephone, 1-809-816-4899
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