Miracles Around the World
We are back! It is hard to believe that the summer is now over but at the same time it is so exciting to come back to Concordia and see familiar and new faces. And most of all it is hard to believe that this is my last year amongst my fellow Cobbers. What do I think about that?
Well, I suppose there are mixed feelings. Sad that every time I do something now I think, “Oh, this is my last time at Powerbowl” or “This is the last time I will have college roommates.” But on the other hand, it is so exciting to know that I have been prepared and will soon be able to go out into the world and use the tools that I have been given. The tools of knowledge, compassion, dedication, and servant hood, to only name a few.
This past summer I spent three months living in Belize, Central America. During this time I was blessed with the opportunity to work with Praying Pelican Missions (www.prayingpelicanmissions.org), leading short term mission trips. The summer was a complete blessing and God revealed to me in many ways what His plan is for me in the future and helped me to see the kind of person that I want to be.
I had many amazing weeks but there is one particular week that helped me to see what life is all about. During this particular week, the group was leading Vacation Bible School in a small village called Ladyville. The week was incredible and as it was nearing a close, one of the participants approached me and said that we needed to go to the hospital. As I looked at her, she continued to tell me that there was a little boy who had something wrong with his eyes and he needed to see a doctor as soon as possible. As I looked at the little boy she was talking about, I felt God’s overwhelming touch come upon me and I knew she was right. As I looked into Kevin’s eyes, there was obvious pain. He stood there itching his eyes and as he pulled his hand away I noticed the color of his eyes and was reminded of a fire hydrant.
We immediately left after receiving permission from the little seven-year-old’s mother and headed in to Belize City to find someone to give this boy some hope. After waiting three hours to see an eye doctor we found out that Kevin had a disease called ”Pits.” This disease comes in five stages and as a person enters into the fourth and fifth stages these pits are formed in the whites of your eyes and eventually your eye collapses over itself and you loose your eyesight completely.
Receiving medical care in Belize, is difficult, especially if you do not have the financial means. Kevin is a boy that does not have opportunities as we do in the states. As he went to the doctor before, he was told that whatever was wrong with his eyes would be something that he would grow out of…well that information was false and Kevin now was in the third stage of this disease and his future was uncertain.