My heart broke in the Philippines. Within a 24 hour period, I held a woman whose home had been ripped down and I then held a little 3 month old boy with a cleft lip and palate named Jayson.
Rise and shine early Saturday morning, it’s time to take Jason to his
screening for Operation Smile! The car ride was a quiet one. We were
all so excited, each of us in a prayerful state of what was to come.
I think we all had a much smaller idea of Operation Smile
than we knew. By the time we arrived at 9:30 in the morning
(screenings were from 8-5 only on Oct. 2) there were already 105 people
ahead of us. We were enveloped by families each there with their own
children that had the same severities as Jason. Some much more
developed than others, either way, all sat with smiles on faces and
hope in their eyes.
not sure what the total number of families seen that day was, but a
mere 2 hours of playing with Jason, talking to volunteers and an
intense game of Phase 10 later Jason was back for his screening.
During his screening he had his own little photo shoot, checked out by
a general doctor, an anesthesiologist, a dentist, a speech therapist
and even looked at briefly by Robert Manzano. [Roberto Manzano is the
President of Operation Smile and he was ecstatic that Jason had a fan
club and even more excited that we were able to partner with OS. He
was quick to tell us, “you keep bringing us your children and we’ll
keep fixing them.” He was a genuine, sincere and kindhearted man with
a life driven by change.]
about half an hour Jason had made it through the rotation of all of the
doctors and we were told that they had a hotline for us to call and
find out if he would be one of the six chosen for surgery Monday. We
found out about three hours after dropping Jason and his mom Jocelyn
off that he was approved and would have surgery Monday, October 4th at
8am.
mid-morning rolled around and we received a text that said Jason had a
successful surgery and was in post-op shortly to be moved to recovery.
and shine early Tuesday morning, we were headed to hang out with Jason
and his parents for a bit at the Makati Hospital. As we drove up
looking for a parking spot we see Jocelyn, Gilbert and Jason waiting
outside. They had been released and were about to get a taxi. God’s
perfect timing allowed us to give Jocelyn and Jason a ride home and
Gilbert, his Dad, the chance to go to work today. So instead of them
having to pay for a taxi ride home, they were able to go with us. We
took them to lunch and then proceeded to take them home to rest.
am beyond joyful to report that Jason looks amazing. His perfect
little lips are going to be even more beautiful and flawless once they
are healed. He has a 3 week recovery period that will probably be
painful for him, but it will mean a lifetime of freedoms he would have
never had before.
started and are beyond grateful for the Lord’s sovereignty in this
circumstance. We know God has amazing things in store for this family
as they are well loved by their community and Jason’s story will be a
driving force of change in their love for God and his deliverance. I
can feel it in my bones.”
