There is so much I want to tell you, but for the sake of your time – I will tell you one of my favorite things about living in San Juan, Dominican Republic. His name is Alexander and he is one of the most beautiful little boys I have ever seen. Alexander or Alex is three years old and lives with his grandparents, Ida and Clemente due to his health issues. When he was much younger, Alex’s mother hit him in the eye – so hard that it has required him to have several surgeries now to drain the fluid from the back of his eye. Miguel and his wife Kristin have felt a very special connection with Alex and his grandparents – to the point that they believe that Alex will be their son one day in the future. Miguel has helped Ida and Clemente pay for many of the doctor trips and expenses they have incurred due to the healing of his eye.
Rewind a little to know some things about Ida. She is a big woman who gives the greatest hugs you could ever want…. and even though there are very few teeth in her mouth, her smile is so full of joy and warmth. She gives you the kind of hugs that could kill you – where you just feel squeezed in half and she means every ounce of it!!! Ida also was very involved in witch craft and believed strongly in powers that are not of Christ. Miguel began sharing Christ with she and Clemente and soon enough, they both prayed to receive Christ and burned everything in their home that was not of Christ. Now her home is adorned with a huge picture of Jesus hanging in the living room. Ida and Clemente’s house is made out of rolled out tin cans (really large industrial size tin cans) and a little wood. There are a total of two rooms, a bed in each and a few chairs inside – with a nice sized backyard, where they cook food and do some laundry. The outside of the house is surrounded by a tin can fence wrapped in barbed wire in fear that someone may try to break in and steal what little they have.
The first time we met Alexander, was just a few days ago and he was so shy to meet us. He has been in and out of the doctor and hospital so many times that probably the thought of more people coming to meet him and pray over his eye, was very overwhelming to him. He did not want any of us to touch him or even get near him. We have been around Alex about 6 times now and every time we see him – he is completely naked…running around, trying to stay as close to Ida as possible. The kind of conditions he is living in are only making the situation with his eye worse – the dirt that he gets in his eyes everyday is not like the dirt at home. This dirt is (excuse the details) filled with feces of humans, chickens, goats, dogs, horses…etc. There is so much bacteria in the dirt that Miguel told us that while we are in Guachupita – we should never touch our face until after we scrub our hands. So, you can imagine that what he gets on his body everyday and in his eye is not helping it to heal properly. But, Ida and Clemente are wonderful parents to Alex and put his eye drops in everyday and try very hard to keep him well.
Today was a very interesting day as we went to their home for a second day to help them build an outhouse in their backyard. We helped move rocks and dirt – as the man building the outhouse stood at the bottom and poured the cement and placed all the big rocks to start the foundation. While my teammates were helping, Di and I decided to take Alex to Papi and Chula’s house to play with their three little boys who are not in school yet – they are 4, 3, and 1 (some really adorable little boys at that)! They were playing and having a great time as Di and I spun them and spun them and spun them around until we could not walk straight anymore. Alex kept throwing himself against the dirt and playing – it was so good to hear him giggle and watch him play with the other boys. About an hour into our playing, he took a nose dive off the dirt mound and landed face first… I ran up to see him as he was crying. I immediately saw blood gushing and kind of freaked out in my head – praying it was not coming from his eye (because it is really beginning to heal beautifully) and he had bitten the inside of his mouth. He had almost bitten completely through his bottom lip – to the point that in the states, he would have been taken straight to the hospital to get stitches. Di went ahead of me to get Ida and Alex and I walked to the house, as he was sobbing the whole way. We stuck him in a bucket filled with water and Rachel gave him a bath and made him gurgle with some water. Ida and Clemente washed his eye out with his drops and it took about 6 of us to try to get him dressed – he was mad and hurt and did not want anyone touching him! I thought they were going to take him somewhere to have them look at his mouth, but we got him dressed and Clemente asked us to come inside the house, pray over him and read scripture over him.
I am amazed at the kind of faith that these people have. There has not been a time that we have been there that Ida and Clemente do not ask us to pray over their home, over Alexander’s eye, and read scripture over them. They crave the truth and presence of God and know without a doubt that He is real and performs miracles to this day. They completely believe that the Lord is going to fully heal Alexander’s eye and were confident today that his mouth was going to be okay. After the Lord set them free from witchcraft and they found truth in Him – they are fully committed in their relationship with Him and have confidence in Him that I should have, seeing that I have been a Christian now for over half of my life. They inspire me to love the Lord deeper and just trust that He is who He says He is – stop questioning and doubting that He can still perform miracles and just ask in faith, believing that He will.
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We have not found it appropriate yet to bring our cameras to Guachupita – but as soon as we feel like it is okay, I will post pictures of this beautiful family…and the others that we are growing to love so much! Please be in prayer for Alexander and his eye! God is working miracles in their lives!!
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Clemente prayed that they would get in through the hospital quickly and they zipped through and were able to get 3 stitches in his lip…he seems to be doing great and was eating later this afternoon!
