Friday the 13th is a Blessing from Above!
So many have silly superstitions about Friday the 13th,
but I have the complete opposite view of this day – especially after the
experience we had.
I don’t want to go into that much detail because my plan is
to make a short film about it all (hopefully), but I will try and give you more
details about an aspect of today.
On Wednesday, I had a mission: to get two wheelchairs
donated or given to 2 families that I know could use them. Part of both of their stories are that
with a wheelchair, the child would be able to get out more, be exposed to more
of life, not be locked in a house all day. I say about ¼ of that was completed on Wednesday. One of them was presented with a
temporary wheelchair until hers comes in, while the other was directed to a
more specialized place in Nairobi, which brought us to the best Friday the 13th
ever.
This morning, my mom, Paul, our driver, and I set out with
the same goal as Wednesday – to bring an 11 year old boy home with a wheelchair. We arrived at Association for
Physically Disabled of Kenya workshop with so much hope for one boy – one
family. We were on a hunt for a
worker named Norah, which happened to not be there at that time, therefore we
were directed to others that would take over and take care of the process to
get little Karioki measured for his own special chair. The price we were given regarding the
cost of the chair was 10,500 kenyan shillings (about $130ish) – so we were very
happy.
There were some errands that my mom and I had to run since
I’ve had some difficulty with my account recently, so we left the doctors do
what they needed to make this happen for this sweet little one. A few hours later, we returned with news
that they wanted to speak to me regarding some things. Conclusion was, they didn’t have a
chair to fit his measurements so they’d have to order it, and that it was going
to cost 18,500 for his chair, plus they thought he needed KAFOs, AFOs, and
“Polio BOOTS” which would have all equaled out to roughly 27,000
shillings. My non-professional
brain began thinking about what exactly all of these things were for,
understanding that I knew many people that wore AFOs and knew how important
they were – but POLIO BOOTS! Seriously?
What do those things actually do?
I know
so many people with cerebral palsy who do not wear these shoes – so
I had no shame in my speech and had God on my side.
First I would also like to say I know there is absolutely no
way that I could walk in anywhere in the USA and get someone fitted for a chair
for $250 and take it home that day.
Maybe I am wrong, but I didn’t have much expectation for this visit –
only that my hopes were to take one home. When I found out all they wanted to
give him and the price for all of that – I felt there had to be another way. We
talked and discussed all of the options with these Kenyans back and forth with
the same response – “there is no other way.” We walked outside to take a look at another wheelchair that
supposedly was his size (which ended up not being at all), then again stood
there and just went back and forth some more. Somewhere along the conversation someone said the name
“Norah” …. Well I’ll be if this woman named Norah didn’t just pop out of the
sky at the perfect time. HECK
YES!!!
As conversation went on, 4:30pm, also known as clock out
time, was drawing nearer and nearer.
They all had some discussions in Swahili that I didn’t fully understand
but completely felt like I could gather the feel of what was going on. She basically kicked their butts in
gear and told them to go back and check some other chairs to see if they would
work. We ended up going in the
office with her telling her about the passions God has given to me leading her
to reveal countless files of people all over Kenya and Uganda that have filled
out applications to get wheelchairs, but have no way of getting transportation
funds to get fit for the chairs - some living 200km+ away, but still in need of chairs.
The same situation is true for this family that we were
helping today except by God’s grace, I was introduced to this man through
Naomi’s Village one year ago, which brought us to this place today. He would not spend the money for transportation
to get all the way to Nairobi and pay 27,000 shillings for his son a chair –
not because he doesn’t love him, but because he would much rather feed him to
keep him alive than spend it on a chair – something that is not a necessity in
his life – as much as we Americans may believe that it is. If this father worked 6 days a week and
made 900 shillings a day, he would make 282,600 shillings a year, which equals
around $3,314 USD or around $276 a month.
This salary is to provide for himself, his wife, his son with cerebral
palsy, and his youngest son who doesn’t have a ‘disability’. Why would he want to spend $313 (more
than a month’s salary) on this equipment when his son has survived thus
far? Getting this equipment is not
an option for him or for anyone else in this situation.
As we talked to Norah, she really began to help us open up,
which was a blessing. She was
blessed by the entire situation and I feel like she desired more people to
intervene like God has allowed us to.
The end result of developing a relationship with her is that we were
able to get the sweet little one the special chair, KAFO splints, AFO splints
for 10,000 shillings!!! HOLY SMOKES GOD IS GOOD! (I told them to keep their polio shoes). So the great thing is, we should be
able to come pick up the chair next week.
What a blessing for them and I CANNOT WAIT!!
Several things hit me today:
- When Karioki sat in an sample chair, they put a tray on it and in that moment my mind flooded with all the potential this family could have: Communication boards, feeding time, therapy, transportation, getting outside of the house, going to church as an entire family – the one weighing heaviest on my heart was the communication. Their son may be able to use this tray attached to his chair as a way to communicate to his parents for the first time in 11 years!
- There is something so great about me not crying. If you know me, you know I pretty much cry about everything, even though I HATE IT!!! I know there are times when I don’t cry but feel like I should be crying & those are some of the times that God speaks to me the most. Today, He said – “Here it is, Lindsey. Do this for me and nothing or no one else. This is my gift to you. Be a part of changing these lives, one by one.” I would look at my mom and see her tearing up and so excited & I was so excited as well, but definitely more calm about it, which I feel is somewhat abnormal, but also natural in the situation. Again, I just felt like God said “This is part of it, Lindsey. My plan for you. Now keep walking with me and find out more.” There is peace because of Christ.
- Like I have somewhat stated, God made it clear of my life’s calling and where I am supposed to be. I have not experienced anything like this for some reason. I know I’ve been in many places where God has called me (& plenty where I shouldn’t have been), but this is the first time I felt like a small vision that God gave me was coming to fruition. All I could do was praise Him and want to worship Him. (So on the way home, that was what I did – sat in the very back, put in my headphones, and stuck my head out the window in AWE of a Mighty King). Without Him – none of this would have happened. The timing of running into Norah. The timing of my mother being here. I would not have been able to pay for anything because I have zero access to my bank account right now since someone hacked my account and I shut it down. God could not have had her here at a better time. He put a desire in my heart to extend my trip in Kenya & to get mom to leave later too. He knows if we would have left today (original date planned) that maybe nothing else would have happened for this family. And for me to even know this family He placed me at Naomi’s Village to meet him last summer. AhHHH All the details that God knows long before I ever do amaze me … I could go on and on….
All the little details – God is aware of and is 100%
involved with. Even if we think
that He is not aware of the
smallest things in our lives – He is very aware of them. He gets the small things and he gets
the BIG things. He is the all
knowing God & what a great way to spend this “superstitious day”. I just want to fall and worship with
everything I have.
What a blessing today was. I am so thankful.
