Small World!
For some of you, this is an old story, but this week, it just got a little better...
If you've already heard it, feel free to skip the first paragraph.
James and I took a trip to the Philippines in 2006, the spring before we moved to MN. We were there for one month working with a group of Midwives and Medics, and Eliana (3) and John Hardy (14 months) were with us. Half way through our time there, we had a tragic accident. John Hardy had crawled off the balcony of the house we were staying at, and fell about 14 feet, head first, onto concrete. Once we realized what had happened, we rushed him to the nearest hospital. He was unconscious, and it was obvious that he had a terrible head injury. After we found a hospital with a doctor, and x-rays, they told us we needed to go to another city, a larger one that had a neurosurgeon. So, we drove our practically lifeless son about an hour to try to get help. What a time to pray! And God was listening. When we arrived, he was beginning to become alert, and even started to cry. We had a CT and he was given some medication to decrease swelling, but basically all we could do was wait. There we were, in a strange place, fairly alone, wondering if we were going to loose our child, or if he would be handicapped for the rest of his life. While we were sitting in our room, a knock at the door came. When we opened it, it was a totally unexpected sight...a tall white man from Minnesota asking if he could be of any help to us. He explained that he had been living in and working in the Philippines, and he and his wife heard about our accident and that we were staying in the hospital, and the Lord led them to find us. We didn't realize how much we were in need of 'help' till God brought this family. They were able to take us back to our team, and pick up Eliana who had been staying with friends along with all our belongings, they housed us, and fed us, and helped us get the things we needed, they helped arrange a chartered plane to fly us to Manilla, and all the while encouraged us that God was near and was indeed working on our behalf. After a few days of waiting, God did a miracle and John Hardy seemed to be stable, and returning back to normal (besides the 6 inch fracture on the side of his skull). After a few days at the hospital in Manilla, the doctors released him with a clean bill of health.
We have often thanked the Lord for this family, who were like 'angels who entertained us' in our distress, but we had lost contact with them after our trip. All we knew was that they were going to be moving to another country to start a new ministry.
Fast forward to 2009...Lindsey was in labor with Hali, and our midwife comes over with another midwife who was going to assist her. In between contractions we begin talking, and find out that her assistant was an MK who grew up in the Philippines in the same city of the hospital we stayed at. And in fact, she was good friends with this family that had come to our aid, so we asked her to give them our contact info, that maybe we could get in touch with them again. Nothing more came of it...or so it seemed.
This summer however we had a message from a number we had never seen before, and who of all people would it be, but the 'tall white man from Minnesota'. After many years of wondering where they were, or how they were, we finally got to have them over for dinner this week, and reminisce about that amazing time, and the many years in between. It was a sweet reunion indeed, and it makes us amazed at how small our world is and how big our God is!
Here are a few pictures, then and now.
If you've already heard it, feel free to skip the first paragraph.
James and I took a trip to the Philippines in 2006, the spring before we moved to MN. We were there for one month working with a group of Midwives and Medics, and Eliana (3) and John Hardy (14 months) were with us. Half way through our time there, we had a tragic accident. John Hardy had crawled off the balcony of the house we were staying at, and fell about 14 feet, head first, onto concrete. Once we realized what had happened, we rushed him to the nearest hospital. He was unconscious, and it was obvious that he had a terrible head injury. After we found a hospital with a doctor, and x-rays, they told us we needed to go to another city, a larger one that had a neurosurgeon. So, we drove our practically lifeless son about an hour to try to get help. What a time to pray! And God was listening. When we arrived, he was beginning to become alert, and even started to cry. We had a CT and he was given some medication to decrease swelling, but basically all we could do was wait. There we were, in a strange place, fairly alone, wondering if we were going to loose our child, or if he would be handicapped for the rest of his life. While we were sitting in our room, a knock at the door came. When we opened it, it was a totally unexpected sight...a tall white man from Minnesota asking if he could be of any help to us. He explained that he had been living in and working in the Philippines, and he and his wife heard about our accident and that we were staying in the hospital, and the Lord led them to find us. We didn't realize how much we were in need of 'help' till God brought this family. They were able to take us back to our team, and pick up Eliana who had been staying with friends along with all our belongings, they housed us, and fed us, and helped us get the things we needed, they helped arrange a chartered plane to fly us to Manilla, and all the while encouraged us that God was near and was indeed working on our behalf. After a few days of waiting, God did a miracle and John Hardy seemed to be stable, and returning back to normal (besides the 6 inch fracture on the side of his skull). After a few days at the hospital in Manilla, the doctors released him with a clean bill of health.
We have often thanked the Lord for this family, who were like 'angels who entertained us' in our distress, but we had lost contact with them after our trip. All we knew was that they were going to be moving to another country to start a new ministry.
Fast forward to 2009...Lindsey was in labor with Hali, and our midwife comes over with another midwife who was going to assist her. In between contractions we begin talking, and find out that her assistant was an MK who grew up in the Philippines in the same city of the hospital we stayed at. And in fact, she was good friends with this family that had come to our aid, so we asked her to give them our contact info, that maybe we could get in touch with them again. Nothing more came of it...or so it seemed.
This summer however we had a message from a number we had never seen before, and who of all people would it be, but the 'tall white man from Minnesota'. After many years of wondering where they were, or how they were, we finally got to have them over for dinner this week, and reminisce about that amazing time, and the many years in between. It was a sweet reunion indeed, and it makes us amazed at how small our world is and how big our God is!
Here are a few pictures, then and now.
That's pretty awesome!
ReplyDeleteGreat story...not for the accident which I'm sure must have felt horrific but for the LORD's deliverance and ensuing friendships. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDelete