This is a story e-mailed to us by a good friend of our who is serving on a Mercy Ship. With all the sad news on TV these days, mostly from Iraq, but also alot from here at home, I just wanted to share an uplifting story:
Honduras Story - Dilcia
Don G.
Dec 15, 2004
It is our last partial week here in Puerto Castilla. We sail Thursday night for Puerto Cortez, about 125 miles to the west of us, near the border of Guatemala. We will spend Christmas and New Years there.
This is the rainy season here so we feel particularly blessed at having no significant rain last week as we took down the Dockside Unit tents, packed the equpment and loaded it back into the holds of the ship. It is so much better to do that in the dry than in the wet.
With the eye surgeries, dental services and teachings in the communities, we have really been part of changing lives and villages here in Honduras. There are so many stories to tell, but one story is particularly poignant.
Dilcia is a nine year old girl, born deaf and blind, possibly due to German measles during her mother's pregnancy. She is beautiful and sweet and her mother cares for her with an abundance of love and patience. She came to the ship from Tocoa, over an hour's drive from Puerto Castilla, as a possible surgical candidate. The opthalmologists were guarded in their assessment of her chances.
The brain's ability to correctly interpret the signals from the optic nerve and to synthesize images develops in the early years of life. It is often the case that when the mechanical impediments to sight are removed, sight does not really return because it is too late for the neural pathways to develop. At nine, Dilcia is at the limit.
Not being able to hear, she had to trust her mother to lead her and comfort her through the pre-operative procedures. We are reminded that often in times of the unknown, we have to completely trust the Lord to lead us. In the operating room, she was covered with prayer before and during the procedure. The surgeon, Dr. Rob, completed the first eye and said that he had done the best he could, but that God would have to come alongside Dilcia to complete the work. The OR team prayed especially for this.
When she awoke from the anesthetic, she was not happy with the eye patch and her mother did an awesome job of caring for her. Just think of the love this young woman has for her child.
Tests the next morning showed that she had a healthy retina, but there were few signs of her having vision.
She returned the next week for surgery on the second eye. She knew what was coming when the Dockside nurses began to prepare her for surgery. To say the least, she was not a happy camper. Again the surgery went well and Dr. Rob again asked for special prayer for God's hand.
Returning a week later for a post-op checkup, it was evident that the Lord had, indeed, provided His part in the restoration of Dilcia's sight.
Our chaplain, Chuck Duby, played catch with her. She was looking around and smiling. She was the only one around without tears in her eyes. Her mother was beyond joy.
It is so awesome to be part of giving the gift of sight to Dilcia...especially in this season of giving.
Don and Kathy
http://www.caribbean-mercy.org
