God loves the poor!

Last week I (Rich) was feeling overwhelmed by the needs of those around me in Haiti. Everyday I have needy people knocking at my gate in legitimate need and it breaks my heart to turn them away. But even Jesus did not heal everyone who came to him, and so I pray for the wisdom of Solomon to know how to handle each situation.

But then I got a phone call from a friend of a missionary I know named “Ti Frere” or “Little Brother” (Even though he is in his 20's and is taller than me!). He said that he had been trying to get a hold of my missionary friend because he needed some medical care.

He explained that he felt like something was wrong with his jaw. This was a serious problem since he had a big operation last year to remove his cancerous jaw bone and replace it with bone grated in from his ribs. A generous oral surgeon had come from the US to do this normally very expensive operation for free.

I called my friend in the US and she said that she herself needed an operation and had no money to help Ti Frere at this time. But she suggested that we get an x-ray done to find out the seriousness of the problem. Well, Ti Frere didn't have any money for an x-ray, so we prayed about the situation and I decided to call my Haitian Dentist and ask if he would do an x-ray for free.

He said he would! So we went to his office and after he looked at the x-ray he said he had a Cuban friend who was an oral surgeon and he would ask her to look at Ti Frere that afternoon for free! Well Ti Frere was right – he knew something was wrong. It turned out he had an infection in his bone graft and if it was not removed soon, his whole re-built jaw would be in jeopardy.

I explained to the oral surgeon that Ti Frere had no money, and so she generously offered to do the operation two days from then (Friday, Oct. 9) for only $200 US. So we prayed again and wrote an e-mail to his missionary friend in the US and also to the pastor of his church in Haiti.
The next day, we got a call from his pastor in Haiti. While the pastor did not recognize the young man's name, he had compassion for him and understood the urgency of the need. He gave the $200 needed for the operation!!!

So on Friday morning I gave the money to Ti Frere and also gave him some money for car fare and food that evening.

That afternoon I went to see Ti Frere and he was doing well. His Mom and sister were there taking care of him and he looked good.

This whole incident reminded me that God loves the poor, and that God has ways of providing for them that I could never imagine. All I need to do is be sensitive to God's Holy Spirit and let him show me who He wants me to help, and trust that He will provide for the ones I cannot through other people.

Please pray for Ti Frere as he recovers, and that he will discover God's plan for his life.