Tuesday, May 15, 2012

A Surprise Gift


We have some amazing partners and our supporters are awesome. I have to tell you about the most recent gift we received. It comes from an unlikely donor and just blessed us so much that it brings tears to my eyes and the story will touch you as well.

We serve the people that this culture considers the least and lowest of the region. The lowest and most rejected are the lepers who are considered worthless by the community and are even thrown out of their families and villages. It is a less than human, existence. We have a leper residential rehabilitation center called "Tamariska” which means “Dwelling Place of Kings.” It is a safe and very nurturing place for these rejected souls. The lepers who come to us for help live in the residential units and are treated as a part of our family. They receive daily care by our medical staff and it is a time of healing and emotional growth. Several years ago a leper by the name of Hendrik came to the base. He had been banished from his village for 15 years and suffered alienation, ridicule, and the physical effects of his disease. Hendrik is no longer infectious. He has lost his toes and fingers but he can walk and is just a delightful man. I love spending time with him and he loves to play UNO. He is actually really good and delights in putting a Draw Four on anyone who might be getting ahead in the game.

Hendrik recently heard that we were running low in the general medical fund. We have faced this challenge before and during those times, we just pray for the increased support. Hendrik came to the office and gave his donation of $550,000 Rupiah (about 60 USD). That is all he had. We do not even have the slightest idea where he got that amount of money. It is a big mystery and we are just in awe. Hendrik is like the widow who gave all she had—her two coins. He gave all he had to help others. I am just so touched by the generosity in his heart and I know the gift he gave was given in love, without expecting anything in return. The next time I see him I am going to give him a huge hug, and then settle down for a wild game of UNO!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Long Lost Friends

Thirty-five years is a long time. It is a lot of water under the bridge of life. Such is life when friends say good bye and new chapters open. High school graduations are a major event before the scattering starts. Those who spent almost every day together then are pursuing much different paths. I left high school to attend college. I had other friends who went directly to work and others got married. Whatever the reason, we all scattered and hardly looked back. We had lives to live and goals to achieve. The seasons of responsibility came, and we all raised families and/or immersed ourselves in our work. There are a lot of reasons that distance became the key word in old friendships. Literal distance was what separated me from old friends—I moved to Alaska. The reasons are many for why we all have 40 years of distance and occasional thoughts of: "I wonder where so-and-so is right now."

I got the chance to sit down with five of my long lost friends this last week. I was in Seattle for meetings and was invited by one of my high school friends to come by and meet her husband and get caught up on the gap of 35 years. It was a wonderful time of catching up. There was not enough time to talk about the last 35 years since I had seen them. We could only show photos of our children, and there were plenty of grandchildren to brag about. We were all in pretty good shape—gray hair and less hair (actually none for me) were the signs we were not wide-eyed teens anymore. We get our exercise chasing grandkids and attending fitness aerobic classes.

If you can come to this season of life and look back with a smile and give thanks to the Almighty, then it has been a blessed life. I am looking forward to the next chapter. I do not plan to slow down or give up. Life has been good, and now I have a few more friends in the boat with me.