Aldo: Smiling Through The Suffering

Aldo lives near Tegucigalpa, about 5 hours from our hospital. He lives with his three brothers and five hundred other children in an orphanage called Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters). Aldo has a congenital disease called Neurofibromatosis, as well as limb length discrepancy (his left leg is shorter than his right leg), a dislocated hip, and scoliosis. Needless to say, he’s had a difficult journey and although it's looking brighter ahead, it's a long road. He had his first operation approximately one year ago, in which the surgeons put an external fixator on his leg, which over time lengthens his shorter leg. To make a long story short, the fixator did not work as it was intended to, and Aldo now has more complex problems.

He came to the hospital yesterday with Carol, a physical therapist (originally from Austria) who works at his orphanage, to see what the next step in his treatment will be.

We are blessed to have Dr. Tim Mead here this week with his wife Jana, before they move to the Middle East where Dr. Mead will be the new medical director at CURE in the United Arab Emirates. Dr. Mead was the medical director at CURE Kenya from 1998-2011. He and Dr. Bridgeman discussed what would be the best option for Aldo, and decided that it will be to remove the fixator and then place a rod in his left femur bone, because it has become so thin that it will break if he stands on it without the fixator. Aldo is basically wheelchair-bound right now, although he uses a walker in physical therapy. After this next operation he will be on his way to being more mobile. As of right now he sleeps laying his chest on his lap because his hips have become very stiff from being in a seated position for so long that he cannot lay down.

The beauty in all of this, for one, is that we have Dr. Mead and Dr. Bridgeman here to make sure that he gets the best care possible, and that Dr. Bridgeman will be here to see his treatment through till the end. What's even more beautiful in this, is Aldo's shining smile through all of this suffering. He has a smile that lights up the room and an attitude that's ready to have fun. He's excited for life despite his circumstances, and we know that this can be attributed to the fact that he accepted Jesus the last time he was here one year ago, and since then his life has changed- he has hope in the midst of all of this.

When Dr. Mead was explaining on the phone to one of the directors at the orphanage what the procedure is going to be, he said, "This kid has the world's best smile, with some of the world's worst problems." This is true, and Aldo, despite his physical circumstances and being 14 years old and only in second grade, knows the secret of being content in all circumstances and keep smiling through all of it.

When asked over the phone by one of the orphanage directors how long the recovery process will be, Dr. Mead replied, "Since we are going to bathe him in prayers, he'll hopefully heal within six to eight weeks." So please join us in praying for that!

If you would like to support Aldo's surgery, please visit him here.

This Episode Includes: Apple's Leader, A Lesson in Redemption, & Eating Fish At The Lake

I feel very out of loop with current news, especially in the US as I am obviously not there, and as I don't have television or read news on the internet (need to work on that), I get most of my news through friends here, and what I don't get from them, I get on facebook [when it lets me log in], which isn't a lot of news unless it's something big. Well, today my brother Andrew posted the following quote from Steve Jobs: "Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me ... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me." I proceeded to read other news posted about him, and was shocked to learn that he passed away. Mr. Jobs has made a pretty much direct impact on my life, seeing that from the time I typed my first words I've been on a Mac, and pretty much all my other valued possessions are from Apple as well. The company has been a big part of my life, perhaps bigger than I realize, and for his great work, for going against the odds, and being a great example of a generous man, I will always be thankful.

I admire this quote which he spoke to John Scully (who was at the time president of PepsiCo) when persuading him to become Apple's CEO in 1983: "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?"

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Last weekend I went with the Bridgemans to the 10th annual missionary conference that is held in Siguatepeque, a city about two hours south of us, half way to Tegucigalpa. Siguatepeque is a beautiful place that is much more "fresco" than here. It was breezy and cool, and man was I wishing I could bring that weather back to our 90+ degree, humid San Pedro. Anyhow, besides the cool weather, I met a lot of other missionaries, some new ones, some who have been here for a very long time, and some in between. It was a great time of connecting with these families and learning about their ministries. The Bridgemans and I were able to share with some people about CURE, so now people from other parts of Honduras know that we are in San Pedro and are available to them should they know of any kids in need of orthopedic treatment.

The speaker for the weekend was Dave Howard, brother of Elizabeth Elliot and was best friends with her late husband, the well-known missionary Jim Elliot. Mr. Howard has been in ministry for well over fifty years. He lived in Costa Rica and in Columbia, South America for most of those years, and has more recently traveled to many countries around the world with his home base in the US where he lives with his wife.

At the conference he taught on the life of Peter as a parallel to teaching about the life of being a missionary, and really any follower of Christ- being where we are only out of obedience to God, of continually growing in our relationship with God, and this means when we fail (not if, but when), how to recognize what caused this, and to realize that no matter what, God is there to restore us, He uses us despite our failures, that by His strength we have triumph over our sin, and He is continually bringing us closer to Him as we bring our flawed selves to Him.

Peter was called by Jesus to follow Him and make disciples. Peter obeyed this call and was a close friend and faithful follower of Jesus. He grew in his relationship and ministry with Christ, yet there came a point when Peter failed greatly. Mr. Howard mentioned many other great men of faith who fell into great sin, yet who God restored and used for His glory- Abraham had a child with Hagar. Solomon, the wisest man on earth, had 300 wives and 700 concubines. Moses murdered an Egyptian. Job lost his patience. David, a man after God's own heart, committed adultery with Basheba. Peter denied he knew Jesus three times.

All of these men who accomplished great things for God, who had a very real relationship with Him and who experienced His miracles, fell. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:41). It's in all of us, since the fall of man at the beginning of time it's been in all of us equally, but we have to choose to live by the Spirit's strength and know that our strength comes from God alone. We all know from experience that it's hard as flawed humans to choose rightly.

After Peter's denial of Jesus, we see in the end of Matthew 26 that he "wept bitterly." Peter had great remorse for his sin, and only with his recognition of his sin and sincere repentance, was God able to heal him and use him in mighty ways. We read in Acts chapters 1-10 of the powerful ways that God used Peter for the work of His kingdom after Peter's repentance and healing.

I continually have to bring my flawed self to God and ask for His grace and forgiveness to restore me. Such a big part of life is recognizing my sin so that I can give it to Him and be freed from it and keep living in the light.... how much easier said than done! The is a continuous process... my pride gets in the way and I start forgetting who's glory I'm living for, where my strength comes from. The only good in me is His work through me. And the only way He can work through me is if I don't pretend like I can do everything perfectly- only when I continually bring the weeds in my heart to God, can He take them and plant something beautiful, and once again use me.

We mustn't forget the weeds keep growing, yet there are less and less as we grow deeper into God.

"...He takes a world corrupted by evil and begins a long, long process of redemption. We reduce it to a handful of times, but we must not, it is the story we are living."

-Eugene Peterson

"A thousand times I've failed, yet Your mercy remains, and should I stumble again, still I'm caught in Your grace..."



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On our way home from the conference, we passed by Lake Yajoa, Honduras' largest natural lake. It is a popular lake for fishing, and there are many restaurants along the lake where you can stop and have fresh fish, so we had a nice break from the curvy roads down the mountain and enjoyed fried fish, Honduran style.

View of the lake from the outdoor seating

Abigail, Charlotte, and Lillian swinging on the porch, waiting for the fish to cook

Pick your fish out of the freezer,

watch them fry it,

and enjoy!