The picture above was taken a few months ago when we first met Nicodemus. He is a 38 yr old man who has been severally handicapped his whole life. When he was born the doctors told his parents to give him up for institutional care. His parents told us they’ve always known that he is their special gift from God, and that they always want him with them. For 38 years this (now elderly) couple has bathed, fed and cared for their son with the very limited resources they have. Nicodemus can’t communicate verbally, but understands much of what is going on around him. He cannot move, not even in a wheel chair. He spends his days lying flat on his back on an old mattress in the garage, set on top of a homemade wooden bed frame, listening to the radio or the neighborhood kids playing around him. To look around the room he strains his neck around. As soon as we met him I knew that he needed a real bed, a mobile hospital bed with wheels. The kind that makes that cool air-brake sound when it lets you sit up or lay down.

A few days after we met Nicodemus I was trying to help lay tiles in the new computer lab (check it out here) and I pulled something in my back. I couldn’t move at all, but only lay on my back in pain. During those uncomfortable hours of seeing the doctor, x-rays and a shot in the butt, I really contemplated what life must be like for Nicodemus.

Life got busy… yet every “to do list” I wrote began with “find a bed.” I can’t afford a hospital bed, yet God was instructing and I needed to pay attention. Speaking with the Doc who helped with my back pains, he put us in touch with a guy he knew in charge of maintenance at a hospital in Pretoria. He had us come down to the hospital. In a few minutes we had the perfect hospital bed and mattress loaded up on our truck. It was pretty surreal how God seemed to have orchestrated all this. Words cannot tell what followed. The pictures in the slide show above show the delivery and celebration that ensued. The joy on Nicodemus’ face was beautiful as he sat propped up in his new bed. His father led with a powerful prayer of deep gratitude to answered prayer.

Stopping and paying attention to God’s voice made a world of difference to our friend Nicodemus. God could have used someone else to answer those prayers, or because of my disobedience, not at all. We have the incredible opportunity to impact people’s lives in major ways. It speaks loudly of the Father’s love. Our grassroots projects list is our way of facilitating that experience for you. So do something, give a scholarship, buy a drum set or give a warm meal. You may not be here in Africa to see the smiles, but you can still share in the joy of joining God in his work. CLICK HERE to see our Projects

Last Words

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Matt 10:42

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 3:44 am and is filed under The AR Ministry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.