Hope Fulfilled: A Post from the Front

My good friend Dick Rutgers is a man after God's own heart. He has been serving the Lord in Guatemala for the last ten years by providing wheelchairs, walkers, and other devices for the disabled of that needy nation. By mutual consent, he sometimes copies my blog into his and I am taking this opportunity to do the same with his.

In this entry, he shares the death of one of his children and remembers five others who have left this life in the last year. As you read his words, pray for Dick and the children he serves.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

This Morning I received a phone call that I had been anticipating for nearly a year now. Milton the 4 year old boy who I met about 16 months ago had died. The doctor at the clinic that I frequently visit down near the coast had brought Milton to my attention at that time.

Here is part of what I entered into my Journal on May 14 2008.

Soon we were at the first home. The father greeted us at the gate. Through the open gate we could see 2 children sitting in a hammock and a mother that was holding a child that appeared to be starving. At first the father seemed a bit apprehensive about letting us in but after a while he motioned for us to follow him to the house. As we visited we were told that the family had taken 3 year old Milton to doctors shortly after he was born but they had been told that there was nothing much that could be done for him. The father told us that a few other doctors looked at him as well but as soon as any money that the family had was used up the doctors would no longer help them. Milton’s father told us that he was giving up and later confided in us that he wished that his son were dead so that the family could go on with their lives. He explained that they had no money for a wheelchair and some one had to always be holding Milton. He asked if we knew of any orphanages that would take his child because he was at the end of his rope. As we talked I realized why this father had such bitterness in his hart. He told us that neighbors and friends were continually reminding him and his wife that it was their fault that they had a child like this. They were continually being told that Milton was a curse from God because they had done some great sin. I handed Milton back to his mother and walked over to the father and put my hand on his shoulder. I had been studding Milton as I was holding him and was convinced that Milton had cerebral palsy. With the help of Carlos interpreting I explained to the parents that I had been watching Milton’s eyes and he had been taking everything in. Yes it was true that Milton had many physical limitations but he was very bright. I also told them about Stephen who is back in the States and about several of the kids at the orphanage who have CP. I told them about what they were able to do and about what a blessing they were to all of us who knew them. I then told Milton’s parents that some times God puts things into our lives for reasons that we do not fully understand,

but that the reason that Milton had CP was not a result of something terrible that they had done but caused by a lack of oxygen at birth. When I said that I could feel father let out a sigh of relief and the stern look on his face disappeared as his eyes filled up with tears. Mother who had been staring at the ground looked up and said “That is exactly what happened!” She went on to tell us that Milton had indeed suffered oxygen starvation at birth but she had never been told by any one that the lack of oxygen was the likely cause of Milton’s problems. Both parents looked like the weight of the world had been lifted off from their shoulders.

Not long after that we had Milton admitted into the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro. Every thing possible was done for Milton but his condition was so bad that after a few months it was agreed upon by all of us that Milton would be better off whit a family (including the father) who now realized that this child was not a curse but a gift from God. Even though most of us didn’t think that Milton would last more than a few weeks he proved us wrong. This was due in part to a generous sponsor who made it possible for us to bring in food and medication on a monthly bases but an even larger factor in what kept Milton alive was that he was now surrounded in love. Now whenever I stopped in to visit the entire family welcomed me. On numerous occasions I would be told that Milton was not at home because one of the other children had taken him for a walk in the wheelchair that we had provided. On the rare occasions that we did find him at home he was always in the arms of some one that loved him. This included his Father. Yesterday Milton went home to the arms of his heavenly father.