God Always Has A Plan

I was getting ready for a mission trip to the Dominican Republic several years ago. The entire trip was paid for: flights, luggage, bibles, readers, everything. I had double checked and triple checked the list. Patti and I were ready, just counting the days down.

Out of the blue, I received a phone call from a former church member, Steve Burnett. He had heard that we were headed to the Dominican Republic and wanted to meet with us before we left. Patti and I spoke and decided to meet Steve and Christy, his wife, at Jucy’s in Marshall for supper.

While we ate our burgers, we told Steve and Christy about the upcoming medical mission trip. We covered all the ins and outs about what we would be doing. He asked about the cost of the trip. I explained that the entire trip was paid for already. That didn’t deter Steve any.

He come out with a check with a 4 digit number on it and told us to use it in any way we saw fit to on this mission trip.

I was stunned to say the least. People had always given money to support the trips before. But never had anyone given a gift so extravagant as this after the trip was completely paid for. Never!

I thanked Steve and Christy from the bottom of my heart.

Patti and I discussed what should be done either this money. I had absolutely no idea what to do with it. My only answer was, “God will show me when we get there I suppose.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord..."

The flight came and went with no surprises. Everything going according to plan. I believe it was either the 2nd or 3rd day of a 4 day work week when the Lord opened my eyes about the money.

We were giving out readers and bibles when a young 10 year old girl came into the “vision center”. We were always the last stop before you exited the clinic. She and her mother sat down.

For a moment, Patti thought the mom needed a pair of readers. We did not have a translator at the moment but we were making do with broken Spanish. The mom informed us that her eyes were fine but that her daughter needed a pair of readers.

We had been taught that young children should not wear anything but prescription eyeglasses. Readers could possibly damage their eyesight since their bodies were still developing.

I tried to tell the mother that her daughter could not have a pair but she was adamant about it. We needed a translator quick because this momma was starting to get upset. She couldn’t understand why she couldn’t have a pair.

Patti found a translator and brought her back. We explained our side of the story and the mother was upset by now. She wanted her to have a pair of readers.

That’s when she told me through the translator that her daughter was seeing black spots in her vision. I knew immediately that she needed to see an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. We tried to translate this to the mother and she got even madder. She had no money to get to the city from the village and had no money to see a doctor. Then she grabbed her daughter and stormed out!

About 15-20 minutes later, the village chief had Wilfred Brunache in tow. He wanted to know the meaning of why we wouldn’t give the little girl a pair of readers. I explained what her mother had told me about the black spots. Finally everyone got calmed down. Still no readers for the little girl.

That evening, over supper it dawned on me. I had been given a gift from Steve and Christy to use as we saw fit. Patti and I discussed it and came up with a plan. I approached Justin Tyler, the Mississippi team leader, and informed him of the situation. I handed him roughly 1/2 of the money we had been given to get the girl to a proper doctor.

I was informed by Justin and Wilfred that they sent her and her mom to the city via taxi to see a doctor. The doctor ran an eye test and she would need surgery. I assumed it was laser surgery to fix her eyes. She would need to wait about 30 days for the next opening.

That same day, a 5 year old boy cam to the clinic with his mother. He had a hernia (see pic) that one of the nurse practitioners said would be life threatening in less than 6 months.

The Mississippi team decided to fund the operation for the little boy. Patti and I looked at each other following the prompting from the Holy Spirit to give the rest of Steve and Christy’s gift to them to help defray the cost of the lab work and subsequent operation.

Months later, we received pictures and a message from Wilfred about the little boy and the girl. Both surgeries were successful! Thank you Lord!

The little boy had the hernia fixed and the little girl had laser surgery and a new pair of prescription glasses with a red frame. He sent pics of both children. Somehow I misplaced the pic of the girl with red glasses! She was so happy!