Expect more updates soon! I'm currently in Quito, Ecuador visiting David Shenk and Alyssa Rodriguez, the two Mennonite Mission Network workers in Quito. I've only been here a few days, but I already have a TON of stories to share!
This story, is one that I wrote after listening to a couple share at church! Their story really touched me, so I hope that it will touch you all as well! :)
Edwin and Jazmin married fairly young and they were very
happy to start a family. They were
a little worried when their first daughter, Jeimy (now 18), was born, otherwise
healthy, but with Down’s Syndrome.
They found themselves worried about the challenges that she would face
in her life, and the hurtles that she would have to cross; they were in general
worried for their new precious daughter.
Around two years later their first son, Jean Carlos (now 16), came into
the world. He was a perfectly
healthy baby boy, and is now an integral part of the church’s worship team and
the youth group. A few years later
they had a bit of a surprise when their third child, and second son Edwin
Davíd, was born with various mental and physical disabilities. Within his first few short weeks of
life he had to have 3 life saving surgeries. In the 12 years that he’s been alive he has had 13 surgeries
in total.
Edwin stood in front of the church and told us about the
pain that he and his wife felt when their second special needs child was
born. Edwin was convinced that he
had done something earlier in his life to cause his children to be born with
special needs. He’d grown up with
family members who were witch doctors and he thought that perhaps God was
sending their punishment on his children.
He had at one time been a bit of a partier, and thought perhaps that God
was sending his own punishment on his child.
The pain and hardships that Edwin and Jazmin’s children had
to go through so early on in their lives caused a riff in their spiritual
lives. At first they were angry
and disappointed with God. Slowly
however, they began to see that God could, and would work through this
situation. They joined a church
and got more involved. God began revealing more of how God was able to move in
their lives and change how they were viewing the hardships that the children
that they love madly were dealing with.
That is not to say that they did not go through hardships in their
lives, especially with Edwin Davíd.
The point in the Edwin’s story that made me choke up the
most was when one day after school Edwin Davíd came home and then sat on his
father’s lap. He asked his father
with that childhood innocence, “Daddy, why did God make me the way that I am?”
When Edwin repeated his son’s question to the church, you
could almost hear everyone in the sanctuary’s heart drop for just a
moment. Questions like that hit
you like a 2X4 across the back, it takes your breath away. This is a question that is hard for
adults to fully fathom, how could you possibly explain something like God’s
goodness and mercy to the child that you love with your whole heart when it’s
something that you yourself don’t fully understand? This was Edwin’s worry. However, God gave him the words to speak. He told his son that he loved him just
the way that he was, and that he should never feel ashamed. God had a beautiful plan for his life,
and he had been given a chance to show people God’s love in new and different
ways.
That seemed to be enough for Edwin Davíd because he has
never stopped loving. I can say
that I know first hand that when anyone walks into the church, Edwin Davíd is
there to greet them with a great big hug!
He loves to love. He has no
shame, or embarrassment. He just
loves. During worship he claps,
dances, sings, and lifts his arms up to the God who created in him an uncanny
ability to love others.
When Edwin reached this point in the story he had his son
join him in the front of the sanctuary with him. Edwin Davíd had prepared a song that he wanted to share with
the congregation. The emotion and
symbolism in the song and the situation moved me to tears. He was nervous when he started; he was
a little shaky to his song start alone, just as he had been when he was
born. His dad was by his side, but
he was the one singing. He slowly
gained confidence and started to really get into the song. He was singing of God’s love and mercy
and with every fiber of his being, he believed the words that he was
singing. He was singing about his
own story. He was sharing his
story as an offering to the church, and lifting it up to God.
This song must be one that most people in the church knew
because half way through everyone joined in and with tears in their eyes
started singing along. Edwin Davíd
didn’t have to be worried or scared, his story was at the heart of church and
it’s members. He was not going
through life alone, he didn’t ever have to worry about not having support. As I sat there and watched, and
listened, I saw the church become a part of Edwin Davíd’s story as they all
joined in. I observed the church
lift up their collective story of love and of mercy to God as an offering, and
I am touched that I have been blessed enough to be a small part of that story.
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