From an outlying village at the far end of Cuba, Aida and her 15-year-old disabled son named Lazarus traveled six hours on a bus to our Wheels for the World distribution in Havana. Six hours on a bus holding her very thin and frail cerebral palsied son in her arms. “We must fight for our children,” Aida said with a love that has been tested by the harshest kind of fire. “We will go to the ends of the earth, if necessary.” For this simple woman from a small village near fields of sugarcane, Havana seemed like the end of the earth, but with Aida she did not let that stop her. She picked up her son in her arms, stepped up on to a bus, and took the journey towards her miracle.
By the time Aida arrived at our wheelchair distribution, she was exhausted. She was also in tears. "I am so full of emotion," she said, wiping her face, "today I will have a wheelchair for Lazarus. Since his birth of 15 years ago, I have prayed to God for such a thing and today it is coming true."
Our physical therapist made a thorough assessment of Lazarus and his needs. The 15-year-old weighed 20 pounds at most. His skin was gray and he was gaunt and thin. Part of that was because Lazarus had great difficulty swallowing food. The physical therapist finished her assessment and turned to one of her Wheels for the World team members. “The only reason Lazarus is alive today is because of his mother’s love,” she said. “He is her life.”
After hours of modifications, our physical therapist lifted Lazarus into his wheelchair for the final time. That’s when Aida’s tears begin to fall faster. For at the precise moment that Lazarus was lifted, her burden was lifted, too. The weight of her son’s disability was no longer hers to carry. Tears of release and relief fell as Aida’s head dropped to her chest. She kept whispering, “He is so comfortable. At last. This is the best thing I have ever seen. God has not forgotten me. Today He has brought me peace.”
Jesus says in Matthew 7 "Ask and it shall be given unto you." It was 15 years ago that Aida began asking for a wheelchair – a really good, well-fitting wheelchair – for her severely disabled son. It may have taken a decade and a half for us to get to her, but I'm just thankful we could be an answer to her prayers. Friend, remember Aida’s story if you are asking the Lord to give you something special. Leave the timing to Him, but by all means, trust Him with the answer. Because while the wheelchair gave mobility to Lazarus, God did not forget Aida, who traveled to the ends of the earth to find her miracle. That day the faith of a woman from a village on the edge of a sugar cane field in Cuba was rewarded… because that day she found rest for her soul.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
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