For Such a Time as This

We kicked up clouds of dust as we exited church two weeks ago. Not on purpose, but it's the end of dry season, and everything is covered in a layer of powdery, whitish earth. But not her...


The four year old's black patent leather shoes were still spotless. Her lacy socks were still a dazzling white. Socks and shoes that covered emaciated feet and legs that cannot carry their small charge around. The little one is a paraplegic. 


Curled up in her mother's arms, she never even offered us a smile. Urgently, the mother presented her child to the group of visiting Scottish doctors and myself. A year ago December, the girl fell. She was taken into Port Au Prince for x-rays and diagnosed with cervical and thoracic spinal fractures. This January, she stopped walking. Desperate, the mother hoped that the foreigners would be able to do something for her child. 


We prayed. And set up an appointment for her to see us in the clinic so we could review her chart. 


Tuesday morning, we shuffled over to the hospital in the swirling dust. And we saw over little girl with the clean shoes again. And prayed again. And tried to figure out how to help. 


Thursday night, another missionary, new to the field and just completing his first week on the island with us, rushed across the mission station, leaving small clouds of dust in his wake. "They'll see her!" he informed us excitedly! He had gotten in touch with the University of Miami Field Hospital in Port Au Prince, and they had a pediatric neurosurgeon who agreed to see our little friend. But there was a catch-- he was leaving Haiti on Saturday! 


But God's timing is perfect-- the Scottish team was traveling back to Port on their way back home on Friday. Excitedly, we called the child's mother, and the following morning she trudged through the dust with her husband and the child to travel to their doctor's appointment. 


Last I heard, the neurosurgeon was confident he could help the girl. He's scheduling surgery for her in the States. I  cannot help but think of how timely the Scots' visit and the arrival of the new missionary are! Truly, they are in Haiti for such a time as this.