Stopping for the One in Front of You

I know many of the wonderful people with whom we serve get the same question we do. “With so many, many needs around you, how do you know who to help? You can’t help everyone.”

It is true. It is impossible to help everyone. Reading a book on the way here last March, I was struck by a statement - Stop for the one in front of you. This person serving in Africa learned that God would lead her to the one for whom she should stop.

While here, Lynn and Ruby met a number of people for whom they stopped. A few were homeless elderly. One family to whom they were especially drawn was a small family of three children living in difficult circumstances. They stopped.

Last week, we encountered a “stop for the one in front of you” moment. His name is Aziz. He is four years old and lives in a village about 30 minutes from here. We met him one day while visiting in the village. He looks just like our grandson did at four, with one exception – Aziz has cerebral palsy. We felt very impressed to connect with his mother and grandmother. We learned that up to that point, they had not had an official diagnosis and were struggling with getting him the help he needed.

This Wednesday, we were visiting in Bishkek with friends who we learned were planning a seminar for parents dealing with disabled children. Did we ever listen closely! Quite by “accident” we ran into the physical therapist at lunchtime who would be conducting the schedule seminar on Friday. We made a special trip to the village yesterday to invite the family and Aziz to the seminar where he would be evaluated.

This morning, David rode with the taxi driver to pick up the family and then on to Bishkek to the seminar. It was a very productive day for them as they learned what can be done for him and made connections with parents dealing with similar issues. We will continue to walk with them and finding out what financial support they will need to continue with the right treatment. The therapist was encouraging saying that if he received the therapy he needed, he would grow stronger and more independent.

Aziz spent most of the day with David (who he now calls “grandfather”), either walking around or sitting on his lap. Aziz was a bit frustrated because he talked non-stop to David in Russian, of course, and didn’t understand why David couldn’t talk back.

We truly believe this was a connection divinely arranged. We are praying for a miracle of strength for this precious child – the one for whom we believe we needed to stop.

Aziz had a great day playing with the children and did extremely well. He is a happy youngster, but without intervention, he faces a very diffcult future.

Aziz during his evaluation.