Oh, How He Loves Us!

God, you are beyond amazing. I had thought that my last post was the last post for 2011 but I can't not blog about what God did today. Today, Luchin and I had stuff to do and we were on our way to catch the bus when my cell rang. In the depths of my cavernous purse. The first miracle was that I heard it ring and answered on time. I ususally never hear my cell phone ring in my purse. Jose Luis, one of the youth from the streets was on the other end in a panic. He had just been kicked out of his girlfriend's family's home and now had nowhere to go. Luchin and I delayed our plans and went to meet him in Ciudad. He told us parts of why he was kicked out but it was no surprise really, as his breath reeked of alcohol from the night before and he regularly smoked pasta and snorted coke. We fed him, made him drink jasmine tea to sober him up a bit and just listened to him and counselled him. He wanted to change, he said. We counselled him, spoke to him at length about real change and not just temporary change just to get a bed for a night. We sat there wondering where we could have him stay. 


Luchin had to go get something checked at the hospital so we decided we were just going to take Jose Luis with us until we could figure out where he could stay and he seemed to like the idea as his face lit up when I said, "well, you're coming with us and hanging out with us until we find a place for you". Enroute, he mentioned that his wrist hurt a bit as he had fallen about 3 days ago. Since we were headed to the hospital anyways, we figured he might as well get it looked at. We spent the entire day at 2 hospitals. The first one to get xrays done and to have the doctor do a diagnosis. Jose Luis had been drunk when he fell because he couldn't remember and had been high and drunk for most of the time so it hadn't hurt too much. However, as the day wore on and he being with us, and having had no access to drink and drugs started to feel the pain on his wrist  as the effects of the drugs and alcohol from the night before wore off. It became evident why the pain was unbearable when the xray showed that his wrist was broken in 2 areas. We then got sent to a state hospital where they set his wrist. I was just in awe at the fact that we were going to the hospital anyway and he mentioned that his wrist was hurting and so we got it  checked. I shudder to think that if he never called today, that the probability of his wrist getting set would be zero and the chances of him getting it infected and not being able to use his wrist properly would have been really great. God was definitely taking care of him. That took till about 6:30pm.


 Our next problem was finding him a place to stay. Luchin had called several rehab centres but they cost more than an arm and a leg per month and we could not register him as we are not family. The only one we know of that is Christian and does not charge was not answering our calls. Since Jose Luis does not have a DNI (ID), we could not get him a hotel room either and since he was fresh off the streets, we did not feel at peace to have him stay with us at our home. I kept praying that God would give us a solution, that He who takes care of sparrows would find a place for one that He loves to have a place to stay. At that moment, we were close to the church of a friend of ours, Pastor Juan and I knew that every Tuesday night his church has a prayer meeting. Luchin and I figured that at the very least we could take Jose Luis there and have others pray for him and a solution and maybe Pastor Juan would have a connection somewhere. We went in and after the meeting ended and we had talked to Ps Juan about the dilemma, he mentioned that his mother-in-law would most likely be able to help as she is very much in the know regarding rehab centres as she has had to deal with them personally. Another miracle? She was there at the meeting when she normally does not go and she told us later that she wasn't planning on going tonight but felt to go. We followed her home and she gave us some phone numbers and connected us to several people on the way, all of whom laid hands and prayed for Jose Luis. We kept telling him that God was showing him how much He loves him to create all  those connections so that he could go where God wants him to go and be safe. We finally got to Victory Centre, the Christian rehab centre that does not charge, but only asks for a minimal donation, at 10:45pm and finally registered Jose Luis at 11pm and left him in the capable hands of the people in charge. It is a centre that does not believe in capturing people against their wills to be rehabilitated and totally uses only the Word of God as their primary and only method of therapy. 


Luchin and I felt at peace and promised to come back for Jose Luis on the 3rd to take him in for the check up on his wrist. He was scared we were going to leave him there and never see him again. I told him no, we would be checking up on him and making sure he was all right and we would visit him once a month according to the rules of the centre. At 11:30pm tonight, Luchin and I headed for home, totally in awe of how God had put everything in place to bring about this miracle in the life of one he loves so much. Please pray for Jose Luis Arcos Tito that he will perservere and allow God to work a real change in his way of thinking and in his heart.