Inspiring people

Next month will be 4 years since I moved to the DR. I have aged, physically and mentally and maybe even emotionally! I have grown old. I have experienced more in these 4 years than in the 26 before it. I have seen more, smelt more (as in stunk and inhaled....), touched more, loved more and been blessed more. It has been such an amazing journey. It has been a blast. I have loved it and continue to love it. I never really know what my day will entail - as much as I plan and think I know...! I am continually amazed at the people I get to meet and the inspiring stories that I get to hear. Stories of survival, strength, perseverance, love and faith.

Last Friday morning I met an inspiring young man. He was a patient in the public hospital, a young Haitian guy about 28 years old. He was lying in his bed, wearing a really awesome hat, and he had the biggest smile I have seen in a long time. I went over to talk to him, and he told me his story. He was a motorbike taxi driver and he had been working one evening, collecting passengers and driving them where they want to go on his motorbike. These moto taxis are very common here and are a pretty cheap method of public transport. So this guy, lets call him Elmond, was working one night and he got a phone call from another moto taxi guy asking him to go pick someone up, So off Elmond  went. He drove the passenger where they wanted to go and then asked for the 25 pesos he was owed. 25 pesos is about 35p or 50 cents. The passenger took out a knife and stabbed him, a big long wound in his front, from about hip level up to near his heart. For 35 pence. Elmond showed me the wound. It was nasty and he is fortunate to survive. 

What amazed me about Elmond was his smile. If that happened to me I dont know if I would ever smile again, but there he was, just 2 days later smiling at us. He wanted us to pray for him, so we did and as we did I had a feeling that he might try to get revenge on this person. When we finished praying I asked him what he was going to do about the person. He told me that he wasnt going to do anything because God saw everything and God would judge the man and take care of him. No evil plans of revenge there then!! He told me that God lived in him and he would leave it to God to take care of the man. 

Amazing. 

Pray for your enemies and those who persecute you. Pray for our friend Elmond. I changed his name, but God knows exactly who Im talking about ;) 

So, another inspiring man to add to my list of inspiring people. 

Oh, do you remember Danielson with the thumb infection that I took to hospital last summer? I saw his again last week and his thumb is kind of squished looking but clean and fully functioning. $100 well spent then hey!!

I hope you are inspired by Elmond to love those you struggle with, to be gracious and to realise that God is the judge. For Elmond, his injuries will mean he has no income, no benefits and no money until he heals up, which will probably be a good few months. What a gracious guy. 

Be inspired.