So Many Thanks

This Christmas has been a whirlwind of seeing delightful people and being shocked by generosity; over and over and over again. I have a lot to be thankful for this year.

It would be too time consuming to list everyone here who has amazed me, so instead I'm going to tell a story.

I work really closely with a Pastor named Noel, and his wife, Lois. Pastor Noel has been a God-sent, over and over again, especially as I've tried to wade through construction and legal decisions concerning My Refuge House and our new property. In Mid-November, they called me and informed me that Lois's niece, Rejoice, was in the hospital. They asked if I could donate blood, and if I knew of anyone else who could donate blood to off-set some of the hospital bill. So I started asking friends if they could also donate blood.

Rejoice after her Surgery

Let me just preface this to say, I've been in the Philippines long enough to know that there are a never ending amount of needs that come up, and I rarely ask people for help, especially financial assistance. But Pastor Noel has been such an amazing help to the ministry of MRH, that I had to help, even if it was just donating blood. Pastor Noel's niece, Rejoice, has a condition called "Arteriovenous Malformation." It's a condition that certain people are born with, and usually go through their entire life without having any complications. In Rejoice's case, the condition had caused her nerves to sever in her jaw, and she would bleed, literally liters of blood. Without Surgery, Rejoice risked bleeding to death. Her family had given all the money they had, and even sold property to pay for the bills, but the bills were just too high, and they couldn't do anything more to help. They were faced with having to send Rejoice home, without the surgery, to eventually bleed to death. 

My friends, my little family in Cebu, saw the situation, and jumped up to help. In fact, when I left for the states, they continued to make sure that everything was in place and even fronted the cost for this very expensive medical procedure. That, along with the generous donations I received from other people who've been touched by Pastor Noel, literally saved the life of Rejoice. You can read all about the rest of the details on my friend's blogs:

Lindsey: http://www.lindsayincebu.blogspot.com
Bethany:http://failingtofindsuccess.blogspot.com/
Amy:http://amylouiseco.blogspot.com

Merry Christmas Everyone. I hope you are thankful for you health, for your life, and for the people that surround you. Most importantly, I hope you were able to make a difference in someone's life this year.

Here's a Christmas "Family Photo" of my Little Cebu Family (minus me, I was already on my way to the states).
Left to Right: Bethany, Francis, Lindsay, Ali and Amy