Stories of Children and Young Adults 

at Lina's Hope

(Names have been changed to protect the privacy

the kids, the parents and the staff.)

 

     

                                                                                                           A___, age 21 years old

     Imagine living life chained to the floor like a dog with no clothes, no personal possessions, and no provision for toileting needs.  Imagine eating food from the floor with your hands or by mouth like an animal in the same spot where you sleep and relieve yourself. 

That is how A___ lived for a few years before we met him. 

     A___ suffered brain injury during birth, resulting in a mental disability.  A___’s parents are not cruel, but they are poor. Dirt poor. They lived in a shack 16 feet by 16 feet in the rice fields of the countryside in Kampot, Cambodia, with two other children besides A___.  Mother worked in another city as a housekeeper to bring income to the family, and she was only able to visit home every three months.  Father was a fisherman who spent his days catching fish and crabs in the rice fields to sell for income, but then ran away to Thailand to escape police because he was accused of abusing a neighbor child. With his mental disability, A___ would often run away without thinking about where he was going.  He could have easily fallen into the flooded rice fields and been drowned if no one were watching.  And there was no one to watch him.  A___ also had a bad habit of grabbing other people’s food, a sort of food addiction due to depravation that would cause him to escape to the neighbor’s houses constantly to grab their food and run.  Because his parents had no time to watch him or protect him from falling into the flooded rice fields or prevent him from stealing the village neighbors’ food, their solution was to keep A___ living on a chain at their hut…literally having chains around his legs…for three years at least that we know of.   A___’s parents had never gone to school themselves, and they did not know what to do with their son.  They did the best they knew, as cruel as it seems.

     One day, several different people and groups who serve the poor here in Cambodia noticed A___ and asked us at Lina’s Hope if we would be able to help him. Putting our resources together, we worked out a way that A___’s mother could come to live and work at Lina’s Hope and be paid a good salary to live with and do therapy for her son.  A___’s mother learned therapy and worked with A___ for one month, but then decided that it was too hard and left. A___ could not return home because he would just be chained to his house again (we let him take a vacation to visit his mom at home 3 times, and each time we discovered A___ once again chained).  In addition, there is evidence that A___ had been abused in every way by his father in the past. There are no social or child welfare services in Cambodia. So, we made the decision to allow A___ to live with us at Lina’s Hope and receive daily therapy by one of our paid staff.

     At first we had to teach A___ the very basics of life…to wear clothes, to hold a spoon and feed himself, to use the toilet, to stop stealing people’s food, to stop running away, etc.  His care was incredibly hard and time-consuming.  A___ had to be cared for by staff one on one, 24 hours a day because if a care giver turned away for just a second, A___ would be grabbing food away from someone else or dashing down the middle of a busy street or tearing his clothes off.  A___'s mental understanding was at the level of a 6 month old infant.  He did not know the difference between night and day, and a care giver had to watch him all through the night because instead of sleeping, he would be consumed by his only two interests...stealing food or running away.  A___ could not talk, and he only understood one or two words spoken to him..."no" and "eat."  We began A___'s care by Heap and Jennifer taking care of A___ around the clock, 24 hours a day, so that we could get to know him and guide him through those first rough days.  Then, once he would keep clothes on and devefacte in the toilet instead of on the floor, A___ began therapy at Lina's Hope.  One of our amazing staff from a local church, began working with A___, teaching him basic commands and skills, like sitting at the table while eating and holding a spoon.

     After 6 months with daily therapy during the day and staying with the Hims each night, A___ made great progress. In 6 months he learned to wear clothes for the first time, used the toilet for the first time, used a spoon for the first time, had freedom for the first time, played with toys for the first time, and visited the beach for the first time.  In addition, for the first time A___ experienced freedom, choices, and some independence. 

     Now, 8 years later, A___ has a different staff person who works with him daily.  She is extremely gentle and patient with A___ as well as consistent and firm with his daily therapy and education.  She is just who A___ needs. Now A___ is a happy young man who understands much of what people say and can follow one and two step commands.  He now has interest in playing with toys and imitating the actions he sees others doing. He no longer steals food or runs away, and he has actually become sensitive to the feelings of others.  In fact, A___ is also learning to help other people!  Lina’s Hope recently began caring for a little girl who is an orphan and who has similar needs as A___.  This little girl likes to run away as A___ once did.  Their staff person teaches this little girl along with A___ because of her experience with A___.  Occasionally when their staff person must help another staff or child, she will have A___ hold this little girl’s hand to keep her from running away.  A___ understands the need and gently encourages the little girl to stay still and wait for their staff person to focus her attention back on them. Isn't this beautiful!

     A___ has also recently shown an interest in a preschool-age children’s Bible story show on YouTube that has puppets and songs, which shows his mental growth as well.  (Before A___ ignored the TV because he was just at the level of a 6-month-old baby). A___ has moved from the mental level of a 6-month-old baby to the mental level of an 18- or 24-month-old toddler.  A___ is even learning to use sign language to communicate! While progress is slow, A___ is making progress, and we have great hope for his future!

 

  

                                                                                                                                                                           

 

B___, age 10 years old

 

     Imagine never knowing a mommy or daddy.

     We know nothing about B___’s birth or early life.  B___ came to us from an orphanage.  The orphanage told us that they rescued her when she was just a baby from beggars on the street who may or may not have been her biological parents (beggars will sometimes borrow or steal babies to use to get people to pity them and give them more money. They sometimes will intentionally injure babies, cause an infection or deform their appearance so that people will have more pity for them and drop more money at their feet.)

     We know that B___ lived in the orphanage from the time that she was a baby, and we know that she already suffered brain injury causing cerebral palsy before she entered the orphanage.  Most likely, B___’s brain injury occurred during birth as a result of a lack of oxygen during the birth process as mom was giving birth in a countryside clinic lacking in education and medical equipment.  The majority of brain injury that we see in Cambodia is the result of poor medical practices during birth.

     We met B___ in 2017, when the Christian orphanage caring for B___ contacted us and asked if we could help B___ in her growth and development.  B___ was 4 or 5 years old (we are not clear on her biological age).  As we evaluated her, B___’s developmental age was less than a one year old infant.  B___ was not yet toilet trained, could not feed herself, could not bath or dress herself, and did not move around independently.  She could not crawl or walk or talk.  She had limited use of her hands.  But she had good hearing and understanding of what was said to her, and she had a big, contagious smile.

     B___ moved to live at Lina’s Hope in 2017 and began her journey towards independence.  As always when a child moves to Lina’s Hope, there is always a time of adjustment to a new place, new people, a new schedule, and new rules, especially the rule, “Once you can, then you must.”  Our goal at Lina’s Hope is that every child or young adult will become as independent and self-sufficient as possible.  So, for B___, this meant toilet training, learning to hold a spoon and feed herself, learning to bath and dress herself, and learning to communicate her needs to us.  B___ also began a full daily schedule of therapy and education at her level to teach her the beginnings of math and reading, and to help her become independently mobile.  She began with learning to army crawl, then she moved to hands and knees crawling (creeping), and, over time, she progressed to standing and taking her first steps with help.

     Now, six years later, B___ is making progress in her education and mobility and independence.  She has learned basic numbers and adding.  She can read many words.  She is independent in toileting, dressing, bathing and feeding herself.  And B___ can now walk independently at the parallel bars, working hard to get her left foot straight and up in the front when walking, which is difficult as her left foot wants to twist down and to the side.  She is learning balance and walking with a walker.  We really believe that B___ will walk independently some day in the next few years.

     B___ has heard the Gospel many times through the daily Bible story time at Lina’s Hope.  Please pray that God will open her understanding and her heart to Him so that she may come to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

 

D___, age 21 years old

 

     Imagine your father abandoing your family because you are born with a disability.

      D___ was a little girl of ten years old who came to Lina’s Hope (then TTLC) 12 years ago with her mother. D___ had suffered brain injury during birth, resulting in a disability that most people call cerebral palsy, meaning that the injured areas of the brain could not communicate with the child’s arms, legs, and mouth, preventing her from learning to crawl, walk and talk as a normal child should. 

     Upon realizing that he had a disabled child, among other difficulties of a life of poverty, D___’s father left the family and was never heard from again. D___’s mother struggled alone to provide for her two older sons and her disabled daughter.  She lived in a tiny area under her older sister’s home with a dirt floor and only two walls.  She survived by selling snacks to school children as their home was near a school.  While struggling just to keep the family alive, D___’s mom did all she could to help her daughter, like waking at 4:00 am each day to massage and provide range of motion for her daughter’s lifeless arms and legs.

     One day, D___’s mom heard from a neighbor about Lina’s Hope. When we met D___, she was 10 years old and could not walk, talk, crawl, sit up or move her arms and legs voluntarily.  We began to teach D___’s mom how to do therapy for her own daughter, and she learned quickly.  Even though her life was already so difficult, every morning she would put her daughter in a baby seat on the back of her bicycle and ride 2 miles to Lina’s Hope where she would spend the day faithfully doing therapy for her own daughter as well as helping with other children at Lina’s Hope.

     Seeing her faithfulness and her love for her own child as well as the other children, we hired D___’s mother as staff. This was to provide an income for her so that she could continue to work therapy with her own daughter, but it was also to our advantage as she has become one of our best staff.  

     D___, has worked hard on her difficult journey of recovery.  D___ can now walk slowly with a person guarding her closely, and we hope that she will be walking independently within a year.  D___ has also learned to read and is working on learning to write and speak.  She loves to learn science and Bible.

     Over the years, D___’s mom has heard the Gospel repeatedly through optional Bible studies with Heap and the other staff at Lina’s Hope.  She was quite resistant to the Gospel for some time, and we made it quite clear to her and other staff that no one had to become a believer in Jesus in order to receive our help with his or her child or in order to be staff of Lina’s Hope. We want people to come to Christ as the Holy Spirit works in their hearts, and we never want to encourage a fake belief in Christ out of obligation in order to receive help for a child or to keep a job position. Our other staff at Lina’s Hope who are believers in Christ continued to patiently, lovingly share their faith with her, and after about three years at Lina’s Hope, she began to attend a local church with them. 

We were all praying for God to work in her heart as she attended this church. Then one day the pastor invited her to make a decision to follow Christ, and she accepted Jesus as her Savior.  We have seen God make beautiful changes in her life, as she used to be a depressed and agitated person carrying stress, emotional pain and fear. She is now a person with much more peace and wisdom, and we now see her encouraging other staff or mothers of disabled children. 

     D___ has also given her heart to Jesus, and she loves to listen to Bible stories and sing songs to Jesus during the daily Bible time for kids at Lina’s Hope. And as D___ is becoming more independent in walking, she and her mom both give God the glory. It is a beautiful thing to see God’s work in their lives!

 

 

 

E___, age 11 or 12  ??

     Imagine being abandoned in a park in the middle of the night, alone, unable to talk, unable to move, able only to cry.

     E___ is our mystery child.  He was found on the ground in the park close to the river in the middle of the night six years ago.  A person who lived next to the park heard the crying of a child and went outside to investigate.  He found there a boy lying on the ground, crying in fear, unable to talk or walk or move about on his own.  Beside him were a few small boxes of milk.  Nothing more.  Nothing to identify him, nothing to tell his name or his age, nothing to reveal his family or origin, to teach about his past. Nothing.

     The person who found him notified the police, who took the boy to a local orphanage, who, seeing the boy’s extreme disability, took the boy to Jesus Life Church who we partner with who, in turn, brought the boy to us.  The Jesus Life Church rose to the occasion and took care of the boy while searching for his family.  They called the newspaper, the police, the radio stations and even the TV stations, putting advertisements out all over Cambodia.  They walked the streets of local neighborhoods asking questions and trying to find out information by word of mouth.  But no information could be found on who this boy was or where he came from.  The church named the boy a Biblical name, E___, after one of Jesus' followers, because the little boy was unable to tell anyone anything about himself, even his name.  Finally, the church raised the funds for the first two months of the boy’s care and therapy at Lina’s Hope, and E___ came to live with us. 

     E___ appeared to be about 6 or 7 years old when he came to live at Lina’s Hope, but we cannot know his age for sure.  E___ was not toilet trained and had never eaten anything but milk through a baby bottle.  He was very malnourished and unhealthy.  He could not walk or talk, did not know any letters or numbers, and did not attempt to move about on his own in any way.  He had limited use of his hands and did not attempt to use them.  He seemed quite depressed and uninterested in life, yet he seemed quite intelligent and able to understand all that was said to him.

     Of course, for the first few months at Lina’s Hope, E___ was given the goal of becoming comfortable with all the newness, being loved and cared for, learning to eat solid foods, learning to indicate his toileting needs, growing and becoming healthy.  Then we began working with E___ in teaching him letters and numbers, teaching him to move his legs for mobility, teaching him to hold a spoon and get the spoon to his mouth, and teaching him to use his hands.

     Now E___ is toilet trained.  He can feed himself finger foods independently and will soon be independent in feeding himself with the spoon.  He gives hand signs to indicate his needs.  He can use one hand to play and do hand activities.  He can read many words and can do simple adding and subtracting.  He is a smart young man, and he is funny and cheerful with a contagious smile.  He can move himself about by lying on a trolley and kicking his feet one by one.   He enjoys receiving a bit of money when he uses his trolley to move independently, and he is wise in saving his money to buy an object that he really wants. Best of all, each day he hears about Jesus and Jesus' love for him in daily Bible lessons at LH.

     E___ has a long way to go in his growth and progress, but we thank God for the progress that he has achieved so far.  Because of his inability to speak, it is hard to know what E___ is thinking.  So, it is hard to know what he understands or thinks about Jesus.  Please pray for E___ to open his heart to Jesus and to find in Jesus his Savior, Father, Comforter and Best Friend.

 

G___, age 24 years old

 

     Imagine being called an animal.

Imagine being treated like an animal.

     G___ is the first child who we helped after we moved to Kampot, Cambodia, before we had any idea that God was going to raise up Lina’s Hope.  So, we say that TTLC/Lina’s Hope began with G___.

     G___ had been a normal child until the age of 2 years old, but then he was in a drowning accident which caused a lack of oxygen to his brain and resulted in brain injury.  Though we are not certain about the story, the neighbors tell us that his father, who was a witch doctor at the time, was being abusive to G___ in holding his face down in a big urn of water.  The brain injury to his brain caused his brain to stop communicating with his thigh leg muscles and affected his thinking, emotions and speech. 

     By the time we first met G___, he was 12 years old.  He could not walk, and his front thigh muscles had pulled his legs abnormally up at the knees in right angles so that his toes were level with his mouth. He moved around by scooting around on his bottom and the backs of his knees.  He could not talk, and he had the mental ability of a one year old child.  G___ was extremely violent and would hurt, bite, hit or strangle any person or animal who came near him. His parents asked us to help find an orphanage for him.  We suggested that, instead, we could get him surgery to correct his leg bones and muscles.  Then we could begin therapy to help him grow emotionally and mentally.

     We began 4-hour drives to take G___ to the capital city for repeated surgeries to rearrange the bones in his legs, caring for him in the hospital as well.  Each time that G___ was released after a surgery, we brought him home with large pins extending out of his legs to keep the bones in their new positions.   G___ needed constant 24-hour supervision so that he would not pull the pins out of his legs. G___ came to live with our family because his parents did not have the patience or understanding of how to help G___ through his surgeries or recovery periods.

     After three months of surgery and 24-hour care and rehabilitation at our home, G___ stood up and walked!  The neighbors saw the miracle of G___ being able to walk after having been so deformed for so many years, and people spread the word around the neighborhood.  Soon other families were bringing their disabled kids to our home asking for help.  We began to teach parents how to do therapy for their brain injured kids, and that is how Lina’s Hope (then TTLC) began.

     Today, G___ has learned to talk and tell short stories and sing. He has also become a kind and caring person who loves to help other people.  He is now about the level of a three or four-year-old child emotionally and mentally. G___ is now learning to read and do small jobs and follow directions.  G___ stays at Lina’s Hope during the weekdays because his parents frequently go to the countryside for farming durian fruit, which would cause G___ to miss long periods of school and therapy. When he stays with our family now, G___ brings us much joy and laughter as he has recently developed a sense of humor.  He also loves to help around the house and around Lina’s Hope whenever he sees that someone needs help.  He is learning to cook simple food, wash dishes, sweep and mop.  G___ hears about Jesus every day, but we have not yet determined exactly how much G___ understands of the Bible stories or the Gospel.  Please pray that G___’s understanding will increase and grow so that he may someday understand the Gospel on a child’s level and come to know Jesus.

 

 

H___, age 21 years old

 

     Imagine being told that you are evil.

Imagine being told that you are cursed.

Imagine being told that you deserve your disability and you will die.

     When he first came to Lina’s Hope (then TTLC) H___ was a happy-go-lucky, 13-year-old boy with a sense of humor.  H___ could not walk, and his leg muscles had become quite contracted after many years of sitting in a wheel chair without any therapy.  H___ also struggled with using his hands and speaking, though most of the time he could be understood.  H___ was usually a cheerful and fun person to be around. 

     However, one day after H___ had been coming to Lina’s Hope for two months, we noticed that he became quiet and depressed, crying easily, refusing to do his therapy, and no longer using his sense of humor to make people laugh.  Upon talking with his parents, who are quite wealthy, we found out that his grandmother had taken H___ to a fortuneteller/witch doctor.  The fortune teller then chanted some curses over H___ and tied spirit strings around H___’s wrists.  The fortuneteller  then privately told H___’s grandmother that H___’s disability was the result of evil deeds done in his past life, and that H___ was cursed to die by the age of 20 years old. 

     Although H___ never heard the words of the fortuneteller, he became depressed, wanting to give up hope. When we heard this story, we realized that this was more than just a physical, mental or emotional problem; rather, this was a spiritual bondage. When we understood the spiritual reasons for his depression, we gathered our staff together to pray over H___, to bind any spirits put on H___ by the fortuneteller’s curse, and to proclaim God’s power and purpose in H___’s life.  We also explained to H___ that God created him and loves him and has great plans for his life, and that God can use his disability for good in his life.  H___ then left his depression and returned to his cheerful, humorous self.

     Today, H___ is a compassionate and fun 23 year old young man. We praise God that H___ has passed his 20 year death curse, and that not only is H___ alive and well, but H___ has also come to know Jesus and has a beautiful relationship with God.  He loves to pray and sing songs of worship and attend a local church that picks him up each Sunday.  He was baptized last year to show his love for Jesus and his decision to follow Jesus. His strong faith  in God is the perfect example of the sweet childlike faith that Jesus requires and that we all need.

 

 

J___, age 8 years old

     Imagine being a mom of a severely disabled child while struggling to survive in poverty with an alcoholic, abusive husband.

     Little J___ was only 2 years old when we first met her.  Her mother was living in poverty at a 6-hour drive north of Lina’s Hope. J___’s father died of liver disease due to alcoholism.  J___ and her mother moved to Kampot to live at Lina’s Hope, and we began teaching J___’s mom to feed and care for and do therapy for her little girl.  At that time, J___ could not walk or talk or toilet herself or feed herself.  J___ had the mental and emotional level of a 3–4-month-old infant.  She had no interest in anything, not toys or phones or TV’s or people or even food.  She never held toys or played. She never smiled or made eye contact.  She never even cried for food.  J___’s mom had her work cut out for her! 

     Now, after working with her own daughter in a daily therapy plan working to train the brain, J___ now plays with toys, feeds herself, and occasionally smiles and laughs!  J___ is learning to move independently across the floor on her belly and even with crawling.  She is also learning to stand.  She has now reached the developmental stage of a 6-month-old infant.  Yes, progress is slow, but she is at a better place than she was when she started! J___’s mom loves her daughter and even enjoys working with her daughter on a daily basis. 

     J___’s mom has heard the Gospel so many times from Heap and our other staff at Lina’s Hope.  However, she has not yet surrendered her heart to Jesus.  Would you please pray for J___’s mom to say yes to Jesus’ rescue plan for her, and would you pray for J___ to achieve further progress in her mental, emotional and physical development.  

 

 

K___, age 12 years old

 

     Imagine being deaf and the world not making sense, without a mommy or daddy to guide you through it.

     This beautiful little girl came to Lina’s Hope from an orphanage when she was around the age of 8 years old.  We know nothing about K___'s parents, birth, history, or how she became brain injured.  When she came to Lina’s Hope, K___ was completely deaf.  She could not talk.  She had the mental and emotional development of a 2-year-old child.  She often tried to harm herself by banging her head on the floor when she was upset.  She was not toilet trained and did not dress or bathe herself or even feed herself.  She would take off and run away out into the street randomly throughout the day with no reason or apparent thought on where she was going or why.  Now K___ has bonded with her staff person, a gentle, loving lady who is patient and calm.  K___ is now toilet trained and can bathe and dress herself with supervision.  K___ uses her hands to make bead bracelets and to do puzzles and color pictures.  She feeds herself and has more interest in the people and objects around her.  K___ no longer runs away or bangs her head when upset or bored. K___ is learning to use sign language to communicate.  We would like to get hearing aids for K___ to see if that would help her hearing, but that has been difficult due to Covid.  Relationally and emotionally, K___ still seems to be trapped in her own little world.  No matter what we have tried so far, K___ still does not understand that she needs to take the initiative and communicate with people to make her needs and wants known.  Please pray for God’s guidance for us and K___ as we seek to help K___ learn to communicate and open up to people emotionally.  Someday we would love to be able to share the Gospel with K___ when she is able to hear it and understand it.

 

 

L___, age 6 years old

    Imagine life without love or comfort or encouragement.

 This little cutie came to Lina’s Hope from an orphanage.  We do not know her real age, but L___ seemed to be about two years old when she came to live at Lina’s Hope.  We know nothing about her parents or how she became brain injured.   Her mental and emotional level was about that of a 3–4-month-old infant, and L___ did not yet move independently, sit up on her own, feed herself or talk.  She was not interested in toys, books, TV or anything else that a two-year-old would normally be interested in.  She was like a large 3-month-old infant.  Now after a few years at Lina’s Hope, L___ will hold and play with toys.  She now looks at people and smiles.  She now can hold finger food and feed herself.  She now can move across the floor on her belly.  Please pray for L___ to grow in her mental and emotional abilities and in her mobility and independence.

 

 

M___, age 33

     Imagine your own mother intentionally starving you in order to kill you so that she no longer has to take care of you.

     M___ is a brain-injured young woman who was brought to Lina’s Hope (then TTLC) by a concerned neighbor.  M___ was 20 years old, and she was literally starving to death. M___ weighed only 50 pounds and had eaten nothing but spoonfuls of coffee for weeks. Her mother, a low-income, mentally ill widow living in a palm leaf hut in the countryside, had given up any hope of her child recovering and had stopped feeding her, choosing instead to wait for her to die.

     M___ had been a normal child up until the age of seven. When she received her immunizations at the start of school, however, M___ became severely ill with extremely high fevers for two weeks, resulting in permanent brain injury.  This, in turn, affected her lower leg and foot muscles and her thinking processes. The brain injury also affected her sight, leaving her legally blind. After the brain injury, M___ could no longer walk and had become mentally delayed.  M___ was forced to spend the next few years sitting on a bed, resulting in contracted leg and feet muscles that made walking impossible. Under circumstances of extreme poverty, her mother’s mental illness, and the cultural belief that M___ was cursed and would have better luck in her next life, M___’s mother decided that it would be best for herself and M___ if she allowed her daughter to die.  She put M___ on a starvation diet and began saving money for the funeral.

When M___ was brought to Lina’s Hope, we were shocked by the skeleton that was laid before us, barely conscious, yellow from liver shut down and obviously close to death.  We rushed M___ to the capital city for medical treatment immediately, and started her on high protein baby formula, slowly working up to high protein solids. The mother moved to live and work at Lina’s Hope so that she could learn to properly care for her daughter.  After a few months of recovery, we began therapy for M___ and had special braces made for her feet.  Now M___ is healthy and thriving.

A few years ago, Lina’s Hope raised funds for a surgery in the United States that reconstructed the bones in M___’s feet so that she would have an opportunity to stand and walk. Now she continues daily therapy learning to walk with a walker or at the parallel bars.  She also continues daily therapy toward regaining her sight as we use a special therapy that helps her brain to grow in the visual area. In fact, she can now see facial expressions up to 3 meters away and see large black and white pictures.  M___ is even learning to read large words and do multiplication problems written in 2–3-inch large print. She even has a small part time job washing linens at Lina’s Hope so that she can learn to earn, handle and save money.  

     Last year M___ came to know Jesus and was baptized to show her faith in Jesus.  We saw beautiful changes in M___'s life when she came to know Jesus.  However, she often still struggles with times of depression, moodiness and lack of motivation. M___ has the mental and emotional development of a 12-year-old child. We have great hope for this young lady to become as independent as possible!  Please pray for M___ to find her love and fulfillment in Jesus and to be diligent to do her daily therapy to the best of her ability for the glory of Jesus.

 

 

N___, age 15 years old

     Imagine your neighbors shunning you or making deragatory comments because your child has a disability.

     N___ was one of the first children to come to Lina’s Hope (then TTLC) as we were just beginning this ministry.    N___ and his mom were our neighbors.  They saw Jennifer helping a boy, who had previously been extremely deformed and unable to walk. They watched Jennifer walking along the road with this boy each day as part of his rehabilitation and therapy as he recovered from reconstructive surgery on his legs.  So then N___’s mom came to our house to ask if we could help her son as well.  At the age of 3 years old, N___ could not sit up or walk or talk or crawl.  We taught N___’s mom some simple basic therapy for her son, and she began to bring N___ to our house each day to use our therapy equipment and so that we could help her with her son’s therapy.  We watched this mom learn and implement the therapy so quickly.  We saw that this mom loved her son so much and was willing to sacrifice her time and resources to help him reach his greatest potential.  We were just beginning Lina’s Hope, and we still had no idea exactly what God was doing.  But we hired this mom as full-time staff, paying her to do daily therapy for her own son as well as help with other children.  Now this mom is one of the best staff at Lina’s Hope. 

     Over the years as she worked at Lina’s Hope, N___’s mom came to know Jesus as her Savior, and now she attends a local church in the community with N___ as well as with her older children who have also come to know Jesus. Please pray for N___’s dad, who does not yet know Jesus.  While he is pleased with his wife and sons following Jesus and allows them to go to church each Sunday,he has not yet decided to follow Jesus himself.

     Recently, N___ walked by himself for the first time!  Now he is walking independently wherever he wishes to go.  His mental growth, however, has been slower than his physical development.  He has progressed from a mental age of 4 months old to a mental age of 18 months old.  This is definite progress, but at the biological age of 15 years old now, he has a long way to go.  Pray for him as he needs his mental progress to catch up with his physical progress as he is now walking independently but still learning to understand, follow directions, and talk.  Pray for his mom’s patience as she now has a giant toddler to deal with in that M___ is the height of a tall adult but is constantly moving and exploring like an 18-month-old child (which means he can now reach items that are dangerous and get into a lot of trouble which keeps mom chasing after him constantly).

     In personality, M___ is a happy, cheerful, fun boy who is always smiling and calling out to people passing by.  He loves to give hugs to anyone who comes near.