Greetings to all of you and Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!!!! We are so very grateful to be able to report to you some really exciting things that have happened over the past few weeks. We thank God for his goodness in allowing us to serve others who have disabilities in Peru and also serve by hosting a very special group of people who came to give free wheelchairs away.
Don Schoendorfer (founder of Free Wheelchair Mission and a friend of ours) came with a team of volunteers to help give out free wheelchairs to those in need. A team from CDV (our church) which included our support team of translators, wheelchair techs, and pastoral staff traveled with the FWM team first to a small village in the Andes mountains and then back to Lima to give out more wheelchairs. It was a very special time.
The final day we were able to visit 2 of Laurie’s Scholars in their homes, have them personally meet Don and we were able to record their stories. Laurie’s Scholars is a non profit scholarship program that Don developed to honor his late wife Laurie (and co-founder of FWM). Laurie’s Scholars is designed to help people with disabilities with financial assistance in order to help them earn an education to help improve their life and future. The 2 students who are currently receiving scholarships in Peru started out with a small course to now both are attending 5 year university career programs!!! We at Camino de Vida help to find potential cases who might benefit from this program and present them to Don and the board at Laurie’s Scholars. It is a wonderful way to keep Laurie’s memory alive by helping to build the future of people with disabilities through education.
Ultimately, this week was incredibly meaningful for Clever and I. Two years ago during this week was when all my health issues with my neck began. Being able to serve together with this wonderful team of people who are so passionate about giving the gift of mobility all over the world, is truly an honor for us. We are so very thankful that our church Camino de Vida partners with Free Wheelchair Mission to serve the people of Peru in this way. We are so very grateful to get to be a part of something so much bigger than us and we thank all of you who support us to allow us to do so.
We are so grateful to Don for saying YES to God all those years ago. For seeing the need in developing countries and for doing something about it. His Yes, has impacted so many lives over the past 20+ years, including ours.
On this giving TUESDAY, there are SO many worthy causes to give your donation, I just named a few in this post! We encourage you to prayerfully consider helping us continue to do what we get to do here in Peru. By supporting us, YOU too are part of something bigger than just you. As you know , as missionaries, we live 100% off of financial support of the generosity of people like you. Please know we are grateful for your support and if you know anyone who would like to join us please share our information.
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NIV