Five years ago, Rafa graduated from high school, and went out with a few of his friends in the new car that one of them received for graduation. You guessed it, they got in a really bad wreck, and Rafa was the only one who survived (there were either 2 or 3 other guys who died). Rafa was in and out of the hospital for a year, and ended up in a wheel chair with no use of his legs, and very limited use of his hands and arms. His condition is degenerative, meaning he's gotten worse over the past 5 years, and will likely continue worsening as time goes on.
Rafa came to Horizonte with his mom and cousin Hector (Hector goes everywhere with Rafa and takes care of him) a little less than a year ago. He loved the sunday service and youth group, and began coming regularly. He made quick friends with Dany (who's always gone to church, not the Dany mentioned below) and Jean Paul.
We began to learn more about Rafa, and found out that he's very artistic and attends art classes at one of the universities. He also does quite a bit with computer graphics. When I said he has limited use of his hands, I mean he has REALLY limited use - like it's hard to hold a pencil! And he does art by hand and computer!! Then in one small group time for the college guys, he mentioned to Dany and JP that he'd like prayer... not that he's one day walk again, but that God would give him patience to be content how he is now until God lets him walk again. Wow.
Here's some pictures from Rafa's 23rd birthday party a couple weeks ago:
Taking the traditional "mordida!" (Biting the cake)
Great sense of humor: posing for the picture arm-wrestling with Juan! Juan is the biggest guy ever (for a mexican)! And look, Rafa is winning! :)
1 comment:
Hola, Jessica, greetings from Canada. My name is Nicole and I work for International Teams Canada here in Elmira, Ontario. I just wanted to say that I was very excited to find your blog, and intend to read up on your experiences so far in Mexico. I have been in contact with Lori Lehener in Costa Rica as my husband and I are very interested in missions opportunities in Mexico (short term to start, but we'll see how the Lord leads...). I believe at this point she is going to find out about posibilities for us there in Queretaro, and we're just in the exploration stages. But it's great to find this blog and I will enjoy reading up more about your ministry there in Queretaro. I'll be back and I do have a blog but it's "private" as I just use it as private journal, so if you feel like "hablando" my email is nicole.mueller@iteams.org . God Bless!
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