The last time I commented on the way God brought me to this country and how he has intervened in my life. One of the doors that she has opened in this place is to be able to work with people from a community close to the project where I live. Me and another missionary partner have started talks in the community center and also attended to patients, she is from nutrition area and I am from the psychological area.
It has been very gratifying to be able to meet the people of this community and see how they open the doors of their homes, however, it has not always been easy. Today I would like to share with you one of those cases, for ethical reasons the names of my patients will be changed.
One of the patients I see is Ana, I see this woman every Monday when I give talks to a group of mothers in the community center. One of those days at the end of the class she came up to me and said that she had liked the talks a lot but that it was difficult to put them into practice, which caught my attention, so she introduced me to her little Joaquin and I could see the reason why I had not been able to do what we had been seeing during those weeks. Joaquin is a child with autism and therefore his demand for care and education is different from other children, and if that were not enough, Ana’s husband unfortunately has bipolar disorder and depression. Ana really lives a hard situation in her home and needed help. So I quoted her so we could meet in private practice.
That day while walking back to the project I could not get my mind off the face of Ana and little Joaquin and the only thing that repeated in my mind was “God, I need your help to be able to help this woman, if there is something I need you use me , I put my knowledge in your hands. ” I would be lying if I said that I felt super ready to help her, because it is one thing to see the different cases in class to see them in real life, and during the 20 minutes on the way to the project in my mind I was talking with God about the way I could help her and I also asked for something in space. “God help me to tell Ana about you and that she can know that there is hope in the middle of the problems”.
The day came that he had mentioned seeing me with Ana in the community center and he arrived punctually with little Joaquin. We talked for two hours and I was able to give her some important tools for Joaquín and also for her, but before finishing the consultation I felt the desire to talk to her about God and the way in which he understood everything that was happening and that on this path he was not alone, automatically something in her face changed and I could notice what I asked her if everything was fine, then she answered me “Thank you Thalita, it’s true, I’m not alone in this way”, we said goodbye and we were to see each other next week.
The next time we saw something had changed in her, her face was drawn a big smile, it was then that I asked her how she had gone that week to what she told me: “Excellent! this week I am very happy because I have a new motivation” During the consultation she was expressing an idea that she has to be able to raise money for little Joaquin’s consultations and is to set up a table of sweets and crafts made by her where she also puts thoughts about autism and to let the people of the community know that it is truly autism and that they no longer see their little son strangely and little by little raise awareness with many people in the community.
Undoubtedly God is working in the life of Ana, she is giving new hope and joy to her life. The work with Ana and little Joaquín is not over, even every week I keep seeing them and working with them, but in Ana I can see the difference, her face always has a smile and it is because her confidence is putting her in God. Personally I can see how God speaks through me and intervenes not only in the life of Ana and little Joaquín but in the lives of many other people.
There are probably some talents that you have hidden and you do not want to use them for fear of failing or because you think they are not enough for God’s work, but I encourage you to try and make the service an own experience. Let God use those talents at your service. Many times feeling unable to do things is an opportunity for you to see the way God works with your life, do not think about it anymore and dare to do what you have not been able to do yet, believe me, you will not regret it.
By: Thalita de la Cruz
Attendants
People who are used to take the community center classes.
Talks to People
They are learning about mental health.