mission_382

PSALM 103:12 AS FAR AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST, SO FAR HAS HE REMOVED OUR TRANSGRESSIONS FROM US

VIRGINIA TO CALIFORNIA…. FROM THE EAST COAST TO THE WEST COAST….

Quite a long trip, yet not one that is uncommon for Mr. Le to make. However today the trip will be made in the air aboard Nellie in the company of 3 strangers whom God has brought together specifically for a time such as this…mission 382.

You see, Mr. Le is a 46 year old gentleman originally from Vietnam. He has lived here in the states for 29 years. He is married and the father of 3 children all of whom live in the LA area. After working for IBM for several years he decided to try something different and he became an independent, over the road semi truck driver. 

For the last 10 years he has driven all across the United States in his rig spending many hours away from his family. He has been working very hard and saving his money so he and his wife will be able to put their children through college someday. It was during one of those cross country trips when he was caught in a heavy snow storm. As he was stepping out of his truck his foot slipped off of the step and he fell. This resulted in him becoming a quadriplegic and now after spending several weeks in a hospital across the country far from his family it is time to take him home.

We arrived in Virginia to pick up Mr. Le, a little concerned that there may be a little bit of a language barrier. That could not have been farther from the truth he understood and spoke english very well and we were very relieved. The staff had him all ready to go and he was smiling as we entered his room. We arrived at the airport, prayed and boarded Nellie. He had his cell phone close to him and he asked us to take pictures of him during the flight so he could share them with his family.

It was a very long flight but we all agreed much faster than by ground. He was able to rest on and off, never complaining of anything. We fed him lunch and dinner while we flew and each time we stopped for refuel we got him a snack. His favorite was the ice cream sandwich in Colorado. We enjoyed our conversation with him so much that it left us oblivious to the beautiful sites of the country we were flying, over like the Grand Canyon and such. With him being a truck driver he asked Hal several questions about Nellie’s speed and how much fuel she used. He was quite good at calculating all of that up.

When we asked him what kind of music he would like to hear he quickly answered “Elvis and Stevie Wonder” Hal gladly accommodated his request. He told us that he likes the “oldies” and in his country if you have a restaurant and play American oldies that many people will come to your restaurant because they really enjoy that kind of music. He told us that he had several sisters with him being the only boy. His parents had lived here in the states as well, until a few years ago when they returned to Vietnam. His father passed away while there last year and so he had gone home to be with his mom. Now his mom was flying in to California from Vietnam the next day to be with him. He was excited that she would be there especially since he is the only son.

Despite the many miles of the flight the time seemed to go by quickly. We landed in California and I telephoned his wife to let her know we would be at the rehab facility soon. You could hear the excitement in her voice. His wife and inlaws were waiting for him when we arrived despite the fact that it was rather late. They stood back keeping their distance until finally his fatherinlaw asked if they could touch him. I did not realize they were waiting permission to do so and I immediately said, ” absolutely please come and hold his hand and give him a hug you have waited a long time to see him.” They came over and very gently kissed and hugged him.

All of them including Mr. Le were smiling and happy to finally be back together. He had such a positive attitude and his family promised to let us know how he is doing. As with all of our missions God is the one who puts everything in place using us and others to do so. Although I know that His hand is in each mission, sometimes it is easier for me to see Him at work than it is in other missions. ( This is one of our limitations as human beings) There are always so many wonderful people on both the sending and receiving ends that He uses who go unrecognized and they do not do it to be recognized. They go above and beyond to come alongside us even sacrificing their day off to be at the facilities to greet us. This mission in particular is no different I just want to take this time to thank them all for all that they do.

GIVING ALL GLORY AND HONOR TO HIM

Thank you to Hal and JR for sharing this mission with me.

Many Blessings.  May the grace and peace of God be with you.

Shelli Engle RN