“Pack the zip-ties,” a still, small voice whispered to Erica
as she packed her suitcase for the trip.
Cable ties seemed like the last thing to pack when getting
ready for a mission trip with her church to Africa. Even so, she placed the
package in her luggage and zipped it closed. “It’s not like there will be a Wal-Mart
out in the savanna to pick these up if I need them,” she thought to herself
before heading out the door.
It took days stalking through three airports and riding
bumpy trails in a bus with no real roads to reach her destination in Zambia,
Africa. The team from her church, Hillside Wesleyan, planned to assist a
hospital while visiting. Two American doctors were the only staff, with
missionaries or volunteers filling in where they could. She planned to help
deliver babies and take care of sick patients like the rest of her church team,
but the still, small voice whispered again; she and some others from her group were going to the nearby
orphanage.
Sitting in a worn chair that he was beginning to outgrow,
with a scuffed table and stuffed bear, Royal smiled at Erica and immediately
she knew why she had traveled all this way.
When his mother died in childbirth, Royal was brought to the
orphanage by his father because he could not take care of him. When he was just
months old, Royal had seizures and was left alone, causing damage to his young
brain. The cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities affected his ability to
speak and move even so far as to open his hands all the way. His difficult life
had not taken away his joy though, and his bright smile is what drew Erica to
his side.
Back in Iowa, Erica worked at The Arc and had very specific
training to assist clients just like Royal. She knew how to speak his language,
even though words were not used. Seeing how he was carried by the other
children in the orphanage, she was certain with the assistance of braces for
his arms and legs, he would be able to someday move on his own. In the
meantime, she was told of an old, broken stroller that had been donated. They
occasionally used it to help move him around, but the back was broken so he had
to lay flat as he was rolled around the yard.
Remembering the cable ties in her pack, she raced for them
and returned shortly, carefully connecting the chair back to its frame again.
For the first time, Royal was able to sit up and smile, taking in his
surroundings as the ground moved underneath him.
Erica visited with Royal for the rest of her time in Africa,
but promised to return. With measurements of his arms and legs for braces in
hand, she left Royal and his repaired stroller. She is reaching out to contacts
in Iowa to help make the braces that she will get to him, hopefully before her
next trip to Zambia in a year.
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Erica lives in a home with her mother, grandmother and
daughter. It is a Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity home, built in the early
90’s. Even at three-years-old, she still remembers seeing the volunteers
working on the home she would grow up in. That spirit of service was instilled
in her at a young age, and is reflected to this day in her work and the
connections she’s made half-way around the world.
In October 2013, work will begin on her own Habitat home,
with the partnership of 25 area churches and hundreds of volunteers stepping up
beside her. Erica’s daughter, Alivia, will be three when the build starts. She
will see love in action, just like her mother did years before. Perhaps Alivia
will someday make her own trip to Africa, or Asia, or South America, to
profoundly impact a life in ways she has yet to imagine; in ways the still,
small voice has yet to whisper to her young ears.
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