Contributed by Celeste Sherman in Stories from the Field Twelve years ago, out of a sea of little faces from all over the world, I fell in love with a little boy with a shy smile named Francisco from the Dominican Republic. Twelve years later, we had the opportunity to meet him, his brother Luis Miguel, who we sponsored for 6 years, and their mom and dad. There is nothing that can prepare you for the moment when your sponsored children go from two-dimensional photos on your refrigerator, to three-dimensional, living, breathing, handsome young men, with the same shy smiles. It was a dream that we never thought would happen. Five years ago, Stu was diagnosed with ALS, and knowing what the future could bring, we put this dream out of our minds. The amazing thing is, Stu was not progressing as many do with ALS. The past three summers, he has taken up hand-cycling and has actually been gaining muscle. Since this year marked 40 years of being married, we decided we needed to take a trip to celebrate. We were looking at cruises, but they were very costly, as we needed a room with a balcony for our service dog, Swanson. We were gifted money from the ALS Charitable Family foundation to take this trip, and did not want to go over our budget. Paula Hemphill, a Child Ambassador friend, suggested we go to the DR and visit the boys we sponsor. This had never occurred to me, but I immediately checked with World Vision to see if we could make this happen. World Vision and I worked secretly so I could keep it a surprise. I explained to the DR sponsorship team that we really needed special accommodations for the trip. We’d have a service dog, a walker, and limited mobility and I was told none of this would be a problem! So, on Easter weekend, I surprised Stu, telling him we were going to the DR to visit our boys. He was overjoyed! World Vision suggested what hotels to stay at, and we found a beautiful hotel in Santo Domingo, right within our budget. The end of July could not come soon enough, yet there were so many things to do. We shopped for things for the boys, had their "My World Vision" videos translated to be sure to know their favorite colors, sports, etc. We shopped for the family; some kitchen items, and things for their little sisters. We carefully packed everything in our suitcases and off we went. What would it be like? Would it be awkward? We could have written a song in anticipation: "I Can Only Imagine." Tuesday, July 31, started early with the World Vision staff picking us up at our hotel at 6:15 a.m.. We met our host, Yocasta, from World Vision DR, who warmly greeted us, and was every bit as excited as we were. We stepped into the WV van, with the famous logo and the words, "por los ninos." We were finally on our way. We also met the World Vision International (WVI) video crew, who accompanied us to document the trip. We were interviewed on the way to the boys' Area Program (AP), which was an approximately 4 hour trip through the beautiful DR countryside. We were again interviewed outside of the World Vision AP office and were told to wait while the WVI video crew interviewed the family. We were SO very close. The initial meeting had a flair for the dramatic, having the two of us stand in front of the door of the office, facing the camera, and instructed not to turn around until cued. The anticipation was killing us. Finally, we were told to turn around. We knew that boys would be standing there, in our heads we pictured it, but, when we turned around our hearts leaped like no other surprise we had ever experienced. It brought tears to my eyes, and all I could do is say… ‘OH MY GOD!!!! Look at you.’ And I reached out to touch them, perhaps, just to make sure that they were real. They responded without hesitation with huge hugs for us. We were escorted inside where the AP staff was waiting and, at the end of the receiving line, their beautiful parents, Francisco Sr. and Maris - smiling, hugging, and thanking us. The rest of the day was full, like a dream, and we still have to refer to the photos we have from the trip and the future video, to be sure it really happened. We learned so much about our history with our sponsorship. When we sponsored Francisco, their house was in very bad state of repair. Because of our sponsorship, World Vision helped restore their house. Francisco Sr. was able to save enough money to buy his own land and he and his brother have a growing coffee business, making specialty coffee, which is in high demand. Their mom, Maris, has been cleaning houses to help finance schooling for their two older daughters, who are in the university. One of the girls, Marianny, will graduate this year and be a teacher. She plans to help with the family's income. This particular sister is dear to us, as she initially wrote the letters we received from Francisco, when he was too young to write. Marianny often thanked us and sent blessings, and in one letter wrote that she hoped we could come to visit someday! We laughed together, as the boys helped me count to ten in Spanish and we admired the English words that they had been taught. We bonded over our love for the same baseball teams, Stu and Francisco are Red Sox fans, while Luis and I prefer the Yankees. The boys told us of the trophies they had earned; Francisco for a chess tournament, and Luis for baseball. We were so proud of them. We complimented their mom and dad for the wonderful job they did as parents and the beautiful hearts of the young men they raised. We learned about Francisco Sr. and Maris' love story, how they met and married, and they learned of ours. We went out to visit the community and saw some of the amazing work World Vision has done in this Area Program. As we were out walking and Stu was negotiating the ramp and some of the more difficult terrain, the family surrounded him and guided him and the walker. Francisco, who will be an engineer, immediately pointed out that the walker wheel was not working properly. We shared lunch together and more stories. We talked about our families, what we do for work, how coffee is grown and harvested, how I love coffee, their favorite foods, and music. They asked about Swanson, our service dog, and the boys played, petted, scratched, and hugged her. To Swanson's delight, they also gave her treats. The time came when we had to say goodbye. We gave many hugs, and then Stu, Swanson, and I had to board the van to head out.
At that moment, I was overcome with emotion, and burst into tears. Luis, the future teacher, immediately ran to the van, and threw his arms around me. OH my HEART. I will never forget the sight of the four of them, waving goodbye to us. When we were driving back, after several minutes to process in silence, I asked Yocasta when the date of closure was for this Area Program. This Area Program, Apolinar Perdoma, will close this year. We knew it was close as they are in phase three of their development, but were so awed at God’s timing in all of this. This visit was for this appointed, ordained time that God had set just for us and this family. The Sanchez family and the Sherman family will forever be united in love, thanks to World Vision. We will forever hold this time in our hearts. |
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