Bill is no ordinary dentist on a trip of India - he had lost much of his senses and was reduced to living - if that is what it can be called - as a deranged destitute on a footpath in south Mumbai. It was here that a group of simple believers in Jesus Christ made friends with him in his crazed, paranoid state - and managed to convince him to let them help him.
This evening I had the privilege of telling Bill "see you again." He was dressed in new clothes - still emaciated but so much better than on the first day when I met him in the hospital 10 days ago.
His mind was still wandering - but it was so much more lucid than when we first talked. His hands were still thin - but so much stronger than when I first held his hands and prayed with him.
One of the brothers who has been helping Bill out has given me a set of photos - ranging from when they first met Bill on the street - to a wonderful shot of him and I smiling from ear-to-ear - sitting on the hospital bed - just before we walked down and I said farewell to him.
For issues of privacy I will not be posting them - but they tell an amazing story of grace. Of how a man very lost, very hungry for love and understanding - could come so close to death - and yet be snatched back to life.
Bill has lots of challenges waiting for him when he arrives in Canada - sometime tomorrow. His physical, mental, social and spiritual rehabilitation are still big mountains to climb. But he seeing how far he has already come - we have hope.
As he puts his hands into those calloused carpenter's hands which are stretched out for him - hands that allowed nails to pierce them 2 millennia ago - Bill is going to be restored. His journey holding the hands of the one who made him has only just begun.
In the meantime - he is about to leave Mumbai airport and wing his way East to a new life.
No comments:
Post a Comment