Recently, Cross Catholic Outreach received a report that really touched me. It was about a little 1-year-old child named Cristal who showed up at a small local clinic we partner with in Estelí, Nicaragua. Her mother, Maria, was in a panic. “What can I do?” she asked. She told the clinic’s pediatrician, Dr. Soza, that Cristal had been having breathing problems. In fact, her health had been in decline since she was 4 months old. Antibiotics didn’t seem to help, and little Cristal was having trouble putting on weight.
Dr. Soza could tell immediately that Cristal was extremely ill. And she knew her first order of business was to comfort the mother, Maria. But instead of doing what most doctors do – offering a word or two of reassurance – Dr. Soza did an amazing thing. She actually led Maria in prayer. Then, after carefully examining the child, Dr. Soza determined that asthma was causing Cristal’s chronic respiratory infections. With clinic-provided medications, vitamins and food supplements, Dr. Soza was confident Cristal would soon be able to gain weight and control her asthma.
It is now six months later, and Cristal has improved so dramatically, her mother calls it a miracle. But in my mind, the true miracle is the pediatrician who comforts a desperate mother in prayer.
-Chris M.
