Born with a severe case of clubfoot, Isaiah Cruz spent most of his life crawling around. The 13-year-old Honduran’s feet were so twisted he couldn’t stand without help. Although he is a great student, until recently he hated going to school because the other children made fun of him.
Now Isaiah plays soccer with his friends, who cannot believe the miraculous change they’ve seen in their friend over the last six months.
Much like the lame man from the bible story in Acts 3 who receives the ability to walk for the first time, Isaiah experienced the healing touch of God — it came through a Christian hospital we support in Honduras that provides orthopedic care to children of poor families.
After two surgeries and just a few months recovery, Isaiah was “walking, leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:8).
“I thank God, the hospital, the doctors who did the surgery, and the people who gave the money to make it possible,” Isaiah said. “I was so sad before, but now I am very happy. I can walk!”
Isaiah’s mother, Lenore, said that she and her husband never dreamed their son would walk. Poor subsistence farmers, the couple hardly earns enough to feed their six children and pay the rent each month. Like most of the families in their rural, mountain community, they could never have afforded a surgery like the one that enabled their son to walk.
Overwhelmed by his new ability to walk, Isaiah wants to devote his life to helping others in his country. “I want to be a doctor when I grow up so I can help people like me.”
The Christian hospital in Honduras that fixed Isaiah’s debilitating deformity has helped 382 other children in the past year, offering them life-changing surgeries that were hopelessly out of reach for their poor families.
And according to Ruth Castro, the hospital’s director, it is the support of American Catholics that enables them to continue.
“The need is overwhelming here. The people literally have nothing,” she said. “The support of Cross International Catholic Outreach and its donors is a vital blessing.”
This Christian hospital is one of several we support in places such as Kenya, Dominican Republic, and Afghanistan. Click here to learn how you can provide a life-changing surgery for a child like Isaiah.