We received the following testimony from our co-workers in Vietnam, about a little girl named Nguyet who had suffered horrible burns over her face and much of her body. There are many like Nguyet, but in the name of Jesus we are able to provide a measure of hope and joy in their lives.
"Eight-year-old Nguyet's eyes were the saddest I have ever seen. Her face and body horribly burnt from the kerosene lamp that overturned and set the hut on fire some five years before. She sat quietly, one of hundreds of children who crowded the hospital for our free surgery program. The sadness in her eyes penetrated my heart. Only she knew the pain she had endured. Only she knew the struggle of coping with the massive burn scars that fused her limbs, made a stump out of her foot that had all but one of the toes burnt off, had ruined her face and made her the object of stares."
"I tried to communicate, a smile, a soft touch, but the eyes remained dead. Finally I prayed "Lord, help me to reach and comfort this child.""
"It was then I simply felt to kneel down in front of her and softly say, "Will you be my friend?" She closed her eyes for a moment, and opened them again as a smile slowly spread across her face."
"Nguyet became my friend."
"Each day we visited the hospital she would be waiting, and despite the pain that accompanies such plastic surgery her smile did not fade. The surgery we were able to provide has freed up fused limbs, given her an improved appearance, and replaced despair with hope. Nguyet's parents were desperately poor. They have nothing to offer other than their tears of appreciation."
