A Story about Yahson

Yahson (Jackson) de la Rosa is one of the leaders of our library project.  Yahson is a great teacher, he's humble, he leads by example, he's always willing to help in anyway he can, and he's a great friend.  Something very special happened in Yahson's life recently, and I've asked Yahson if I could share it with you.  With a huge smile, Yahson said, "Of course!" 

Yahson has been a faithful leader in our library project from the beginning.  He does a great job with the students, gets along well with his teammates and is very reliable.  In December, we promoted Yahson to a new level of leadership among the team.  He was to oversee two of the library sites.

I got word in February that Jackson was having problems with his back.  I was informed that he was making trips to see a doctor and then a specialist.  He was in a lot of pain and needed to step away from ministry for a while. 

He was taking medication daily for the pain, and in March they told him he had a herniated disc in his lower back.  Jackson is 20 years old.  When I asked him why or how he thinks this happened, he told me about a time when he fell off a horse and thought it could be related to that. 

When I returned to the Dominican Republic in May, I was suprised to see Jackson at work with the team.  Though he walked with a noticable limp and was in constant pain, he continued to participate the best he could in the leadership team meetings and with his work with the children in the Haitian communities. 

Yahson working with students in Batey Magua.

Yahson gave me regular updates on his health and his trips to the doctor.  Things did not seem to be getting better for Yahson.  The pain was getting worse and the doctors were advising him to undergo an operation. 

The weeks leading up to the operation were the worst for Yahson.  The pain was so bad he couldn't walk --he couldn't even get out of bed. 

Yahson was scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, July 10th at 3pm.  Yahson and his family left for the hopsital in the evening on Monday.  (Yahson informed me that the hopsital rooms fill up quickly and they wanted to be sure to get a bed.)  

The surgery was a very delicate surgery.  If something went wrong, Yahson could have problems or be paralyzed for the rest of his life.   Many people were praying for Yahson.  

 

When it came time for Yahson's operation, they were informed that the specialist who was to perform Yahson's surgery was delayed.  Yahson would have to wait another day. 

I can only imagine what must have been going through Yahson's mind at this point.  Relief?  Anger?  Frustration?  Fear?  His family continued in prayer around him.  Yahson said that around 5pm he prayed, "God have your will in my life -- whatever that might be."  

The next morning the specialist came at 7am to prepare Yahson for surgery, but Yahson's pain was gone.   The pain that was excruciating when he went to sleep was gone.  He went six hours without taking medication, and was still free of pain.  They examined Yahson's old xrays again.  (To take new xrays would be very expensive.)  The specialist concluded that he wouldn't operate if Yahson did not have any pain, so they sent Yahson home!

It has been three weeks.  Yahson is still free of pain, and he gives God all the glory.  Yahson has jumped right back into ministry and hasn't missed a beat.   

We are all praising God and rejoicing with our friend Yahson because of what God has done. 

How GREAT is our God?!



Yahson was a huge help to the Inverted Arts team who was here July 21-29,
helping with transportation every day.