Faith comes by hearing
By Ruth Schenk | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Dr. Vladimir Canela and his wife, Dr. Auris Canela, care for about 10,000 patients a year in medical clinics outside Santiago in the Dominican Republic. Their patients come
from remote sugarcane villages, communities built on landfills and rural villages so far in the country that no medical help is available.
Though the two doctors meet needs every day, they could not help their own baby, Eliezer, who was born with microtia or closed ears.
“Here we are doctors, but we were painfully worried,” Auris said. “We could not help our son. We felt so burdened until someone told us that he is special, one in 20,000,
and we began to pray.”
Some 1,670 miles away, in Louisville, Jeff and Vicki Rogers, G.O. Ministry missionaries supported by Southeast, heard about Eliezer. The young couple is tuned in
especially to children who cannot hear since their own 6-year-old twin daughters, Sophi and Raena, are deaf.
The couple moved to G.O. Ministry headquarters in Louisville so the girls could get cochlear implants that allowed them to hear sounds. They also received therapy and
education at the renowned Heuser Hearing and Language Institute. Vicki and Jeff learned sign language along with the girls.
As soon as she heard about Eliezer, Vicki sent a message to his parents and began searching for some way to help. She knew help was limited on the island. While living
In the Dominican Republic, the Rogers met deaf children in rural villages who had never learned how to communicate.
“When I would begin to sign for a child in a village, I noticed that that they had no idea what I was saying,” Vicki said. “Even more devastating was the fact that when I asked
other children for that child’s name, they said, ‘El mudo,’ which means ‘the mute kid.’”
Vicki began making sure called each deaf child she met by name.
When she met 16-year-old Yordy, who was deaf, she met with his family, taught them to sign his name as well as other words and left materials for them to learn as many
communication tools as possible.
“We continue to pray that many other children soon will be called by their names, too,” Vicki said.
Since Eliezer did not have a functioning ear, he needed a Baha programmable bone conduction device that bypasses the outer and middle ear, sending sound around the
damaged area, stimulating hearing through bone. The device, which costs about $7,000, is not available in the Dominican Republic.
The Rogers began raising funds and talking with staff at the Heuser Hearing Institute to help the family. One man on their call list was Southeast member Len Moisan, one
of their supporters who has taught the Emmaus Weekend Group at the Blankenbaker Campus for the last 20 years.
“How could we not respond to a request to help this family?” Moisan said. “A lot of times we think of Third World countries in an abstract way. Through Jeff and Vicki, we
connected with a couple who could do anything with their medical degrees, but they chose to help those who need them most. We put the need out there, and our people
gave as they always do. The offering totaled about $5,000. It was just a matter of looking at needs and trying to meet them.”
The Heuser Hearing Institute provided pro bono services.
On Thursday, Aug. 11, at 8:30 a.m., Eliezar received his Baha hearing device through a thin blue band wrapped around his head and heard his mom’s voice for the first time.
Vicki watched it happen.
“It was beautiful to watch Eliezer’s eyes light up as he heard the toys he had been playing with make noise for the first time,” she said. “He looked over at his mom with an
astonished expression. Her eyes filled with tears as she searched for her voice and the first words she wanted Eliezar to hear. It was truly a miracle and a beautiful memory
for me as I thought back to when my daughters heard for the first time.”
That miracle moment was priceless, but more surprises unfolded.
On Aug. 14, Auris, Eliezer and the Rogers visited the Emmaus Weekend Group to thank them.
Through tears, Auris thanked the large group of people she had never met for helping her son.
Southeast member Jane Knight, a retired audiologist and speech therapist, listened to Auris and decided to donate the equipment she and her husband needed to do
hearing screenings in the Dominican Republic and later trained Auris how to use it.
Just a few days later, when Vicki went with the family to visit a surgeon at the Heuser Institute to evaluate when and if they could restore Eliezer’s ears, yet more pieces fell
into place.
The surgeon had been to the Dominican twice with Operation Ear, working just 20 minutes from where the family lives and agreed to perform surgery when Eliezer is about
6 years old to reconstruct his ear canal, ear drums and form ears from the buds he currently has. When Auris asked how much it would cost, the doctor’s answer drove her
to tears yet again. The surgery is free save hospital costs.
“Oh, how I love God’s story,” Vicki said. “I watch it every day with my miracle daughters who glorify Him with their hands and voices, and I had the incredible opportunity to
watch Him do it again with this family.”
The Canelas are forever changed. So is their ministry. Both doctors are planning to specialize in pediatrics so they can help more children in Dominican Republic, and their
faith is strengthened.
“A few weeks ago, I preached about how God has control of everything,” Vladimir said. “This was tough as a doctor, but through this I realized that I did not have the
resources to solve this problem for my son, but God answered right away as we prayed. The lesson we will never forget is God is wonderful.”