On Mission with Down Syndrome
“If God modifies your plan, he will provide the resources to make the adjustment.”
In 2009, while I was completing my bachelor’s degree in International Relations in my homeland, Haiti, the Lord called me to full-time ministry. After accepting the call, my wife Emmania and I immigrated to the United States of America (hereafter, USA) to study God’s word with the hope of returning home to plant a church, a Bible school, and a medical clinic to provide both spiritual and physical care for our people who are in desperate need.
However, such a call did not come without challenges, and one of them was the birth of our first daughter, whose name is Michelle.
On January 4th, 2011, six months after we immigrated to USA, our first child (Michelle) was born. While we were still in the hospital rejoicing and sharing the good news with our loved ones back in Haiti, a doctor came to our room and said, “Good morning, guys! How are you doing today?” We answered, “We are doing well. Thanks.” She went on to say, “Guys, I am sorry to tell you this, but your daughter is Down syndrome.” Then my wife just looked at me and started crying.
So, we prayed together and began reflecting on God rather than on ourselves.
In reading and in meditating on God’s word in the days that followed, we found great comfort in Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (NASB).
This verse helped us to stay calm knowing that our Lord was near to us.
Our daughter was born with a heart defect and needed open-heart surgery as soon as possible. Some doctors thought she would not survive because she was too small (only four pounds) and could not gain weight during the first three months. Meanwhile, other doctors told us that our daughter would not walk or talk because of the severity of her disability.
Considering this, some friends suggested that we leave her in the hospital. But we rejected the advice because we knew our daughter is a child of God (1 John 3:1). Like the rest of us, she is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14; NASB). So, my wife and I gladly accepted our responsibility as parents, even if this meant that we would have to take care of our daughter for the rest of her life.
God in His grace miraculously worked everything out for our good. Our daughter’s surgery was successful, and the doctors were surprised to see how things went smoothly. The surgery lasted less than 3 hours as expected, and the doctors were able to repair our daughter’s heart without any further complication. But things did not look good for her for the first five years. In fact, our daughter was unable to eat like a normal child. She had to be fed through a gastrostomy tube, a tube inserted through her abdomen to deliver food to her stomach. Additionally, we had to take her to the hospital weekly, occasionally three times a week. But we praise God that now we only make one visit per month or no monthly visit. Now, our daughter is nine years old and is in third grade. She is walking, running, and learning.
To God be the glory!
God has indeed blessed us in many ways. During those trial times, He allowed my wife and me to pursue our educational goals. Through it all, my wife has earned a master’s degree in Public Health from Liberty University and I have earned a PhD in Old Testament and Hebrew from Clarks Summit University/Baptist Bible Seminary.
Now that our studies are complete and that our daughter is doing well, we believe it is time to go back home to minister to our people. But because of the precious care that our daughter needs, we plan to station in the Dominican Republic where medical care is more affordable and accessible. We will thus be able to serve the Haitians who are in the Dominican Republic as well as those living in Haiti.
Having a child with a disability while preparing to go on mission isn’t a change of plans, but rather a modification to the plan which only requires a spiritual adjustment. This is not to say that raising and caring for a child with a disability isn’t a challenge, because it is. It is only to say that if God modifies your plan, he will provide the resources to make the adjustment.
Written By—Ismael Dora, PhD
Ismael Dora is adjunct professor at Clarks Summit University in Clarks Summit, PA, and serves as Sunday school teacher and music minister at Atlanta Bible Baptist Church in Decatur, GA.
Edited by David C. Deuel & Nathan G. John
Disability in Mission
Disability in Mission: The Church’s Hidden Treasure outlines a radical change in approaches to missiology, missions, and praxis for the twenty-first-century global cultural context. It explores a pattern whereby God works powerfully in missions through disability and not in spite of it.
Pray with Us
Heavenly Father, we come before you requesting a miracle. Lord of disability, please change our hearts. We confess that we doubt or dismiss people with disabilities. But worse, we pridefully make them objects of pity when instead we should see your calling and giftedness in their lives.
Please use this book’s testimonies of your sufficient grace. May the many missionary lives lived faithfully with disability remind us that called and gifted people with disabilities are platforms for your enablement, showcases for your glory. Remind us that disability is your stage for shocking a watchful world.
We believe that you can and will heal all disabilities. But on your disability stage, display your power by changing our hearts.
