My Good Friend Tony Javier
Tony is 20 years old and has incredibly strong will. Three years ago on June 19th, Tony dove into a river a very talented could-be professional soccer player (literally) and was brought out parapelegic. I have been learning Tony's story little by little while doing my best to teach him seventh grade subjects. Tony is so open and willing to share about his life it surprises me. Every Mon/Wed/Fri I have been tutoring Spanish, Science, Social Studies, and a Holy Spirit devotional. It's a bit funny that I'm so-called "teaching" him his own language, among other complicated subjects, while I'm barely speaking Spanish myself. God has been very gracious in my ability to communicate and be understood and Tony is, thankfully, very patient with me.
The beginning days were challenging and awkward as we just started to get to know each other and were figuring out the best way to teach/learn without us both being completely bored. At times I really didn't understand what the homeschool books we were using were trying to say. Their quality isn't quite up to par. Some days we mostly just chatted about whatever came to mind; music, movies, everything under the sun. I asked him a lot of questions and I was thankful he felt comfortable doing the same. Tony showed me his drawings, he is a really great drawer--he just has to use the pencil a different way.
Tony is also a Christian, praise the Lord. He knows and understands a lot about the Bible. His favorite book is Revelations and he believes the church needs to talk more about the coming future. But Tony doesn't get a chance to enjoy fellowship with other believers. He told me he believes he is the only Christian in his family. He and I have talked a lot about spiritual things, conversations I'm very grateful for and I know have been a blessing to him as well.
Though our (Josh teaches on Tues/Thurs) "purpose" was to teach, we have realized that more importantly we were meant to be there to give him some companionship. Tony has had a very hard life, and his paralysis is only just one part of that hard life. I know that the Lord will use each hardship for His glory and purpose because God works out everything for the good of those who love Him. I believe with all my heart that the Lord has really powerful plans for him. I can see it so clearly. Join me in praying for his healing and that the Lord would use Tony as a prophet of His word.
"Delight yourself in the Lord
and He will give you the desires of your heart."
Psalm 37:4
(Tony's favorite verse)
If you are interested, Micah house posted a great blog about Tony. Please click here and scroll down to the April 4th post titled, "Tony's Triumph". This is picture of Tony and Karen during a class in his dining room.
No comments:
Post a Comment