By Andy Baker
It is now officially Autumn and already the tree in front of my home has brilliant red colored leaves. I love to see the many colors that nature provides for us this time of year, but it also signifies the changing of the seasonal temperatures from warmer to cooler. I have enjoyed many an evening on my patio watching the brilliance of the stars in the sky as night has fallen. Recently, with the cooler evenings the invitation to sit around the fire pit and enjoy its warmth has been welcomed. I have grown to love those moments of silence and solitude gazing at the stars, enjoying the warmth of a fire, and simply reminding myself of how blessed my life’s journey has been.
These last several months have kept me close to my home in Indiana, and it has allowed me to catch up on some needed projects. One was cleaning out our storage unit and downsizing the many boxes of records and various other items that have accumulated over the last twenty-five years.
Andy and Luci
I came across a file from about 20 years ago, and I sat down and began to go through it. There I found pictures that hold memories and life transformational stories for me. One photo was our board member, Dave Wolf, serving on his first of many dental mission trips. Behind that photo I found another of Luci who came to that first clinic in what I would describe as a wedding dress. It was evident that Luci had some special needs, but it was difficult to figure out exactly what they were. Her story was shared with us later that she had been raped, beaten, and left in a ditch for dead and had suffered brain trauma through that experience. In that life-altering event, Luci had lost her front teeth, and that day at the clinic Dave worked his magic and created a dental plate that gave her front teeth again. That was the first of many significant moments I have witnessed through Dave’s service over the last twenty years, but it was also a life-changing moment for Luci.
That is the beauty of the ministry of Remember the Children. It is twenty-five years filled with life-changing moments that even continue today. That was my reminder today, good things have happened and continue to happen, and we are still moving forward fulfilling our mission. Every day we are praying that God would continue to protect the Remember the Children ministry and help us to move forward writing new stories of life-change. Thank you for being on the journey with Remember the Children. We are praying for you! Please pray for us!