A Strong Right Arm
God grants a stroke victim in the Philippines a new lease on life and strength to help his community.
While World Challenge’s partners were going around the Sitio Hinayon community in the Philippines to get acquainted with the residents, they stopped to talk to a man resting under a tree.
His name was Mr. Salvador Gatilogo, better known as Kuya Baddy. He was a widower with 4 children.
Two years ago, Kuya had been a taxi driver to support his family. However, one day as he was going about his work, part of his face suddenly went numb. One of his arms felt weak, and he struggled to lift it. He was suffering a stroke that would paralyze half of his body.
His abrupt and severe physical disability meant he couldn’t drive his taxi anymore. Most jobs, in fact, were out of the question, and he couldn’t help his family earn a living. He felt worthless and like a burden to his children.
Finding the Words of God
During the conversation, the team explained how a right relationship with God renews every part of a person’s life. They invited Kuya to attend a community meeting where he could learn more.
He hesitated, perhaps because of his situation. The team encouraged him to attend: “You can contribute a lot to this program.”
The day of the meeting arrived, and Kuya Baddy was one of the first people to arrive. He listened carefully to the discussion and offered suggestions in the group activities. While waiting for the other groups to finish their assigned tasks, one team member saw Kuya looking at the verse Genesis 1:26 that was posted on the wall.
“And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’“
Kuya pointed to the verse. “Those words from God cheer my heart as we study them. Those are the things we should talk about.”
Receiving Healing
A few meetings later, Kuya decided to put his heart in God’s hands. He wept as he repented and declared his intention to walk according to the Lord’s plan.
The idea that God still had purpose for his life, even at his age, even after the stroke, filled Kuya with hope. He began to exercise as much as he was able to every day and took up any small household chores he could do.
Whenever the team visited him, Kuya always asked for them to pray that he would recover and be able to do more to help his community move towards God and healthy development.
Kuya shocked the team a while later when they saw him riding his bicycle without assistance.
With great delight, he showed them that he was able to lift light weights with his formerly paralyzed arm. While one side of his body was still weaker than the other, it was vastly improved.
A Servant of His Town
Now, Kuya Baddy is growing into a deeper relationship with God. Every Sunday, he attends service at Jesus Our Great Shepherd Church, a short ride away from his town.
He has also joined a local community group that talks about new ways that God changes every person’s relationship to themselves, their neighbors and the world. Whenever team members visit him, Kuya talks animatedly about the newest things he’s learned in the group.
He is becoming increasingly concerned for the development of his hometown, Sitio Hinayon.
More and more, he is beginning to believe that even the remainders of his condition after the stroke are an inspiration for people around him to see how God can use anyone who is willing to follow him.