He tapped on my front door while I was in my kitchen supervising the plumber (life on the mission field is REAL, y’all), and even through the blinds on the door I could see him grinning.
With all his teeth.
I had the privilege of spending a little time with David and Luis last summer while I was serving as summer staff with Back2Back Ministries. I loved when I was allowed to tag along on day trips to their Hope Program campus, an extension of our own Hope Program in a different part of Monterrey.
But last summer whenever we took pictures together, I noticed David wasn’t smiling with his teeth. I never thought to ask why before, until I took a picture of him laughing with his mouth open. Seeing the photo, he said, “Noo, delete, delete,” and he looked down at the ground and told me what had happened.
David had been playing with a friend one day, climbing over a wall near a large uninstalled window. At that moment, in an untimely turn of events, someone bumped against the window and David was hit forcefully in the face.
“I thought, did I break my face? But no, just some white paint or something fell into my hand.” David wrinkled his nose. “That white paint ended up being my tooth. I didn’t know anything was wrong until my friend came over to see if I was okay, and he told me part of my tooth was missing. Weird, huh? Only my tooth got hurt.”
But the accident was a huge blow to David’s confidence. Then barely 17 years old, he was of course starting to notice girls and wanting to feel confident. Instead, he felt like he had to hide his teeth as much as possible when talking.
Part of David’s adult tooth was missing after his accident
I knew that if something like this had happened to me, my parents would have immediately taken care of me and gotten my tooth fixed. I am blessed to come from a family that loves me deeply and has resources to care for me. But the children we serve here do not have resources to take care of things like broken teeth, and even while living in our wonderful children’s homes or in our Hope Program, they rely on the generosity of sponsors to provide the funds for “extra” things like that.
It grieved me to think of David’s ongoing embarrassment. Could I do something?
I shared my thoughts with my family when I returned home to raise support for the mission field, and after prayer, they offered to cover all the expenses to restore David’s smile. Upon returning to Monterrey, I discussed this possibility with the Hope Program director and our campus dentist, Sophie. Sophie eagerly agreed to do the procedure for David, although she is busy getting ready for her own wedding (which is currently just 4 days away)!
Following the director’s approval, a flurry of e-mails and texts buzzed back and forth among the Hope Program director, the dentist, and David’s foster parents, David and Vero, and me. On May 15th, 2018, just 3 days prior to David’s 18th birthday, David and Vero brought him to campus, Sophie the dentist took him into our dental clinic on campus, and 3 hours went by . . . .
That brings us to the plumber and the overflowing sink . . . and the boy at the door flashing me the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen in my life.
SMILE! 🙂
I’m SO grateful to everyone who gave generously, sacrificed time and resources, and coordinated everything so quickly to give David the best 18th birthday present ever.
He got his smile back.
Rhythms of Courage 