Jose was born to Sonia and Paulino on April 12,1999 two months early, while Sonia was out working in the fields picking strawberries. After about a month she and Paulino were both using drugs and Paulino thought Jose would be better cared for by his mom Maria. Sonia went to her little adobe rental room and passed Jose through the window. Unknown to Paulino, Sonia had already abandoned her three children. About a year later Sonia had moved to a different town and become pregnant this time she decided to move back to her home state far away.
Paulino would go and visit Jose and bring diapers and such as he was working in the fields also. He would also come to the outreaches near his mom's so he could see Jose there they would hear about Jesus and he could spend time with Jose. After a while the drugs started to gain more and more power Paulino turned to living on the streets and washing windows or scavenging at the trash dumps to make money to buy drugs.
Jose never went to kindergarten or anything else because his grandma thinks school is a waste of time. Sadly she did not know that around 8 years old Jose would start to fall and not be able to walk. Around this time Paulino was taking to jail for annoying the cops with his presence on the streets. In that very stinky cell he promised God if He got him out he would serve God forever!
Well the week was almost over and Rancho de Cristo said they would receive him!!!! In his time at the rehab center he was able to start the reconciliation process with his mom and his son! Jose had just stopped walking and they took him to the clinic at Cristo Por Su Mundo FFHM, and the doctor examined Jose. On the ride back David asked Paulino, Jose's mother's name, and when he told him, David informed him that he has two half brothers in Mefiboset the special needs school and they all have DMD! Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is usually passed genetically from the mom to her male children. So the boys have an older sister who does not have the symptoms of DMD, however she can be a carrier.
Jose was blessed to be able to join his brothers at Mefiboset! Papa Kate would pick them up each morning in his big bus and give them the love of Jesus all week long. While they also learned practical things they truly learned about Jesus, prayer, and worshiping! They even danced in their chairs! They were all given little red wheelchairs and pushed around wherever they went.
This is where I met them when I came as a visitor for a week in May of 2010. I moved to the orphanage in August of 2010 I was blessed to be able to spend the whole week going out at 6am on the bus to get them and then taking the home in the evenings! Usually you are sent to do different tasks around the orphanage each day but since my heart fell in love with these boys as soon as I met them and no one else asked for Mefiboset, I was able to go. But that is another blog.
After about a year of living at Rancho, Paulino was giving the opportunity to serve in construction at the orphanage, there he also seen the people that would come near his moms and do outreach!
Paulino would go and visit Jose and bring diapers and such as he was working in the fields also. He would also come to the outreaches near his mom's so he could see Jose there they would hear about Jesus and he could spend time with Jose. After a while the drugs started to gain more and more power Paulino turned to living on the streets and washing windows or scavenging at the trash dumps to make money to buy drugs.
Jose never went to kindergarten or anything else because his grandma thinks school is a waste of time. Sadly she did not know that around 8 years old Jose would start to fall and not be able to walk. Around this time Paulino was taking to jail for annoying the cops with his presence on the streets. In that very stinky cell he promised God if He got him out he would serve God forever!
Well the week was almost over and Rancho de Cristo said they would receive him!!!! In his time at the rehab center he was able to start the reconciliation process with his mom and his son! Jose had just stopped walking and they took him to the clinic at Cristo Por Su Mundo FFHM, and the doctor examined Jose. On the ride back David asked Paulino, Jose's mother's name, and when he told him, David informed him that he has two half brothers in Mefiboset the special needs school and they all have DMD! Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is usually passed genetically from the mom to her male children. So the boys have an older sister who does not have the symptoms of DMD, however she can be a carrier.
Jose was blessed to be able to join his brothers at Mefiboset! Papa Kate would pick them up each morning in his big bus and give them the love of Jesus all week long. While they also learned practical things they truly learned about Jesus, prayer, and worshiping! They even danced in their chairs! They were all given little red wheelchairs and pushed around wherever they went.
This is where I met them when I came as a visitor for a week in May of 2010. I moved to the orphanage in August of 2010 I was blessed to be able to spend the whole week going out at 6am on the bus to get them and then taking the home in the evenings! Usually you are sent to do different tasks around the orphanage each day but since my heart fell in love with these boys as soon as I met them and no one else asked for Mefiboset, I was able to go. But that is another blog.
After about a year of living at Rancho, Paulino was giving the opportunity to serve in construction at the orphanage, there he also seen the people that would come near his moms and do outreach!
Paulino would begin to bring Jose to stay with him on the weekends. They would go out and do odd jobs to make money until Paulino was able to buy a truck to take Jose around and get work on the weekends to help to take care of Jose.
By this time Jose was frequently sick, his family did not feed him much so they did not need to carry him to the bathroom. Also he was looked at as the child of the addict, while his cousins were going to school he would just sit home with his grandma as she babysat kids and washed clothes for a living. Patty and Jenny wanted to help Paulino out during the week until he was finished with his construction duties at 5pm. So Jose was able to live with his dad full time at the orphanage.
During this same time all the boys had been sick, Javier 16, Feliciano 14 and Jose 12. However Javier got pneumonia and went into hospice care at Dirk and Marys house. He was loved and cared for until he walked into the arms of Jesus! Feliciano had been home for a while saying he did not feel good but everyone thought he just missed his brother! However 4 days after Feliciano was walking into the arms of Jesus and most said Jose was soon to follow.
On the day of Feliciano's funeral Jose was given his first electric wheelchair! Patty knew all of the boys wanted to drive! Wow this was the saddest day and the happiest day of Jose life!
Although he was so terrified of the speed and power he quickly got over it! He became a teenager and a real person. Not dependant on waiting for someone to come and push him where he needed to go. Or understanding him, None of the brothers spoke clearly but Jose still today battles with people understanding him. Especially me!!! When we moved to Camalu we were not sure we liked him having all that independence, we would look for him and he would be out with his friends playing soccer or over at the ranch looking at the animals. Yep he is a teenager.
When my friends started to bless Jose with vitamins he became healthier and now is able to take multiple supplements and knows what each is for and how many to take. Although he has lost all strength in his body he can take his own vitamins and feed himself, it takes him about an hour to eat one plate of food! We praise God that in this cold wet weather Jose is healthy! He has a cough assist and a Bipap and lots of blankets!
When my friends started to bless Jose with vitamins he became healthier and now is able to take multiple supplements and knows what each is for and how many to take. Although he has lost all strength in his body he can take his own vitamins and feed himself, it takes him about an hour to eat one plate of food! We praise God that in this cold wet weather Jose is healthy! He has a cough assist and a Bipap and lots of blankets!
Jose is very creative and has decided to build a robot to push his wheelchair since it will not run. I am not sure how he is going to do it but Gianna wants to play with her brother and I am sure the two of them together will figure something out.
i will never forget this family.i thank God for the opportunity to get to know them..and feliciano and javier & their sister..miss you
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