Miracle on 53rd Street

Daniela's liberated finger!

All the Beehive girls were tremendously blessed by Christmas gifts and celebrations, thanks to donors’ generosity, but Daniela received an extra gift that she’d been wanting for a long time.  When she was a little girl, a stove accident left burns on various parts of her body, most noticeably melding her pinky finger to the palm of her hand.  This handicap was not only an inconvenience; she has been constantly teased by peers all her life.  At school, some refused to play with ”the burned girl”.  As one can imagine, this considerably lowered her already fragile self-esteem.

This past fall, Jacob & I introduced the Beehive Orphanage and the vision of Children’s Outreach Ministries to our church here in Portland, called River West.  The pastor of missions and outreach, Chris Coffman, immediately rallied to the cause and felt called to help Daniela in particular.  He was drawn to her spunky personality and sympathized with her sad story of an injury, and later abandonment by her mother.  He began discussing with his wife and 2 young sons of foregoing Christmas presents and instead donating money towards Daniela’s surgery.

The Coffman Family

Completely by their own initiative, they wired $500 to Bogota by Christmas.  Soon after, Daniela went into surgery and came out with a liberated finger, able to extend and use it for the first time in almost 5 years!  We extend our gratitude to the Coffmans for their generosity towards a child they’ve never met, and we also thank Chris in particular for inviting us into the circle of ministry at River West.  Most of all, we praise God for the countless blessings he has given to this ministry and everyone involved.  He has turned Daniela’s pain and heartache into an overflowing joy!