Healing Wings Program
Brings Hope to Marvin Santos
When four-year-old Marvin Santos and his mother
Maribel arrived through the Healing Wings program in Nashville on November
11, they were destined to meet many new friends at Westminster Presbyterian
Church. The medical procedure, a cochlear implant, was important, and
so was the loving care through the church.
All went well with the medical procedure at Vanderbilt
Hospital, with surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses donating their
time. Over the next few weeks, the cochlear device will be assessed
to be sure that it is well placed and functioning. The implant will
not be "turned on" until Marvin returns to Guatemala, where
the process of therapy, which will allow Marvin to interpret and understand
the sounds he hears, will cover a three year period.
The gracious and loving hospitality provided by
Westminster Presbyterian Church has been a living embodiment of the
community of Christ, with so many volunteers they had to have a waiting
list. Everyone wanted to help. No language barrier could impede the
flow of love between the little family from Guatemala and the large
family of Presbyterians at Westminster.
Wearing a turban of bandages matched by a turban
on his teddy bear, Marvin Carin Santos recovers happily from cochlear
implant surgery with a pancake breakfast in Nashville's Centennial Park,
hosted by new friends from Westminster Presbyterian Church, who sponsored
the trip for Marvin and his mother, Maribel, from Guatemala. The Healing
Wings program, headquartered in Nashville, made the arrangements.
