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August 1997 Main Index 
 
 

August 1997 news:

YWAM Ministries: 

Mercy Ships International  

University of the Nations

REJECTED VICTIMS OF the deadly legacy of the country's 
long-running civil war are being helped to stand proud again, 
thanks to a pioneering rehabilitation program. 

        Adults and children often shunned and unable to work after 
losing lower limbs to unexploded landmines are being fitted with 
free new false legs and feet in a mobile prosthetics unit created by Mercy Ships, Youth With A Mission's maritime division that twins practical care with evangelism. 

        Around 100 amputees have received new lower limbs from the high-tech unit - housed in a converted 40-ft container - since 
it arrived in Leon in March for its first-ever field operations, which end this month. The prosthetics are fitted for around $325 each, a tenth of the typical costs in the United States. 

        Among those helped through the Operation Sea Legs program was ten-year-old Jose Perez, who lost both his feet to an exploding landmine. Relatives made a 13-hour journey with the boy to see 
if the Mercy Ships team could help him. Another patient was a 
young girl who had been reduced to begging in the streets of 
Managua, after she was blown up and crippled. 

        Although fighting ended years ago, thousands of landmines still litter the countryside, regularly claiming victims among field workers and playing youngsters. 

        The arrival of the transportable unit marked the end of a 
seven-year project for prosthetist  Paul Moehring, a former dental lab technician who oversaw the development of the $280,000 custom-designed and equipped center. 

        Complete with self-contained clinic, design studio and fitting 
room, it is equipped with computer-aided design equipment, a 
vertical lathe and an industrial oven for producing on-the-spot 
tailor-made limbs within a few hours. 

        An estimated three million amputees worldwide live without any or with inadequate false limbs, providing Operation Sea Legs 
many opportunities to present the gospel by practically demonstrating God's love and care for them, said Moehring. 

        During their appointment at the unit, patients - who also 
include those injured in farming and traffic accidents - have been shown the Jesus film on video, with several of them becoming Christians before they returned home. 

        A second six-month outreach will begin in Leon at the end of 
next month, before the unit is shipped to other parts of Central 
America. 
 

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