A cute little girl.

She came to see me recently at a make-shift clinic. So cute, so happy...a big big smile on a tiny 3.5 year old girl. Her mom was worried that at 3.5 years old she had not yet spoken her first word. After some more questioning, I found out she has never responded to sound! The reason why she doesn't speak is because she's deaf!

From early on in her life, doctors in her rural village recommended possible surgery in a bigger city. However, the mom was never able to afford such an expensive procedure, so she never really considered it. After hearing that there's a free rehabilitation center in Kunming, she decided to take the long long trip here (not knowing the center doesn't offer services for the deaf). I met her a couple of weeks ago when the director of the rehab center asked me to take a look at her because there wasn't much they would be able to do.

My heart melted with every smile. So full of life and joy. Here is a picture of them following up with me at the international clinic where I was able to do a proper work-up. So far, the work-up puts her as a decent candidate for surgical intervention that will potentially give her the sense of hearing. We're doing some final tests to make sure that, anatomically, surgery (to the best of our knowledge) will work.

Please lift this little girl up to Him. May His will be done.

**Please do not share this picture, publically, in any way. Thank you!