Real Life. Real Difference.
NO BOUNDARIES
In September 2009, Dr. John Gleysteen and his wife, Maureen, served in a mission hospital in southwestern Ethiopia. During his mission, Dr. Gleysteen had the opportunity to meet a little boy named “Yared”.
When they met, Yared was a 15-day-old newborn struggling to survive. The infant could not digest food properly. Dr. Gleysteen diagnosed and treated him surgically for pyloric stenosis while Maureen volunteered blood for the anemic baby. See the full details in Dr. Gleysteen’s post: “We -Soddo- Treat… Jesus Heals.”
After a spending a month in Ethiopia and another month in Kenya, John and Maureen returned to their life in Alabama.
In March 2010, Maia Routly, a pediatric trauma Emergency Room nurse in Atlanta, her husband, David, and their four children, welcomed two boys from Ethiopia into their family. She posted in their family blog photos of their two adopted sons and included information on where they were from and mentioned that one of them had an incision on his belly.
On the other side of the world in Australia, a man read the Routlys’ story and recalled a story of a doctor, a baby and a lifesaving procedure featured on our website. He took a chance and let the Routly family know of this possible connection.
And what a connection! The Routly’s seven-month-old, now known as “Zane Yared Routly,” is indeed the same newborn that John and Maureen helped save.
“Maureen and I were flabbergasted but overjoyed,” said Dr. Gleysteen. “The world is small, I guess… and God pervades through it.”
From Atlanta to Ethiopia to Australia… From complete strangers to humans bound by their love for a child…. God indeed pervades and His work knows no boundaries.
To follow the Routly family, including baby Yared Zane, visit their blog, "Routlyland".
Medical Teams International has been serving in Ethiopia since 1984. To read more about our work and how volunteers like Dr. John Gleysteen help make a difference, click here.
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