Walking the Roman mile and then some.

In order to write off a P900,000 medical bill God uses total strangers to pull it off.

This was the lesson I learned in the past week as we faced what should have been a P900,000 bill for accumulated and potential medical charges in the effort to save and heal “Jenelyn”, the 15-year old “hit and run” victim from Lipa City.

What I learned was that regardless of your situation or status in life, the first thing that God needs in times such as these are people who are willing to walk the “Roman mile”. They say that during the time of the Roman Empire, any Roman soldier can commission or enlist a total stranger to assist or carry things for at least one mile. Just to make the point for volunteerism, Jesus taught his disciples to walk two.

Somebody has to start somewhere. In the “Jenelyn” incident, it was Tina Buen and her husband, Pastor Robert who followed their “instincts” and stopped to check what the commotion at the guardhouse was all about. Being tired and the time late, they could have driven on, but they were placed at the right time for the right action.

It was Tina who enlisted the help of people to pray, among whom were the “GT” group of race drivers and drifters committed to respond to any prayer request. We responded not realizing that a couple of us would eventually be “imbedded” into the situation.

Then there were the different doctors and nurses who gave emergency medical attention, referrals and suggestions. In the initial hours their names and faces hardly registered but their efforts certainly made a difference. Then came the many members of Victory Christian Fellowship in Lipa led by Pastor Raymond De Guzman, their finance officer Sheri-joy Laguna as well as other members who looked into the medical needs of Jenelyn.

From this experience I also learned that if I ever cracked my skull racing at the Batangas Racing Circuit or climbing a coconut tree, I pray to God Almighty, that I make it to the Batangas Regional Hospital because of exceptional physicians such as Dr. Leon Salud, Dr. Benson Calapit, Dra. Florante Comia, and Dr. Ramoncito Magnaye, Dr. Andrew Gonzales, Dra. Maribeth Mayo and the responsive leadership of hospital director Dr. Renato Dimayuga.

God certainly assembled the right medical team as well as the three unnamed nurses at the GICU to take care of “Jenelyn” as she went from trauma to coma, from unstable to normal, from bruised and broken to fixed and healed. But in addition to all of this, they not only gave their best they even reduced their respective end of the bills to one fifth of the expected cost.

I already mentioned how our friends from Goodyear, led by Dave Morin, pitched in along with their “Mga Bayani ng Kalsada” awardees to raise the initial P132,000. Then came Mayor Oscar Gozos and then Atoy Llave the automotive body kits Wizard who quietly added to the pot. But in spite of all the volunteers, there was still nearly P200,000 to settle. I honestly did not know where to go.

But like I said, leave it up to the Lord! When Congressman Dong Mendoza heard that our wallets had gone dry, he immediately stepped in and sent his own team consisting of Boy Paez and his staff to take over and finish the job. Congressman “Dong” foot the bill, gave “Jenelyn” a ride to take her from the hospital to their “home”, the LPL guard house. In addition, the Congressman has arranged for a lawyer to assist the family to undertake the necessary legal action against the driver.

Personally, this is one big thank you letter to all of the people who walked the Roman Mile and then some. For me the entire experience teaches me all over again, that God does not always expect us to pay for everything, do everything, or be responsible for everything. God simply asks us to do something.

Be a comforter, a driver, an encourager, a fighter, a provider, a healer, a brother, a friend, or like little boys in the province who shake the trees and wait for fruits to fall down, for the salagubang to fall down, or simply just to have an instant shower from the raindrops or the dew caught in the leaves. Whatever you do, do something.

Finally, I look back in the middle of all of this when, Pastor Raymond wondered out loud, why Jenelyn’s father and the family had to experience “a series of unfortunate events”. A few days later I came to realize that he had six daughters who would in time have six families who would ultimately multiply. In that process they would probably pass on the poverty, the desperation and the belief that because they are poor, they don’t matter.

By walking the Roman Mile with them, we have collectively carried God’s message that we all care and that we all matter in the eyes of God. We are the village that helped keep hope alive; we are the villagers that kicked the devil out.

God bless all of you.