Moises, one year later

It's been just more than one year since Moises Salazar, the young boy from Belize, was released to go home after a life-saving surgery in Amarillo. He had been run over by a truck in an accident in his home country and the medical facilities and know-how was not advanced enough in Belize to save his life.

I had written this column and this column on him last year and the unselfish work of those in Amarillo, from surgeons to teachers, from nurses to strangers. Few did as much as Tim Tam, a local minister who heads up the Word at Work, a mission outreach in Belize and the one responsible for getting Moises to Amarillo.

Tam reports in an e-mail the continued remarkable progress of Moises:

"August 20, 2010 was the one year anniversary of Moises' return to Belize. During the first week of August I paid him a visit at his home. When we got to their house no one was home but soon we saw them coming down the road. All the children were running at top speed, and Moises was way out in front, a picture of health."

Moises also wrote a letter that he updated all on his current physical status:

Dear Friends,

I am Lazarus converted to Moises. That Moises which God took out from the tomb and which he gave life again. Because of God, I saw the light of the day. I came back to breathe the air. I saw the trees. Thanks to my god I saw the day and thanks to Him I knew all those great persons and all those friends.

Thanks to God I got to know all those nurses that treated me in the best way. I give thanks to God for putting Mr. Tim Tam and Lisa that came from far away to help me when I was dying in the hospital. When all those persons close the doors, God sent them. God sent them so I could receive a new hope of life so they could carry me to the United States so I could live and so I could make new friends.

I ask God that one day I could return to the United States so I could hug Lisa who was like my mother, Mary Barlow who was like my aunty, and Mr. Tim Tam who was like my father. I remember when Mr. Tim and I used to play games in the hospital now that God gave me the gift to live again. I wish that Mr. Tim and Mary Barlow were here so I could hug them. Now that I am courageous I ask God for an opportunity to return to Amarillo, Texas, so I could eat all those delicious foods that they gave me and I could hug all my friends that were there in my help and so I could go fishing. I miss you all.

Love,

Moises Salazar