Tomorrow When I’m Big: The Story Behind the Story
Dorothy Peters, a faithful supporter of Impact Ministries, has written a book that is dedicated to helping children with disabilities. A portion of the proceeds are being donated to Impact Ministries. We are grateful to Dorothy for her generosity!
by Dorothy Peters and Livia Wolfs (illustrations by Lynda Rogac)
“When someone has broken hands, I could drive them in a car,” answered my four-year-old, red-haired, granddaughter Livia. “When someone has broken feet, I could carry them home.”
A holy ground, take-off-my-shoes moment this was for me. “What would you like to do when you are five?” I had asked while tucking her into bed, on the night before she turned five. But instead of hearing dreams about Kindergarten or a bicycle without training wheels, God revealed his heart through this fiercely hoping little girl … “When someone cannot see, I could show them where to go … When someone has no voice, I could talk for them.”
Just like that.
The following week, during another tucking-into-bed moment, Livia asked, “Where do I find someone with broken hands?” I will write to Les and Rita at Impact Ministries in Guatemala, I told her. Livia knew that she had been in Tactic as a baby for a few months when her mom and dad served there. And Greg and I had been founding Board Members, so it was just natural.
There were currently no children without hands(!), we learned, but there was a little girl named Lesly Noemí Tut López who was deaf and mute. She had shown up one day at Colegio Cristiano Vida Purulhá (Life Christian School) and seemed determined to stay! Yet, extra resources were needed for her. This we gladly provided, doubly joyful that two little girls – one brown-haired Guatemalan and one red-haired Canadian – were finding their voice.
“Write with me,” I invited, when Livia was ten and needed to remember who she was. Slowly, over four years, her little-girl dreams grew up, reshaped and expanded as we listened to Jesus’ words: “Whatever you have done for even the littlest of these … you have done it for me” (Matt 25:34-40). Artist Lynda Rogac experimented with sketching delightful pictures of children and creatures and grownups, all playing together and helping each other. “Could she put Jesus in every picture?” Livia asked one day. “But as a bird. So my friends who are not allowed to talk about God could still read this book?” So Lynda did.
This book is dedicated to Lesly Noemí (a 2016 graduate), because this is her story, too.
But we wanted this book to bless also in more tangible ways. Therefore, 100% of the funds received by Impact Ministries in Guatemala for the book, made available to visiting teams, (suggested donation $15) is designated for the education, vocational training and job placements of Guatemalan children and young people with disabilities. You are welcome communicate with Dorothy at [email protected].
May God bless you!
Dorothy M. Peters
