University Presbyterian Church - Chapel Hill, NC

Seven years ago, feeling that God had blessed them with good fortune, the boys decided to adopt a home for disabled children that was on the verge of being abandoned by its caretakers. They renamed the home Wings of Hope. Like St. Joseph’s, the facility initially was woefully inadequate. After a lot of hard work and massive fundraising by some very special people, Wings is now an amazing place – a real home for the 22 disabled children who now live there and guest rooms for visitors who want to participant in the life of this family. We spent two days with the children and were dazzled by their spirit and faith. There were other visitors at Wings when we were there including a group of 18 from Boston. Since it was St. Patrick’s Day, the Boston group organized a party for the children and guests. The children, including the ones in wheelchairs, performed dances that amazed us all. There were decorations, music and food, including a beautiful cake with lots of green trim. Like St. Joseph’s, we were made a part of the family.

Maya, a “graduate” of St. Joseph’s is now director of Wings of Hope. At age 27, he is extraordinary at how he carries out the many tasks that face him daily and seem to grow exponentially. He is all at once a master, father-figure, nurse, pastor, dancer and an amazing cook, to boot. We marveled at how he could be so gentle with the disabled children and also so commanding when it came to organizing the routines of the day. His voice could boom over the noisiest of activities yet he could not be more loving when, in the dance performances, he carried in children who could not walk but who wanted to be part of the dance. The children at Wings are very needy. Their handicaps range from deafness, blindness, epilepsy to cerebral palsy which is the most common affliction among the children. But, at Wings, they live in dignity and as a family.