Tebow Cure Hospital: Love in Action

“Your devotion to God is authenticated by your love for others.” – Andy Stanley

As a Jesus follower, there are many questions I cannot answer. I will also be the first one to tell you that even if I am passionate about my love for Jesus, there are still days where I fall short. Following Jesus doesn’t mean I get it right all the time or perfectly good and sweet all the time. In fact, on most days, it’s only by His grace that I am able to smile through the craziest days. My own journey has often left me asking what it truly was to be a Christian. If it was not found in my perfection, then what did it truly mean? Lately, I have come to understand that loving God also meant loving His children which includes everyone in my little world: the good, the bad, the annoying, and even those who have betrayed me. It’s not easy, but I’m getting there slowly but surely.

I have come to understand that the greatest way to demonstrate God’s love is not in preaching (although there are ridiculously amazing ones who are great at it) but in walking in the message, daily. There are people who are able to do this in their daily lives and they are the ones who continue to inspire others to keep fighting the good fight, despite the most difficult days. There are the people who go out of their way to truly make a difference in the world and to make God’s love felt in doing so. One of these inspiring tales belong to the Tebow Cure Hospital in Davao City. CURE International have helped millions of children from across the developing world by providing surgery to physically developed children. They believe that conditions like clubfoot, bowed legs, cleft lips, untreated burns, and hydrocephalus can be treated and shouldn’t be the deciding factor in the success of children. A non-stock, non-profit organization that operates 10 hospitals around the world and manages pediatric specialty programs in 30 countries “where patients experience the message of God’s love for them, receiving surgical treatment regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity or ability to pay. The first of its kind in Southeast Asia, Tebow Cure Hospital was named after Tim Tebow, an American National Football League player born in the Philippines who is passionate about helping disabled and underprivileged children. It was through the partnership of Tim Tebow and CURE International that the Tebow Cure Hospital was born in Davao City.

Leron Lehman, who leads a dependable and “qualified” clinical and support team that what makes them different is their “focus on orthopedic conditions that can be corrected with elective surgery.” He goes on to say, “Our charitable focus is on children and we aim to provide assistance to those that have not had access to healthcare, primarily because of their economic situation. In many cases, children with physical disabilities are marginalized, they are unable to attend school or if they do attend, they are often ridiculed or bullied. In some cases, they are not accepted in their communities.”

More than just healing meeting their physical needs, Tebow Cure Hospital also addresses their spiritual and emotional needs, “We have a ministry team that meets with each patient every day to provide prayer, counseling and support. We have an amazing play room where kids can be kids and forget about their disabilities and just enjoy themselves.”

For the Tebow Cure Hospital, they believe that providing the surgery that these children need will give them a better chance at life, Lehman affirms, “Healing changes everything and in the lives of these children it completely transforms their lives.” Since opening in the summer of this year, they have healed over 150 children and it has been their greatest reward and they are encouraging others to be involved in the cause as well, “We have a big job and we can’t do it alone. We need people to refer children with physical disabilities to us. We hold a free clinic each Thursday where we provide screenings for surgery. Finally, we are also in need of funding to support these life changing surgeries.”

Truly, it is in the little things that our faith is magnified and it is in the ways we help others that the love we have received will be manifested. May this story inspire you to take a step of love today, whether big or small, because it truly makes all the difference in the world.