We wiped his mouth again and again, but the blood kept coming. We tried to look inside his mouth, but Justus was crying and fighting, and he wouldn’t even let us have a quick peek.

He had been playing with some of the teachers after church one Sabbath when it happened. One of them lifted him up in the air, and when they were bringing him down, his mouth hit their chin. It was just an accident, and we assumed he would be fine, but after several minutes he was still crying, and the blood was still flowing.

We took him to a small clinic near the church, and they put some ointment on his gums. Yet, something still didn’t seem right. Jackson, one of the volunteer teachers in Ubon, was with us. He helped us hold Justus while we looked in his mouth. Justus began to cry and the bleeding started again. We could see that Justus had a large chunk of flesh between his two front teeth.

We decided to drive back to Ubon city and take Justus to the hospital. The emergency room staff there was very helpful and kind to Justus. The doctor who took care of him was the father of one of our students. After checking inside Justus’ mouth, the doctor could see that Justus had bitten through the small flap of skin that connected his upper lip to his gums. He gave Justus an injection to dull the pain, and then he cut the tissue loose.

“It’s a good thing you brought him here. I think he may have been born with a congenital disorder that would have eventually inhibited his ability to form words. We probably would have had to cut the tissue at some point anyway so he could learn to speak properly.”

We are very grateful for the doctor who took care of Justus, and we know that with our Heavenly Doctor, “all things work together for good.”

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