When God calls, you need to listen. I did, when He called me to help other people who couldn't help themselves. I do this not for my own glory, but to serve the Lord. That was my calling, when I took on the Midlands Transit Riders Association. One day, I saw that a friend needed help. I answered the call.
I knew Tom Worrell from high school. We were in the same graduating class. Granted, there were literally hundreds of people in my class, but Tom kind of stood out. He was a good guy. After we graduated, I had lost touch with him. Then came Facebook. We reconnected along with others in my high school class. We followed Tom, as he lost his wife. He moved to the Philippines to help others. His children were grown, and he wanted to do good. He settled in a town on the island of Cebu. The island had a great tourist reputation much like Acapulco in Mexico, but once you got away from the hotels and tourists, it was a third world place. He made friends easily with the locals and used his talents for good.
One day, Tom got sick. He developed serious circulatory problems in his legs. He lost the ability to walk, and he had to have his neighbors help him to get up. Most of the time, Tom stayed in bed. He lost a lot of weight. His neighbors cooked and cleaned for him. Tom posted on Facebook that he needed some medical care. The nearest decent hospital was four hours away by ambulance. He had been there a few times. They gave him some antibiotics and sent him home. Many people were praying that he would get better. As an answer to prayer, he found a retired doctor in his town who had been vascular surgeon. Even though the doctor couldn't operate anymore, he helped Tom. He posted that he wanted to go to Guam and be treated by American doctors. He was too ill and weak to travel to the States by airplane. He needed money and help to get to Guam by a medical transport plane.
My high school class raised the money for the flight, but he needed the necessary paperwork and transport to get to Manila for the flight to Guam. I knew some people and knew how government worked. Even though Tom had his legal residence in North Carolina, he grew up in South Carolina and had family there. I first contacted Senator Lindsey Graham's office in Washington. He had enormous power and could call the US Embassy in Manila to cut through the red tape and get Tom out. His office in Columbia called me, and I talked to an aide to the Senator. He referred me to the State Department. I contacted State, and they told me that Tom would have to fill out some forms. I explained to them that Tom barely had Wi-Fi and didn't have a printer. They kept telling me that he needed to fill out some forms. I asked if they could contact their embassy in Manila. They said no, not without Tom filling out the forms. I then contacted Senator Tim Scott's office, but they didn't respond. Next was Representative Jim Clyburn. He was the third highest ranking member of the House. I got a call back from an aide of his who asked if Tom lived in Clyburn's district. I told him not now, but he grew up there. His aide referred me to the State Department.
Frustration set in. I was getting nowhere. I contacted the White House. I got an email back from them thanking me for contacting them and suggested I get a Covid booster shot (no lie). Since Tom was a NC resident, I contacted both Senators and his House representative. The only one who got back to me was Senator Burr's office. They told me that they would have the Senator contact the Embassy and see if they could cut through the red tape and get Tom to Guam. A few days later, I got an email from Tom thanking me for contacting the Senator. He told me that somebody from the embassy called him. It was someone that a private citizen would never get to speak to. I assumed it was the Ambassador or their aide.
I also knew that Tom needed help in other ways like transportation. I emailed Samaritan's Purse and Franklin Graham to see if they could help. They told me that they didn't help individuals just groups. I also contacted the International Red Cross and got the same answer. I then thought of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. I knew they had missionaries on Tom's island. I gave them Tom's address, and the headquarters sent two of their people to see Tom.
The embassy cut through some red tape and got Tom to the airport, where a medical transport plane was waiting. At the departure gate, the Filipino officials asked to see his Covid vaccination card. It wasn't complete. Tom had gotten only one shot, before he got sick. His work Visa had expired, too. He was in a wheelchair and in obvious physical distress. The officials wouldn't let him get past their checkpoint to get to the plane. The embassy folks tried to talk to the locals, but they were adamant. Without the proper paperwork, Tom couldn't board the plane. He was turned away and sent home to get the paperwork he needed.
Time was running out for Tom. He had wanted to get to Guam to be treated. He was even resigned to the fact that the doctors might have to amputate one or both of his legs. Another high school friend named Ray was also trying to get Tom out. We felt the more people to impress upon others that he needed to leave, the better. I had a couple of others lined up to plead Tom's case, including a friend who won a Nobel Peace Prize. After a couple of weeks, I got a message that Tom had died. His neighbors and the two missionaries were there for him. The infection and the red tape killed Tom. He was cremated.
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