Gil Bates, Lawson Bates, Kelly Bates
The fourth-oldest bates sibling has just returned home from a three-month stay in the Philippines. He departed right before Thanksgiving and only planned to stay a week, but the medical case of a young girl for whom he was advocating kept him away for much longer. He met the girl while on a previous disaster relief trip and, in just a few months, will return to the Philippines with a doctor to accompany her and her mother back to the United States so she can receive a life-saving surgery.
Lawson left soon after Khloe Bates' birth but missed the arrivals of Holland Paine and Layla Stewart.
Photo courtesy of lawsonbates.com
I wonder if one of the girls would have been permitted to spend three months unchaperoned in the Phillipines?
ReplyDeleteGood question.
DeleteSnarly unnecessary comment!
DeleteSeems like a valid question.
DeleteSally V was not an unncessary. Just a curious question . I would like a answer to that also. Ledabeth
Delete@10:36 AM Nope, NEVER....
DeleteGlad he made it back safely.
ReplyDeleteLawson was nice to help a young girl, in the Phillipines, with medical needs. I hope Lawson helped and ministered to others in the Phillipines during his trip.
ReplyDeleteMy questions: Who is going to pay for this young girl's medical treatment (and her mother's expenses) when she comes to the US? Are the Bates going to pay for it? Will they ask for donations?
I hope the Bates don't expect the American taxpayers to pay the bill.
I think asking for donations would be the way to go. Maybe that's what Lawson is arranging now.
Hi there,
DeleteDonations are being collected for her trip to the US and her medical treatment. If you would like to contribute, just send us an email and we will tell you how to do that. :)
Lily and Ellie
Awe he has such a nice heart. Thats lovely of him, good he made it back.
ReplyDeleteHey i love your blog snd the bate family,and ws wondering if you could do a post of who sibling is closest to who,have been curious for a while of wich bates siblings is closet to who,like ho is jeb or kudson closet to.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to get this report. I have been wondering and praying for the situation. May God save this little girl and bless Lawson for his concern and sacrificial willingness to help.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing 😉 thing Lawson is doing!❤️ That must take a lot of hard work. Congratulations on all your efforts to help the most fragilely sick people.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing story!
ReplyDeleteIt’s great that Lawson was able to help someone like that. How old is Lawson? Does he have a job? Most young adults that age have to work a full time job or are supporting a family which doesn’t allow them the time or flexibility to do things such as this
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the bates. But to the above comments. They don't live normal lives. It's okay, but they are celebrities in their own way. I like being me. I let them be themselves, we are not really similar. It's true they don't live like most young adults.
DeleteLawson is a singer and has his own concerts. I’m sure he makes money that way
ReplyDeleteLOL! Not enough to pay for three months abroad!
Delete11:54. Lawson is a reality tv star. He’s paid well. Well enough to spend 3 months abroad. It baffles me that people still constantly ask how this family pays for things. They are wealthy. They don’t live like the rest of us. They don’t need to worry about bills and living paycheck to paycheck. I am in no way jealous. They promoted themselves and they’ve hit pay dirt, but, c’mon...
DeleteAre you sure he stayed with a missionary family? Let the family / Lawson share his response with us. Ledabeth
DeleteI don't think the family needs to tell us where he stayed. We are not entitled to every detail of their lives, only the ones they want to share.
DeleteWonder where Lawson stayed. Would have been expensive staying in a hotel for 3 months when he had planned on staying one week.
ReplyDeleteHe probably stayed with a missionary family.
DeleteAre you sure about this?
DeleteWith all the children we have who are in desperate need of various types of medical care here in the US; why didn’t Lawson connect with an American child?
ReplyDeleteBecause he met a particular child while he was in the Philippines who touched his heart.
DeleteI think Esther is as worthy of helping as an American child. I think children are children, and if they need help it doesn't matter what their nationality is. Besides, there are far more social supports (welfare. social security, etc) to help an American child get an operation paid for. But children are children!
DeleteThat was my thought too. Many families in the US are struggling to get medical care for their loved ones.
DeleteRegarding the donations that are being collected: the girl's surgery, post-surgical care, and her mother's expenses could cost at least $100,000 or more. Medical care in the US is very expensive.
I hope the Bates are forthcoming with how these costs are going to be covered.
Why does it matter what country a needy child is from???
DeleteReply to 8:45am
DeleteIt matters if this girl's surgery requires a heart transplant. There's a severe shortage of children's hearts available for transplant.
Surely, the Phillipines can do heart transplants in their hospitals.
I know this is a heart-wrenching situation.
I don't believe these comments are racist; they're realistic in light of the medical issues being faced (high costs, shortage of organs for transplant, etc).
DeleteNo one believes one child is more deserving than another. It just seems nicer to start at “home” and help those neighbors of ours in need first.
DeleteWould it be better to help an American child and let Esther die? I don't agree with that at all.
Delete@7:29- I really do hope you're not implying that charity should be limited to within our own borders. I'm reminded of the song, "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world..." All are precious in his sight, none more deserving than any other.
DeleteHe HAS connected with sick children in the US. Watch reruns of the show.
DeleteCan’t think of any specific episode showing Lawson helping an American child’s health.
DeleteWhy does it matter? Is Esther worth less than an American child? Would Jesus agree?
Delete5:26, why does it seem nicer to start at home? Why does it matter where a needy person is from or what order you help needy people in?
DeleteAnyone who criticizes a man helping a critically ill child has very serious problems.
DeleteWhere does Jesus say you should only help those in your own country? If he doesn't say that, you are making up your own rules.
DeleteYes there are children in the US that need special treatment for things as well but there is also other children around the world that need help. God put Lawson in the Philippines to help a young girl. He has also helped children in the US as well. Lawson seems to be the type of person that loves to help anyone so he seen this girl was in need of a heart transplant and wanted to help.
ReplyDeleteIf this young girl comes to the US and gets a heart transplant, that means that a US child has to wait longer for their new heart, which is very dangerous.
DeleteI'm having a lot of difficulty with this situation.
The Phillipines have doctors and hospitals. Why not help this girl in her home country?
@9:09 What American child (children) did Lawson help? I think Lawson went to the Philippines to mission and met the sweet girl then. Like many missionaries who believe various countries need their religion.
DeleteIt's not a heart transplant. It's a heart surgery. There is no "transplant" involved.
DeleteEsther is not jumping to the front of the line (where did you get that idea?). Lawson is not that powerful. She will make an appointment for the surgery like anyone else.
The doctor decides when the operations take place. He can put them in any order he likes. In a capitalist society, that is his choice. I think that's good!
The doctors in the Phillipines are not trained to do this operation. Lawson says so in his post. She will die in the Phillippines. People fly to the US (and other countries) all the time to get advanced medical care. This is great for the US medical system because patients like Esther pay cash. This allows hospitals and doctors to provide free care to poor US citizens.
DeleteIt is not a transplant. It is a surgery to correct a defect. They don't know how to do this surgery in the Phillippines. Esther will die without Lawson's care. How can you look at that little face and complain about this project? Lawson has done a wonderful thing.
DeleteWho started the nonsense about heart 'transplant'? She is coming for heart surgery - to repair her heart, not a transplant. And the funds are being raised through go fund me. As to those concerned about local children in need - if you are concerned, then you connect with someone and you spend your time and money to advocate and raise funds for that child. Don't criticize someone who is helping another child.
DeleteIt seems like many of you commenting are missing the point about Lawson helping Ester. I understand questioning why Lawson was in the Philippines doing charitable work when right in his own country there is much to do. Charity, after all, begins at home!
DeleteJesus did not say that charity begins at home.
Delete9:29, the phrase about charity beginning at home is a pretty literal one. If you don't treat your own family right but you're helping others, you have your priorities backwards. That's what that means.
Delete@6:49-I didn’t say Jesus said “Charity begins at home”.
Delete@10:23 please clarify how one person paying cash all free health care to others???
DeleteWhen someone pays cash, it means the hospital has more money to take patients who don't pay full price. They are also free to offer deals to those using Samaritan. They can do that because cash patients improve their bottom line
Delete@11:09- I cannot believe your statement is a fact. How many people do you personally know that have paid cash when hospitalized? I no no one who has paid cash. So, I’m thinking the percentage of hospital patients paying cash is too small to improve a hospital’s bottom line!
DeleteLots of people pay cash. Everyone who has Samaritan Ministries (the popular cost-sharing program that many Christians to pay for medical bills) pays cash. Everyone who has Medishare pays cash. Everyone who lacks health insurance pays cash. Foreign patients like Esther pay cash. People who are declined by their health insurance but still want treatment pay cash. That's how they can afford those who don't pay their bills!
DeleteHospitals love it when people fly in from overseas for medical treatment. Usually these are wealthy people who can afford to pay for treatment. Would you rather receive $100,000 from a foreign heart patient, or $24,000 from some US health insurance company? Cash payers foot the bill for less fortunate Americans who need treatment.
DeleteJust curious why Lawson does'nt feel THE NEED to help here in the GOOD OL USA ? Help people on skid row in LA been to the area could use pleny of help. I donate my time helping Veterans in Cleveland , Ohio . Would love feed back on this topic. New York City is another place. All over our country needs help. Thanks , Ledabeth
ReplyDeleteI don't get this kind of question. People are people, needs are needs. Why are Americans more deserving of help than people in other countries?
DeleteYou’d think he’d look in his own backyard! Tennessee is one of the poorest states in the US. Surely, there are many children in need!
DeleteThey have shown him helping other children in the United States in the past. God put this particular child in Lawson’s path for him to help her. He should obey God and help those that He leads him to help. We should encourage anyone who helps other people regardless of who or where. Good job to you on helping veterans!
DeleteAll over, the world needs help! Different people are called to help different places. It's great that you are involved in Ohio, but that's not where Lawson's heart is.
DeleteHow do you know he isn't helping here in the U.S. in some capacity?
Delete@6:07 Because he hasn’t publicly announced any domestic charitable work in children’s health!
Delete@713: what other children?
DeleteThey have showed him at the children’s hospital in Knoxville many times. I know there was a special little boy that was on the show a couple of times. He met him in the hospital. I think he had cancer.
DeleteHas anyone here raised money to save a child's life and arranged for a life-saving operation? I suspect the criticizers have done nothing
DeleteI find it so strange that some people feel the need to criticize someone who is helping someone in need. We ALL should be following his example and find someone to help in whatever way we are able.
DeleteWhat about all of the other Phillipine children that need help?
ReplyDeleteWhat about them? Maybe you could pitch in and help, since the need is far greater than one person can handle.
DeleteJust because a person can’t help everyone doesn’t mean they shouldn’t help one person. He was there for three months, so I bet he helped others while he was there. Maybe none of the others needed serious medical care.
DeleteDoctors love cash-paying patients like Esther! So do hospitals. They make more money than with insurance reimbursements. BTW, it's a surgery to correct a defect, not a heart transplant.
ReplyDeleteI wish people would do basic research. It took less than five minutes on google to find out about this little girl. She does have a heart condition called tetralogy of fallot. This is a congenital heart disease that is usually surgically treated by the age of two. Medicaid pays for it if the family doesn’t have private insurance. Esther hasn’t been able to have the surgery yet, and her condition is worse than hospitals in the Philippines can handle. That’s why they’re trying to have this life saving surgery in the US. It is NOT a heart transplant! She is not taking a heart from a waiting US child. The show has shown Lawson volunteering at a children’s hospital in Tennessee multiple times. He is not ignoring his own back yard. We have also seen people from the Bates and Duggar families volunteer after disasters in the US and abroad. Are people seriously suggesting that America and Americans are so much more valuable than the rest of the world that we should take care of every problem we have before we even glance at the suffering of the world? Yes, there are problems at home, and we should work on solutions, but the answer isn’t to turn a blind eye to the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteAs far as how the Bates pay for things, who cares! It is none of our business. They have a reality TV show. Isn’t it obvious where their money comes from? It is also no ones business where Lawson stayed while he was there. He could have stayed with friends or he could have stayed in a hotel, which would be much cheaper than a hotel in the US. Nathan also spends a lot of time in the Philippines. I think they work with some organization, but I’m not sure. I don’t worry about it because it’s none of my business. I just really don’t understand why people think they’re entitled to know about the finances of strangers
11:10, you hit all the nails on the head!
DeleteIt’s just great that Lawson connected with this particular girl and is helping her get the medical care she desperately needs. What is wrong with being and American and putting needy Americans first? Do we ever hear of other country’s missionaries helping an American?
DeleteIf Lawson did that, Esther would die. That's what's wrong with it.
DeleteEsther would die without Lawson's care. WWJD? Would he only help Galilean children and let Esther die because she's Phllippino?
ReplyDeleteThe point is why not mission here in the USA?
DeleteBecause no one was helping Esther in the Phillippines. That's why. He didnt want her to die. You apparently feel differently.
Delete