How many ears do you have?
Two!
How many ears do you need?
That's a trickier question.
Of course, a boy or a girl can hear with only one ear.
Ales was born in Belarus with hearing in only one ear.
Ales was born a month early.
He didn't weigh as much as other babies.
When he was three months old,
his mother took him to a doctor for tests.
During those tests, the doctor found
that Ales could only hear with one ear.
Ales' mother was shocked.
She worked with children who were deaf.
She loved them just as much as she loved children who could hear.
But she never imagined that her own child
wouldn't be able to hear with two ears.
She thought that the doctor must have made a mistake.
Because she worked with children who couldn't hear,
she also knew how to run hearing tests.
So, she ran a hearing test on little Ales.
The tests showed that Ales really couldn't hear with both ears.
But Ales' mother still didn't want to believe it.
She took him to a special hospital
for children with hearing difficulties.
The doctor ran his own test.
Ales' mother watched the tests on a monitor.
She saw deep inside Ales' ears.
One ear looked normal; the other one didn't.
She saw that nothing could be done to help.
She began to cry.
The doctor, however, didn't want to see her tears.
"Why are you crying?" he said, gruffly.
"Your son can hear with one ear, and that's enough."
Back home, Ales' mother cried and cried.
Then she talked to God.
"Why did You allow this to happen?" she asked.
After a while, she turned on some music on her phone.
A beautiful hymn started playing.
It was called, "Nearer, My God, to Thee."
Ales' mother had heard the hymn many times since she was a little girl.
But for the first time, she understood
that God really was near her.
It felt good to know that God was near.
But she still didn't want to believe
that Ales would never hear with one ear.
She kept on talking to God.
"You can do anything," she said.
"If You gave life to my son with only one ear,
You could heal him and give him life with two ears."
Three months passed, and Ales' father had a birthday.
He didn't want a cake for his birthday.
He didn't want any presents.
He only wanted Ales to hear with both ears.
"Our son will hear," he said.
"God will do this as a gift for my birthday."
They prayed and took Ales to the hospital
for another hearing test.
There was nowhere to sit while they waited.
Ales' mother carried him in her arms,
and he felt so heavy.
Finally, the doctor called them in.
When he finished the test, he said,
"Your son can hear perfectly with both ears!"
Ales' mother couldn't believe her ears.
She was so happy.
"This is a miracle of God!" she exclaimed.
Indeed, it was a miracle.
Ales' mother had seen inside his ears on the monitor
three months earlier.
She had seen that no doctor could help Ales.
But the Great Physician, Jesus Christ,
had healed her boy,
and now he could hear with both ears.
Ales' father wept with joy at the news.
He was so happy that God had given him
such a wonderful gift on his birthday.
Today, Ales is six years old,
and he can hear perfectly well with both ears.
He uses his ears to learn Bible verses.
He uses his ears to learn songs.
He would like to use his ears to learn to become a doctor
and to help other boys and girls.
He knows that his hearing is a gift from God.