Miracles Do Happen

God has yet amazed me again!! I would think by now that I wouldn't be surprised with how God does what He does, but this time I'm amazed that I was the one who got to partake in a miracle. Please let me explain.

Friday afternoon outside our gate, while Marie and Joey were playing with our neighbor children, I asked about their health. Nabira, the 10 year old girl, stated that her mother was at the hospital with their 8 year old sister, Janette. Apparently a few days before Janette had gotten very sick and almost died at home. As the children were talking you could see the concern on their faces. One mentioned that maybe I could go the next day to visit her. Another one of the older boys said that maybe I could take them to see her. My heart was heavy with the thought of this precious child being so sick, and the mother having to be away from the rest of her children while tending to the sick one. So, I decided to visit the next day.

I was a bit concerned since I didn't know what the diagnoses was. I could easily walk into a situation where Janette could have TB, since we had heard a child coughing terribly a few days earlier. With much prayer of safety and for God to give me the right words, I headed to the hospital the next day with the oldest child in the family, Ashliff. Also, this would be the first time meeting the mother. Upon arriving I found Mother with Janette and another surprise. Not only was Janette in the hospital, but her 3 month old baby sister, Rasheeda, was also very sick. Janette was diagnosed with pneumonia and looked fairly well, other than a pretty yucky cough here and there. However, the baby was diagnosed with malaria and the flu and was not doing well. This little girl had a cough like none I've ever heard before. My children have had pneumonia, croup, flu, and bronchitis, but I've never heard anything like this before. Upon awaking the child continuously coughed, almost without being able to take a breath. All I could think was that if this had been in the U.S. she would be on oxygen, breathing treatments, and complete nursing care. The care she was receiving was intramuscular injections of antibiotics, steroid shots, some various cough medicines. and no doctor or nurse to be found. The major issue was that the antibiotic she was on was not the right medicine to eradicate the malaria. Baby Rasheeda was scheduled to get one more dose of the antibiotic, and then she was going to be released from the hospital. All I could think is that I needed to pray over this family and this child. God directed me to ask the mother if I could pray over them before leaving. She enthusiastically said yes.

I began by putting my hands on Mother, Janette, and baby. I prayed aloud with them that God would do a miraculous healing in Rasheeda, and continue the healing process in Janette. I prayed with a boldness like I've never prayed before. Afterwards, I quietly said to God, please show them that you are real. I left the hospital with my nursing mindset that new medical care was needed. So I started talking to other missionaries through the day about other options for medical care in Jinja. I also needed to find out if it would be okay to help them financially if that was a cause for them to not want better medical care. Later that day I was going to head back to the hospital, when I saw that Mother was back home with both children. I went over to visit to see how Baby Rasheeda was doing. The mother said better. We sat and talked for about 15-20 minutes while Rasheeda was fully awake and very responsive. By God's healing power the child did not cough once while being there for that amount of time. Many of you might say right away that God had healed. Yes He did!! But sitting there my mind didn't process all that had happened right away. I did tell the mother that it was because God heard our prayers. I again checked on them again on Sunday and the baby was continuing to improve even more. Thank you, Lord, for showing yourself to this family.

On Sunday we picked up four of the seven children of this family to take them to church with us once again. This has become a weekly treat now:) During church I was able to share about this miracle that God had allowed me to take part in. It was a joyous time of giving God all the honor and glory for what had happened. After church the oldest child, Ashliff, thanked me for sharing the story. I just looked at him and said, "Ashliff, thank God for what he did. I was only obedient to do what He asked." Come to find out, I have been told this is a Muslim family. Wow!!! God please work and help me be bold for Your namesake.

Family and friends...you never know what can happen when you are obedient to do what God calls you to do. Please don't let fear stand in your way, like I almost did. Step out on faith and know that God will work out all things for His own glory. Please join me in prayer for this precious family who needs to know and accept the free gift of salvation from my Lord, Jesus Christ. ------Blessings, Dana.