A God of miracles

Last Saturday we went to see Michilene's daughter, Woudislande, and her brand new baby girl.  She had given birth by emergency c section the Monday before and was sent home from the hospital with no pain killers.  Early on Tuesday morning Michilene phoned me, Woudislande's wound was not looking good, she was still in a lot of pain and they were going back to the hospital.

Later that day we heard that she was severely anemic and urgently needed a blood transfusion but the hospital had no blood, neither did the other major hospital in the north and neither did the red cross. By Thursday there was still no blood and we heard that the problem is that one of the machines which analyses the blood for hepatitis B, is broken.  This is the only machine in the north of Haiti.  Eight people from Michilene's family had been to the hospital the day before to donate blood but because it can't be analysed it is not allowed to be given. 

To be honest the situation looked hopeless, everyone we spoke to said there was nothing she could do but wait.  So here was Woudislande, in critical condition, unable to get out of bed, struggling to feed her new baby just waiting for the only thing that will save her life....the blood transfusion.  

So we did the only thing we could, we prayed.  Woudislande had people from Haiti, Canada, Northern Ireland and America praying for her...praying for a miracle. Imagine that, this young girl from a small village in Haiti which is famous for its voodoo, has probably hundreds of people, from hundreds and thousands of miles away praying for her healing.

And God answered.  Early on Friday evening Elsie (Michilene's sister) phoned, they had found blood and she was getting the transfusion as we spoke.  Literally a miracle.  God provided exactly what she needed, exactly when she needed it. 

Stacey went to see her and the baby today, she is looking much better.

She is not out of the woods yet and is still incredibly weak but she got that life saving treatment which she needed.  Praise the Lord. 

On Friday morning in clinic devotions Dr Rodney was asking for testimony's from the week past.  A story was told of a woman who came to Bethesda, very sick and covered in burns.  She has been ill for a long time and has been going to a witch doctor to get better,  it wasn't working so she decided to come to Bethesda.  The burns are probably a result of whatever the witch doctor was doing and now  she is being treated for TB and is on her way to getting better.  Dr Rodney's question was this ' where do you see God in the story?'

It's easy to see God is Woudislande's story, providing the impossible but do we look for God in the stories when its not that obvious?  In staff meeting on Monday night we were reading Acts ch 1 and discussing if we still see God doing miracles today?  If not, why not? Why is it not as obvious as it was in the early church?

Maybe the problem is we don't look for the miracles, Dr Rodney challenged us to look for God in every situation, see where he is and how he is working. Where do you see God working in your stories and situations today?

Please continue to pray for Woudislande, pray that each and every day she will get a bit stronger and that she will be healed completely.  Pray for Michilene as she spends 24 hours a day at the hospital with no bed and no chair, spending each night sleeping on a sheet, on the floor.  Pray for her baby girl, who is living in a hospital with a very sick mummy who can't possibly be providing all the nourishment that her little body needs. 

Today we are praising God for his hand at work in a seemingly helpless situation and for the body of Christ coming together from different parts of the world to pray for Michilene's family.