A Long Hard Road with a Good Good End

Two of the most miraculous stories since I’ve been here concluded last week, both with happy endings.

Mohammed Majib, a child rejected from hospitals in Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and even one hospital in Israel because the surgery he needed was “impossible,” went home last week completely healed. Mohammed’s heart worked by precariously balancing two coexisting heart problems, tipping the scales in either direction meant immediate death. One problem was a “transposition,” basically that his heart worked in reverse, pumping blood the wrong direction, a fatal condition in its own right if not reversed in infancy. But Mohammed also had a very large hole in the middle of his heart, and it was this hole that allowed the blood to mix (normally a very bad thing) sufficiently, that in spite of his heart working in the wrong direction, it still was able to limp along. There was no knowing how long his heart would last in this condition, but all signs pointed to not long. A particularly bold and compassionate surgeon who we have counted on in the past for these sorts of dangerous surgeries said he would take the case. The surgeon said that he believed surgery was possible, perhaps one now and another surgery one year later to complete the necessary procedures. Mohammed’s surgery was put off a few times because of the immensity and danger involved, and this played on the minds of both Mohammed and his father, now having spent months away from home began to doubt if they really should have come, if the risk was worth it.



After a lot of encouraging, both in the direction Mohammed and his father, and toward the surgeon, the first surgery took place and was a complete success. Not only was the first surgery a success, but the 9-year-old’s body was strong enough to do the second surgery less than a week later! After some Gortex, a piece of cow heart, and some careful reconstruction Mohammed was on the road to recovery, and less than a month after was going home!

Akram’s story, if you have been following the blog, has been an amazing one which has finally reached its beautiful conclusion. After more than a year and a half of being away from home because of his physical ailments, he is finally with his family again. After a year of tuberculosis treatment, a lung surgery, and an open-heart surgery, Akram bears many scars, but through them, a new life. Were it not for these very illnesses, Akram would never have met the Lord and understood Him in a personal way that many wouldn’t willingly undergo.


Strong bonds were built between Mohammed and I, and with his father as well. Akram and I shared a friendship that I pray will continue; I hope that I was able to demonstrate some shadow of an example of what it means to live out the teachings of Jesus. It’s very easy to lose this in the midst of the event of the surgery itself, but it was the day to day living together, loving one another, and sharing everything that the heart of a different sort is moved. When we all finally said goodbye it was painful and at the same time an incredible sense of accomplishment surrounded it. I’m certain the same conflicting feelings passed through Akram, his mother, and Mohammed and his father; each moved to tears during our goodbye but certainly so excited to return home.

For more info, pictures, and video of their stories, see their final blogs at these links: Akram and Mohammed

Akram

Akram, one of our patients, has an incredible story of survival. Last year he came to our Iraqi clinic on the verge of death because of Tuberculosis; he weighed 66 pounds. The senior cardiologist said, "do we want him to die here, or should we send him back to Iraq to die?" The doctors were certain his Tuberculosis. Here is a picture of him about 1 year ago, and one of him last week, weighing at least twice as much. Completely clear of TB, strong enough to walk around the zoo.

He is here in Jerusalem now waiting for at least two surgeries. The first will be an attempt to reinflate one of his lungs which collapsed as a result of his TB and the questionable medical efforts done by some doctors in Iraq which removed a substantial portion of his lung. The original prognosis was that his lung was a lost cause, but just like last year, the doctors were surprised again to find that his long would be operable and there was a good chance of success. After the surgery he will need to be hospitalized for a month to recover. If the lung surgery is successful he will be stronger and better able to withstand the strain of the open-heart surgery which is to follow. Akram has faced a long road already, and he has quite a way to go, but he is leaning on new friends and a new faith.






He's been drawing a lot lately, here are a few of his works. Akram has been excited to read the Bible as much as any Christian teenager I've seen and one of our coworkers who speaks Arabic has been able to read along with him. I personally, have been engaging in as much discipleship with him as possible with the time I have and my little Arabic and Kurdish. Akram is the only male living in the house over the age of 3 apart from myself, so I have had the privilege of connecting with him in ways no one else has been able to. Akram is a normal teenager, apart from all the medical complications at least, so I have been able to utilized my gifts and experience in youth ministry to minister to him in the best ways i know how. Akram and I have spent a lot of time together, playing games, on outings, generally goofing off, and being there with him in hospitals as well. Last night during our Shabbat meal, Akram took communion with the rest of the staff after the meaning was explained to him. Everyone feels the Lord working powerfully in this young man's life, spiritually and physically, pray for his health and his spiritual growth.

Akram's blog on the Shevet site contains a detailed account of his journey thus far through word, picture, and video and is worth a read http://www.shevet.org/akram/

The Power of the Good News

Saturday I brought 6 of our Iraqis to church: Arazoo (17) who comes regularly now, Halo (9), Alaa (6) and Um Alaa, and Omed (12) and Um Omed (Halo, Alaa, and Omed are our three latest arrivals for heart surgery from Iraq). The families are each given a Kurdish or Arabic New Testament when they come to stay with us, and they had not seen a Christian worship service before. Outside it was the most extreme weather I’d seen in Israel yet, freezing cold, gusty winds, hail, and claps of thunder that made me wonder what kind of idolatry could provoke God to such a fury. It was perhaps more actually blessing in disguise as Israel has really needed the rain, and each thunder clap made the prayer, the worship, the preaching poignantly emphatic.

Because the nature of Jerusalem Christian churches involve a lot of people coming and going the pastor asks who is here for the first time and they are acknowledged by the congregation. Our visitors received a lot of attention as you can imagine, both because they’re not Christians, but also because of the situation they come out of, the fact that this congregation prays for Shevet Achim and its patients regularly, and because Arazoo who they had prayed for previously had since had her surgery and was doing much better. They were made to feel very at home by one of speakers leading a liturgy who addressed them in Kurdish with “choney boshey” which loosely translates to something like “how are you, good?” to which both mothers jumped up, seemingly very pleased to hear these words, raised their hand and said “choney boshey” in return. They seemed to enjoy the worship though they could not understand it, Halo and Omed enjoyed clapping along to the songs (however out of sync they were), and had a good time participating. They all also participated in all the prayers that were said. Whether it was coincidence, Divine will, or sensitivity towards the Iraqi’s, the guest preacher gave the sermon in Arabic which was then translated to English for the rest of the congregation. Kurdish and Arabic are only related to the same extent that, say, English is to say Spanish, but Um Alaa is fluent in Arabic, and Um Omed like most Kurdish speakers in Iraq can understand some basic Arabic. The speaker talked about a prison ministry that he runs in Israel, talked about how we are all molded uniquely like clay in the hands of a potter and gave some other theological references and general edifications toward an individual’s humanity regardless of circumstance and the need for redemption.

I was very grateful that the mothers were able to understand the sermon but something very unexpected happened following the closing prayer and the small horde that approached the mothers and children to bless them and pray over them. Um Alaa began to weep. I wasn’t sure what had happened, if the stress had overtaken her or what exactly, but the other volunteer with me, Donna, told me shortly following that she was weeping because she had been so touched by the message. At this I was kind of surprised…I didn’t think it was that powerful of a message…sure it was good to hear about the success of this ministry and to hear again how God has made each individual special, etc… I thought maybe Donna was being a little too optimistic that it wasn’t something else, but then I noticed the other mother, while not weeping, was also visibly shaken…

This reminded me of, and strengthened my conscience concerning something I’ve felt over the last few weeks being here and in the course of settling in. The work my coworkers and I are doing by any outsider's standards would be seen as tremendous, incredible, awe inspiring, praiseworthy, etc; but the longer and more feverishly I do it, the harder it is for me to see this. I’ve heard analogies such as "you can't see the forest from the trees", or "you can't grasp the immensity of a sky scraper from inside the ground floor," and I think this fits both with my work at Shevet and my spiritual life to a certain extent. I may be driving kids in and out of Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, making believers out of Muslims, ministering to the least, being a peacemaker between arch enemies, living humbly so that I can save others, etc. but unless I repeat that to myself, stop and step back and realize that is what I’m doing, I don’t see it when I’m actually in the process of doing it.

In the same way the radical nature of the Gospel is something that I need to be reminded of and refreshed by; not only that, but be truly impressed by the things being accomplished in Jesus name. The speaker was talking about a wonderfully successful prison ministry, to which my response was, “that’s great, another effective prison ministry built on the love of Christ,” but I lacked the enthusiasm of how glorious such an accomplishment is. I know that there are such ministries around the world and perhaps I am jaded by their number rather than overwhelmed by the joy of the enduring and vibrant work of Christ and his Church. I am used to the wonder of God, like the Israelites, like so many Great Revivals, my eyes have adjusted to the brilliant light; I know it's not the right place to be. Witnessing the response of these mothers, I think certainly more appropriate than my own by Kingdom standards, is a welcome reminder to pray for a new, fresh faith that can appreciate all these things, that will in turn encourage and strengthen me as I go about doing the work the Lord has graciously set before me to do in his name. Perhaps when you pray you can petition God to do this for me, so that I can feel newly inspired again and again, by all that he does, and for yourself if you find you are in this same place.

After the service ended the kids ran around the sanctuary taking pictures, smelling the flowers, enjoying being kids. Each of them, and the mothers, received copious blessings and prayers during this time. While I was not there with them, it’s my understanding that some of them, maybe more, went to church again that evening. Please continue to pray for the work God is doing in the lives of these families, physically and spiritually, today especially as I will be taking Halo, Alaa, and Omed in for their open-heart surgeries within the next 48 hours.

Children of Hamas

Because of the ongoing fighting the last three weeks, we had been unable to get any children out for heart surgery. The other day a couple of our volunteers went down in the hopes of getting 5 children out for heart surgeries and assessments. After about 8 hours of waiting we were only able to get one child and mother out, due to a Hamas attack on the border which caused all Gaza crossings to be immediately closed. The attack happened shortly after these two were able to get across, and we hope to get the rest out soon. This one child that has made it across, Abdullah, is unique in that he is family of one of the highest ranking officials of Hamas, the Minister of the Interior, who was assassinated during this most recent operation in Gaza. The story has already been picked up by some media. This child will allow us an even greater opportunity to demonstrate to this child, his family, and the world, the radical teaching of Jesus to "love thy enemy" in the midst of this ongoing war, and indeed our very proximity to it. You can follow this child's story here.

If you are at all skeptical about the possibility of someone changes their ways,even people in Hamas, I encourage you to watch this series (6 parts).