Thank you so much for all the prayers that have been prayed in the past couple of weeks for Umaru. When I arrived back from Kenya, he was still not in good shape. He was taken to the local hospital to have more fluids drained and returned back to the mission house. But had to go back to the hospital late Saturday evening as he was experiencing some serious changes. He was struggling to breathe and his heart was in trouble. When Mike and Sarah took him to the hospital they didn’t know if his life would last much longer. He was kept in the hospital until yesterday.

The hospitals here are not staffed for issues such as these and they have no equipment. They did not even have oxygen for him. They don’t have sheets or blankets much less the critical needs. Yet, during his stay he began to stabilize and was sent home yesterday afternoon. We were so happy to have him back home and were looking forward to him having some good days. But, during the night he once again took a turn for the worse. I don’t know enough about the medical to describe what was happening, but I can say that he was suffering terribly. We brought him to my room and put him in my extra bed and we gathered around him not knowing what to do, but pray and just be with him.

So thankful we have Mike here who as a paramedic knows so much about medical things. Also thankful for Dr. Brad Pierce being available via phone. He first treated Umaru when he was here on a medical trip last year. Umaru was a random child among those he treated that week, yet here we are a year later and he is available for Umaru once again. Dr. Brenda is in Honduras this week on a medical mission trip, so we are thankful for Dr. Brad stepping in to help.

It took some time, but eventually the medicine began to help. His pain decreased and he finally went to sleep.

Our sweet boy…finally resting…

Over the following 6 hours he slept and when he woke up he was doing much better. I know he is doing better because people are praying for him. When he woke up I had some boiled eggs ready for him and he ate 3!!!

Umaru and one of his favorites….boiled eggs….

He seems to be much better and we are giving God all the glory! We do not know what Gods plans are, as the diagnosis still remains that his time here on this earth is short. Yet, we know God is in control and we are surrendered to His plan, His will and His way.

Mike and Sarah had to talk to Umaru’s mother yesterday and explain his diagnosis. As you can imagine, she is devastated. Our concern is her turning back to the cultures here and her thinking about taking him to a witch doctor. She has continued to believe that Umaru is sick because he has been bewitched. Pray that through this her faith in God will increase and she will put away the things of this world that were part of her life before she met Jesus a couple of months ago. Today Pastor Joseph who helps us when we have children with critical illnesses came and spent time with her; giving her spiritual guidance and encouragement. Please pray for her as she wants to help her child and in so doing is considering practices that would bring him great harm.

Please pray for us as we pour Gods love out to them and hold them up during this time. Pray for Mike as he oversees Umaru’s medical care. Also, another prayer request that pales in comparison to Umaru is for us to regain power and water. Today is day 7 with no power and day 3 with no water.

Love to all,

Joy Breedlove – Missionary East Africa