Johannesburg: God Remained Faithful...

Kechi had been given two pints of blood to bring up her blood pressure but it remained low. Her temperature and heart rate went down slightly, and the sister on duty had sent for the doctor to take a look at Kechi.

I noticed that Kechi's eyes were slightly open. I sang to her and read from the scriptures to her. As I prayed, I told her to keep fighting, we all loved her, Jesus loved her, and she should believe that she would not die, but would live and testify of the goodness of God.

I “spoke” to her blood pressure and commanded it to rise to normal by the authority contained in the name of Jesus. I knew this would be the case by the time I came for the night visit.

God did not fail me. When I came back at night, the blood pressure was normal and her temperature had come down even more. Wasn't God awesome? I bowed my head in thanksgiving and praise...

To be continued...

Johannesburg: A Chance To Minister God's Love...

God had placed it in my heart to approach the couple with "the little baby" and ask her name so that the church back home would pray for her, and I was determined to do it that day... I did not get a chance to speak to the parents of the baby. I think that the fear of rejection was holding me back.

Back at the hotel, Mom and Chinedu called me and we spent time talking about depending fully and totally on God. Chinedu also asked me to pray for the grace to minister God's love to others in the hospital. He stressed that it should be led by God and therefore be totally natural, not forced. If God wanted to, He would present the opportunity.

As I walked into the hospital for the afternoon visit, I found myself face to face with the baby's mother in the corridor. I stopped her and told her I was praying for her baby. She smiled and said she appreciated that. I went on to tell her that I wanted my church family back home to also pray, so would she mind giving me her baby's name? “Marlee”, she said, and thanked me again. Not so hard to obey the Lord, after all...

To be continued...

Johannesburg: Feeling Closer And Closer To God...

When I went in to see Kechi, her temperature was high again, due to the infection. Her blood pressure was also quite low. This was definitely one of the “down” periods we were warned about in burns patients. The infection was raging through her body but I was not moved because the blood of Jesus was also all over and inside her. I was trusting in the Lord.

When I spoke with Dr. Pahad, he admitted that this was the period they got most concerned about in burns patients when the infection has grabbed a hold. But he was also confident that they were dealing with it.

As soon as I walked into Kechi's room, I got the urge to say the Psalm that begins thus over Kechi, Give thanks to the Lord; for He is good: Because His mercy endureth forever.

After praying, I got out my bible and asked God for help in locating the Psalm. I flipped open the bible to Psalms, turned a page and there it was, Psalm 118.

I would like to note here that by this time, I was no longer surprised at this sort of thing happening. I was daily feeling closer and closer to God and without much thought, I was relying on Him to make things happen for me not just the big stuff, even little stuff like helping me find exactly where relevant verses were located in the bible. This happened very often and has continued till today. Sometimes, I woke with a verse in my heart, opened my bible, and there it was!

Back to that day, I recited the whole Psalm aloud while standing over Kechi, and it ministered greatly to me. I loved verse 4,“Let them now that fear the Lord say, that His mercy endureth forever” and Verse 17, I declared to Kechi every day since the plane crash,“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”

To be continued...

Johannesburg: In God's Hand...

I got ready to leave and was concerned that the sister on night duty was a bit elderly and I was worried that she might not be alert, especially with Kechi's fever. But I surrendered Kechi to God and left.

At 2.00 a.m., Eunice, my sister-in-law, called me frantically from America, saying that someone had said the papers reported that Kechi had passed away. I figured it must be the same news that Chike referred to. I reassured her that Kechi was fine, but she was frantic, telling me to find a Mountain of Fire church and get anointing oil to put on Kechi and make pronouncements to her that she will not die. Realizing how upset she was, I promised to make enquiries. I rebuked Satan, covered Kechi with the blood of Jesus, and went back to sleep.

I woke up determined not to rush to the hospital, or phone them in reaction to Eunice's call the previous night. I had made the decision to trust Him and lean on Him completely, and I trusted Him to keep His word concerning Kechi. I would leave for the hospital at the normal time, have breakfast in the hospital cafeteria, as usual, then visit Kechi at 11.00am, as usual.

This was harder than I thought, and it was not made easier when Eunice called again around 9.00am. I knew she thought I had seen Kechi already and without telling her that I had not, I assured her that Kechi was fine...

 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths”

Proverbs 3 :5 & 6 (KJV)

To be continued...

Johannesburg: Purely By God's Grace...

I met with the plastic surgeon and he gave me details on Kechi's progress. What he said hit me very hard because I had been expecting that Kechi's wounds would heal much quicker than this, forgetting that the Lord had revealed that the recovery would be long.

First of all, contrary to my thinking, the debridement was far from over. They had just done her face and parts of her legs. The surgeon said that all her wounds were infected and there was a particular bacterium that she had contracted in the ICU which they were very concerned about. The debridement would continue until there was no more infection. She was on antibiotics and would remain on them. She may need grafting on her forehead as the burns there were deep. The burns in her hands were also deep.

I knew she had been having fevers from infections but for the first time, I was actually realizing that things were a lot more serious than I realized. The doctor's tone put me on alert. It was as if he was telling me that things were pretty serious.

Now, it was not that I did not realize how serious Kechi's condition was, it was just that I was so sure that God was in control that I was not paying attention to the details. My mind was focused on the end, when I would take my fully healed child and go home. Maybe this was how I was keeping sane, I do not know. Thinking back to those days in Milpark, and looking at photographs, I know now that I held it together purely by God's grace.

I left a message for Ulo for a prayer request against the infection. When Mom called, I gave her the doctor's update and I know she was upset although she tried to be strong. Ulo and Dad called to reassure me, and I prayed for strength and peace...

To be continued...