Please Pray

Yesterday we received some troubling news about a young woman we were in relationship with within the first ten months of our arrival to Indonesia. Last week she had a baby boy who was born without an anus. Because she and her husband were unable to pay the 4.5 million rupiah (approx $450 Cdn dollars) for the first necessary surgery, the hospital discharged her and her baby with the expectation that the baby boy would go home and die. Because of a combination of lack of communication due to language barriers, and of how stories sometimes grow in drama from the initial truth, a friend of mine who is in contact with this young woman wanted to get the correct diagnosis of the baby's health before anybody stepped in to help. She met the woman, her husband and the tiny baby (1.3 kg only) at our local hospital and took them to an appointment with a reputable doctor.

The news we received last night is that the baby was to stay overnight in the hospital and if he makes it through the night, they will operate today. This will be the first of many necessary operations to correct the defect as this little guy grows.

The good news on the financial front is that the Karawaci Ladies have been approached and have agreed to pay the hospital costs for the surgery. However, I know the women that I hang out with and I know that if no one else was to step forward, we would have found the money somehow. Today there is a concert at the university (UPH) and Karawaci Ladies have been baking to raise money for our hospital fund. It's this very fund that will pay for the surgery of this little baby, so it's nice to know that all the fund raising over the year pays off in this way. It's nice to know it's helping someone local, and someone we've all at least met once during our time here.

Please pray for this precious little baby and his mom and dad. I'll keep you updated as to what happens in the lives of their little one as I hear it.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying.