Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Miracle Child


As I write this update, I am truly aware that I have witnessed a miracle of God.  I received a call from the mother of the young burn victim, Kobasinja, that she would be discharged from the Malago Hospital in Kampala on Monday.  Her mother called when she arrived back in Jinja and we were able to go and see her.   When Kari and I walked in to find Kobasinja standing up under her own power and actually smiling it sent chills through my body.  This was a girl that screamed every time she saw one of us coming because she knew the pain of having her wounds treated and dressing changed.  The day we made the decision to take her to Kampala, I honestly thought she had about an 80% chance of dying.  The infections were so bad and the burns that covered 80% of her little body were so severe, I thought surely she would succumb to the injuries.

The miracle we saw yesterday came in something as simple as a smile.  As we walked up and began talking with her and her mother, she smiled.  The only thing I had seen on this child’s face in the past was pain and anguish.  The only sounds I heard her make were crying, screaming and begging her mother to make us stop working on her injuries.  Yesterday, she was giggling and being a silly 3 year old little girl.  She was able to stand on her own, walk on her own, hold her mothers hand, and move her arms freely while enjoying a lollipop.  All the things a 3 year old should be doing.  Her body still carries the scars of her horrific injuries and she will forever carry some of those scars.  However, those can be reminders of how God carried her through this tragic incident in her life.  He never left her side during this whole ordeal.  She still has some healing to accomplish and will still have to go back to Kampala for her wounds to be assessed in the healing process.  The skin is still pink and tender in spots, but the child we saw today is so far removed from the child we saw a few short weeks ago.

Selfishly her recovery is also a healing process for me as well.  There have been several things here that satan is trying to use to bring us down and to frustrate our family.  However, this little girl’s miraculous recovery reminded me exactly why God called our family here.  The small part we were able to play in her getting the medical care she needed and able to recover puts things into perspective. I new found friend and brother in Christ shared this message with me just a few hours ago.

"Remember, the enemy always fights the hardest when he knows God has something great in stores for you. Keep pressing forward."

So...we will keep pressing forward. Kobasinja will keep pressing forward. God has something great in store for this precious child. He brought her from death's doorstep and restored her body back to the smiling, giggling little girl we saw yesterday.  Stay tuned, I know there will be more stories from Kobasinja as God continues her path of recovery and her journey in life.