Quick Update:
These are both taken when Honya and Vary were in ICU.
BUT…
They were both released from ICU into their own private rooms with their moms today!
Also, Mohammad is back in Iraq with his family.
Read more on Preemptive Love’s Blog:
http://preemptivelove.org/blog/
Also, just wanted to give credit to Joshua Gigliotti.
All of the pictures on my blog from Turkey are his and they are incredible!
-Tonight, just in awe of the work of God’s hands.
God is the giver of good gifts.
If nothing else, I’ve learned this today.
Mohammad is in his own private room in the hospital and boards a plane tomorrow to come back home!
Beautiful baby Honya had surgery this morning.
At just 12 pounds, she went into surgery this morning at 10:30.
Her mother watched as she was carried away, doing her best to be strong.
I’ve tried to place myself in the shoes of these moms.
These moms who are hoping for a miracle for their children, their children who are under a death sentence.
These mothers are in a foreign land.
Surrounded by a foreign language and culture.
Sleeping in a room by themselves, many for the first time in their lives.
Putting the care of their dying children into the hands of Turkish doctors and nurses.
The people who they’ve been told are the enemy.
I can’t imagine the uncertainty and fear they must feel.
The enormous amount of helplessness.
My prayer is that during this time, this time of fear, that God would reveal himself to them. And that they would have no choice but to cling to Him.
Honya’s surgery went beautifully.
No complications.
She is resting now in ICU.
Dr. Cicek is hopeful to extubate her tonight or tomorrow.
Praise God!
Vary also had surgery today.
Hers was the scariest surgery of all.
Upon finding more problems with her heart, the surgery become far more complicated.
The doctors had to cool her body down to 16 degrees Celsius,
drain the blood from her body,
resect a portion of the artery dangerously close to a nerve that could leave Vary with neurological damage,
pump the blood back into her tiny body,
warm her back up
and restart her heart.
The surgery went perfectly.
Not only that. . .
but it was a full correction.
She will not have to have another heart surgery!
Friends
Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you beyond words.
But please don’t stop praying for these children.
Though the surgery is over
Though Dr. Cicek has fixed their hearts.
Now it’s their turn.
They have to fight for life.
-In awe of the graciousness of God
Find out more @ http://preemptivelove.org/blog/
This precious and fragile baby girl gets her chance at life in about 6 hours.
She is still sick with a lung infection but the pediatrician and cardiologist have both cleared her for surgery.
I have fallen in love with her.
I have never wanted life for a child as much as I want it for this beautiful girl.
But the Lord cares for her a million times more than I ever could.
God is in control.
Pray that Honya’s tiny body wants to fight for life.
Pray that God would give Dr.Cicek wisdom in surgery.
Pray peace over Honya’s mother and family as they face the most difficult 4 hours of their lives.
Pray that ultimately God would be glorified and made known whatever the outcome.
-Heavy heart for this sweet little girl.
Joshua, one of the other interns, is in Turkey right now with Mohammad, Honya and Vary. Amazingly enough, Dr. Cicek invited him into watch and take pictures of Mohammad’s surgery on Thursday.
This is a video he created of Mohammad’s life being saved:
Mohammad received his long awaited surgery this morning.
Doctors repaired a huge hole in the upper chambers of his heart.
No problems.
A full correction!
He is now recovering in ICU.
Headed to Surgery
Mohammed
Praying for her eldest son
Recovering in ICU
Vary has had a tough time the past few days.
She is very fearful of her new surroundings
keenly aware of things going on around her.
The nurses had to sedate her to complete an echo.
Discovered coarctation as well as her VSD
This surgery is so much bigger than previously thought.
Baby Honya is quarantine with a right lung infection.
Pediatrician visited her today and isn’t too worried about it.
She is still all smiles and giggles
Good chance for surgery on Monday!
One surgery down, two to go.
Thank you for your prayers.
And good night from Iraq.
At last you get to meet them.
The three amazing kids in Turkey for life-saving heart surgery.
Each group we send I love even more.
Mohammad, 8 years old
Mohammed is the oldest of three children. He lives with his family in a small village where they live on the top floor of their barn. He has been waiting a long time for a chance to have his heart repaired. He is looking forward to walking all the way to school after he has recovered from surgery. His mom thanks us tearfully every time we see her. She cannot believe it is finally Mohammad’s turn!
Please be praying for Mohammad.
He will be having surgery first thing in the morning which is only about 7 or 8 hours away!
Honya, 9 months old
Honya is a precious little girl. She is always smiling and giggling despite the lack of oxygen flowing in her blood to her brain and the rest of her body. At nine months old she weighs roughly 12 pounds. She loves music and toys that light up. Dr. Çiçek at the Johns Hopkins affiliated Anadolu Medical Center in Istanbul, Turkey is very hopeful that she will have a full correction and believes that she is likely to benefit significantly from surgical intervention.
I have fallen in love with this tiny little girl! She came to the office the other day in this pink and green outfit and was all smiles and giggles. She is so precious.
She arrived safely to Turkey, but she is sick with some kind of cough and can’t be operated on until she is better. The earliest she could possibly have surgery is Monday.
Pray for healing for her little body so that she might have a chance at surgery and a chance at life.
Vary, 2 years old
Vary is a spunky little two year old who loves stuffed animals. You wouldn’t know it by looking at her that her heart is failing, but she is actually an urgent case. We are hopeful that her surgery will set her back on track for a happy, healthy life running and playing with her friends. Her mom says she can go anywhere as long as “blankie” can go too!
I played with Vary in the office on Monday. She is so full of life and she definitely has some spunk!
We played with bubbles mostly. She would blow the bubbles and we would chase after them with our fingers and say “pop”!
The most fun I’ve ever had with bubbles by far!
Vary is still undergoing tests to find out when and if she can have surgery. She is very scared and unsure of her surrounding in this foreign place. Pray for peace for her heart.
More updates to come
For now, it’s almost 2 AM
I’m off to bed.
So grateful to be a part of something so much bigger than me.
Honya, 8 months
Mohammad, 8 years
Vary, 2 years
I will introduce you to each of these precious children tomorrow.
These three, their moms and 4 PLC staff members arrived in Istanbul Turkey this evening.
The next two weeks will be full of surgeries, uncertainty, and hope for three Kurdish families.
Please be in prayer for Dr.Cicek (the pediatric cardiologist) for wisdom, the families for peace in a strange and foreign land, and for the PLC staff as they minister and love on them.
. . . that have happened since I last updated
Which, lets face it, has been awhile:
Today I got stuck in an elevator.
It was a surprisingly enjoyable experience.
PLC bought a new car.
I miss the Patrol (aka The Beast)
But thanking God for providing.
I rode the Sulaymaniyah bus.
Payment for the ride is driven by the honor system.
I’m convinced it would never work in America.
My friend, Sazgar, helped me pick out Gili Kurdi (traditional/festive Kurdish dress)
Don’t worry, pictures to come.
I experienced culture shock for the first time at a foreigner’s party.
50 people attended (Dutch, British, Irish, Australian . . . but mostly American)
I realized Americans are loud and a tad bit obnoxious.
I visited Sulaymaniyah University with Kanar and Shaza, two good friends.
I almost felt as though I was at an American university.
I learned to sing Happy Birthday in Kurdish.
Angel and I made oreo balls.
SO good.
I sat on the top floor of our house for hours watching a thunderstorm with the window open.
I’ve missed the rain.
I bought a piece of artwork from my good friend and talented artist, Ismail.
I’ve read 5 books:
Unshaken by Francine Rivers
Unveiled by Francine Rivers
The Shack by William P. Young
A Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
God has been teaching me a lot about faith and prayer
and even more about my pride.
AND 3 new kids are going to surgery in Turkey on Tuesday!!
I’ll introduce them in the next few days
Iraq isn’t home.
This place is so nice. I love the people. I love so many of their values. I love drinking chai. I love the relationships I’ve made here.
But it isn’t home.
I will never be Kurdish.
I will never completely understand the culture.
The language is foreign, the way people dress is foreign.
Even if I lived here a decade I would still stick out like a sore thumb. I am an alien to this land.
Even when days are their very best, the weather beautiful, the conversation amazing, part of my heart still longs to be home, to be in Texas.
I am IN Iraq, but I am not OF Iraq
Is this how I should feel about living in the world?
Is this what it looks like to be in the world but not of the world?
Is this what Jesus meant when He said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world . . . They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:15-16)
I am an alien to this planet.
The world is not my home, the united states not my home.
Texas isn’t even my true home.
Heaven is my home.
I am called to love the people in this world. I am here to live among them and show them God’s love and mercy.
But it isn’t my home. I should never feel that I belong here. My ways should be different, my language different, my love different.
Even on the best of days I should long for my true home with my Lord.
Perhaps I should be a bit more homesick.
But I love morning in Iraq.
I know, it surprised me, too.
For those of you who know me, you know that I am the furthest possible thing from a morning person. But there is something about the mornings here. There is something about the quiet business, the peaceful noise, a symphony of sights and sounds. The beauty of it all catches me off guard each morning as I walk to the office.
Sounds of an unknown language echoing off the concrete houses.
Women cleaning in their courtyards, splashes of water joining into one stream racing down the gravel.
The song of a cart peddler calling out to housewives to buy fabric, flowers and home furnishings.
A distant whistle of a traffic officer ushering the beeps of taxis and buses hasty to begin a new day.
A man adorned in gili kurdi (tradional Kurdish dress) engaged in light-hearted conversation, running prayer beads back and forth from one hand to the other.
Fruit stands opening for a new day.
Shoe shiners perched on the steps of my office building.
Beggars pleading with sticks of gum and packets of tissues.
It’s everything
Brisk, cool air. Clear, blue sky.
The way light passes through the houses and reflects off the cars.
The morning song of a bird.
The sound of a breeze as it passes through a tree and rustles the leaves.
Are mornings here so different from the morning of a home I love, half a world away?
Maybe I should get up earlier in the States.
Maybe . . .
