Wow. Where to even start…I have no idea. I’ve been sitting here starring at my computer for the past 20 minutes, and I pretty much have nothing. Not from a lack of things to share, just an inability to clearly convey them. So many emotions. So many thoughts. So many things to say that I don’t even know what to say. My mind is a little bit like a merry-go-round at the moment, spinning round and round at a high speed; people jumping on and off; kids ducking under and jumping over bars…madness. And at any point something can happen, someone can make a decision and we totally stop. We change directions completely and start all over again, just going to other way. Yep, that’s how the past couple months have been. So challenging. I have been tested and tried in what feels like every way possible. Our ministry as a whole has been fighting in some major battles. And fighting can be extremely exhausting. Oh my.

But fighting in a battle when you have the King of the whole universe on your side is a pretty large plus! Because even when you are weak, He is strong! When you feel like you’re coming undone, He holds you together! And in times of distress, He is the bearer of peace-the mountain moving kind of peace! So even though we have been walking through some pretty intense fire, God has been holding us tightly in his loving embrace! And, for a short while things slowed. The battling came to somewhat of an end...our house became calm! For the first time in a long time, I could count the amount of children in our house using only 2 hands. We took a deep breath; all while knowing that it was probably the calm before the storm…but which storm exactly? There was no telling.

Well our house started to fill up…. We went from 9 kids to 18 in a matter of days. And on Monday we received some visitors. Pretty common around here. We were all delighted to see our friends, Ivan and Moreen (twins) and their Mom, Nalango! Ivan and Moreen were in our program back in March, and were discharged as fat, healthy babies in May. We have been doing follow up since their return home and they’ve been doing very well! We had not seen them for about a month and a half though, and what’s normally a lighthearted, short check up very quickly turned into a positive malaria test, IV and an overnight…for Ivan.

He looked pretty out of it, and treatment was started right away. Moreen looked great, but Ivan was not at all ok. But, we had no reason to believe that it was anything more than malaria. We assumed he would be fine within 48 hours. So we gave the necessary drugs, prayed, watched, and waited.

3 days later. Ivan was not feeling much better. His temperature was still very irregular, and he was so weak. We changed his treatment, and ran some more blood work. Continuing to pray all the while!

Well, very early yesterday morning I was awoken by our night worker who was saying “Baby Ivan is not ok. Maybe you come?” I quickly slid out of bed and ran down stairs. When I reached the clinic door I found Ivan all wrapped up in a towel. Taking very labored, short, fast breaths. His eyes were swelling and he was like a little limp noodle. His Mom was on the other side of the room, face in hands. Tears streaming down steadily. When she heard me enter her head lifted slightly and I looked into her red, puffy eyes. The look I was met with was terrifying. I did a fast assessment, and quickly put him on oxygen.

Now we often have kids on oxygen, but something in my gut told me that we needed to go, we needed to get to a facility that was capable of much more than what I could do in our small red room. The room we call “the clinic”. We, as quickly as possible prepared everything needed, plugged our o2 machine into the car, and off we went….headed to Kampala.

By the time we reached the hospital Ivan was unconscious. His pulse was very faint and he was hardly breathing. We waited while papers were processed, deposits were paid, and a bed was readied, then we were rushed off to the ICU. Yes, there is an ICU in Uganda, but only one...

And to this very minute that’s where Ivan is. Laying in a room that’s mostly white, hooked up to machines galore, with tubes and cords going every which way. And that’s where I’ve spent the better part of the last 2 days as well, in the ICU, talking with Doctors, reading numbers that mean very little to me, watching his every breath. Listening to the hum of oxygen. The pattern of beeps coming from his many monitors. Praying. Praying. Praying.

Ivan is still in a coma, he has a slew of imbalances that are keeping him in that state…the Doctors and nurses are doing their very best to try to correct all the electrolyte levels that have gone wild, along with treating his diagnosed encephalitis, and pneumonia. This fight will not be an easy one; I guess no fight really is. But with God on our side ALL things are possible! Because when you are weak, HE is strong! When you’re coming undone, HE holds you together! And in times of great distress, HE is the bearer of peace!

Tonight I beg you to please join me in prayer! I’m asking you to run into the battle with us. To suit up in readiness. Take hold of the armor God has given you; bend your knees and lift your hands! For where there are two or more gathered in my name, there I am also… Lets gather together in the name of Christ. Lets fight as one!

Note: if you would like to make a contribution to help cover the large hospital bill that we are quickly acquiring please click on the donate button to your upper right. Please mark the donation “for Baby Ivan”. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!! We couldn’t do it without you! More updates to come....