Eyes to See

I know Liz and I have been back from out trip now for over 4 months…  but I’d still love to use this blog to continue to share updates with you guys.  So….I thought a good thing might be to post some exciting things going on with the organizations and people we met during our trip.  I’ll try and do my best to post cool stories and updates as they come along.

Here are a couple to get you started…

From Preemptive Love Coalition:

We marshaled all the resources we needed to help Shad and in less than a month he was admitted to surgery in May 2009. Unfortunately, Shad did not respond to the corrective measures of the surgeries as we had all hoped he would. Too many years of living with his heart defects had hindered his body’s ability to operate as it was intended. A series of blood clots finally contributed to Shad’s death a week after his surgery.

Click here to read more about Shad’s story and the Shad Faraydoon Memorial Fund.

Heard about this from Chris Marlow of HELP:

HELP has been running a Campaign to End Poverty, and a church in PA decided to have a garage sale to raise money for the campaign, and they raised $3400!!! Click here to read more about this awesome story.

Chris also told me to check out a book called Scared.  Here’s a little about the book:

Once a celebrated and award-winning photojournalist, Stuart Daniels is reeling from debt, a broken marriage, and crippling depression.  The source of Stuart’s grief is his most famous photo, a snapshot of brutality in the dangerous Congo.  This haunting image indicts him as a passive witness to gross injustice.

Stuart is given one last chance to redeem his career: a make-or-break assignment covering the AIDS crisis in a small African country.  It is here that Stuart meets Adanna, a young orphan fighting for her life in a community ravaged by tragedy and disease.  Now what seemed like a chance encounter will forever change their lives.

You can download a free PDF of the book for a limited time, or purchase the book on Amazon.

Update from PLC:

Ahmed is smiling big! He gets to see his mom again on Wednesday…back home in Iraq!

I so badly wish I could be there to see his smiling face and give him a BIG HUG!!!!  He will still need additional surgeries over the next few years in order to live a fully functional adult life, so keep Ahmad in your prayers!   And we’ll, of course, keep you updated. 

from yesterday:

Ahmad is out of surgery!  O2 levels already up 25%.  His future is hopefully less blue and more healthy pink.  His dad is crying tears of joy!

and 8 hours ago:

is awake in ICU and doing well.  He is pink pink pink (yea oxygen!) and alert.  Such a wonderful change is this little guy.

Thanks again for your prayers.  Please pray for the other 8 children that are/will be in surgery over the next week.

If you would like to read more from Scott, a member of the PLC staff, please click here.

Incredible…  we got an update from PLC that Ahmad will have his first surgery in just two days!  I was touched by some of the Twitter updates that have been posted by PLC…

From a couple of weeks ago:

“ahmad’s dad committed today to do anything to save his son’s life.  He is in the process of selling anything he can to raise his portion of $$$.”

From last week:

“just came to the PLC office looking worse than he even does in these pictures. This kid is racing against the clock.”

And from today:

“landed in Turkey, received his diagnostic test, & had everyone at the hospital celebrating & cheering upon news that the Dr. will operate!”

WOW…  Praise God!!!  What an amazing blessing for PLC to be partnered with doctors like the one in Turkey with the skill and knowledge to perform these life-saving surgeries…

Please keep little Ahmad in your prayers as he has his first surgery.   Pray that the Lord would keep his little body strong, and that the surgeries would go smoothly and heal his little heart.

Also, you can still click here to give towards Ahmad’s surgery and travel costs.

-B

I’m sitting on the Venable’s wrap around porch in New Zealand right now, not far from the ocean, trying to process all we’ve seen and heard over the last six weeks and asking the Lord how He wants my life to be different as a result.  Please do pray with us that we would hear His voice clearly and respond in obedience and joy.

So many faces surface as I think about our trip.  Ahmad is surely among them.  We got an encouraging update from PLC the other day and I wanted to pass it along.  They are now only $5000 short of the $90000 needed to not only send Ahmad to surgery but all the children that were screened that day we just happened to be Iraq!  Thank you for giving and if you haven’t yet but have a desire to, please consider helping finish up this last $5000.