Probably every day here in the Philippines I hear of a sad story about poverty, sickness or death. I am thankful that on most occasions I am never actually involved in real life dramas or extremely difficult situations. But on some days, like today, I find myself face to face with tragedy and hopelessness.
Imagine the scene. There is a family we know that lives not far from Sefton Village. They live in a place called Mabini - which is one of the most dangerous and dark places to live in our city. Drugs and prostitution are norm. There are always police cars there and plenty of stories. But this family have made Mabini their home and they have two handsome little boys - Gio and Seke. They grew up and started attending our Kinder School - the KMGLC. This year Gio (above) is in Kinder 2 and is preparing to go to grade 1 at our new school. Seke (below) is in nursery class and he is a lovely wee boy. These pictures are taken from our class photos taken just last week.
Then tragedy. Last weekend both boys fell sick with vomiting and a fever. Mum took them to the doctor and they were given anti-biotics. But over the weekend there was little improvement. On Tuesday mum & dad again took the boys to the doctor and they were given blood tests. It was dengue - a terrible disease similar to malaria except far more dangerous and potent. It begins with a mosquito bite and soon the body is under attack.
Gio got worse. He was soon at stage 3 ... very serious. His platelet level fell dramatically and soon it was a fight for his life. Thankfully, Seke responded quickly to the anti-dengue medicine and began to recover. But the problem fro Gio is that he has already had dengue 2 years ago and when it comes for a second time ... it is far more dangerous. Added to this, he has a heart problem that has weakened him.
Mary went in last night. Gio was concious, although weak. He asked his mum to hug him and said, "Don't worry mum, I am not going to die. I won't leave you here. Anyway, I haven't got my medal from school yet!" if a child attends our school for all three years they get a Loyalty Medal - and this is the desire of wee Gio's heart!
But things worsened overnight. His body began to fail. The family ran out of money and Mary asked me to go and pray for the family and see what they needed. When I got there I was so sad. His mum was waiting for us and when she saw us she bust into tears and crumbled into our arms. "Please help my baby," she sobbed. Winston and I went up and saw Gio. He had tubes going into his nose, hands and feet, a ventilator was breathing for him and I counted five medicines going to his body by drips. It was a terrible sight. I managed to pray for him on a couple of occasions - in between nurses and doctors working away at him.
I know the doctor and she said it is a very serious case - 50/50. I spent most of the afternoon there, encouraging the family, trying to find blood donors and praying for the boys. I am getting our Cornerstone Pastors to be at the hospital for 24 hr prayer and support. Tonight and tomorrow are critical. This morning hos platelet level was 15 ... near death.
Will you pray for these two little boys - especially Gio? Take time to lift him up in prayer. Can you get the people in your church to pray? Inform the prayer chains and intercesors. Send this blog to your friends and ask them to stand with us. This is a spiritual battle. Pray that Gio pulls through and recovers fast. He needs us ...
His medal is waiting.
Imagine the scene. There is a family we know that lives not far from Sefton Village. They live in a place called Mabini - which is one of the most dangerous and dark places to live in our city. Drugs and prostitution are norm. There are always police cars there and plenty of stories. But this family have made Mabini their home and they have two handsome little boys - Gio and Seke. They grew up and started attending our Kinder School - the KMGLC. This year Gio (above) is in Kinder 2 and is preparing to go to grade 1 at our new school. Seke (below) is in nursery class and he is a lovely wee boy. These pictures are taken from our class photos taken just last week.
Then tragedy. Last weekend both boys fell sick with vomiting and a fever. Mum took them to the doctor and they were given anti-biotics. But over the weekend there was little improvement. On Tuesday mum & dad again took the boys to the doctor and they were given blood tests. It was dengue - a terrible disease similar to malaria except far more dangerous and potent. It begins with a mosquito bite and soon the body is under attack.
Gio got worse. He was soon at stage 3 ... very serious. His platelet level fell dramatically and soon it was a fight for his life. Thankfully, Seke responded quickly to the anti-dengue medicine and began to recover. But the problem fro Gio is that he has already had dengue 2 years ago and when it comes for a second time ... it is far more dangerous. Added to this, he has a heart problem that has weakened him.
Mary went in last night. Gio was concious, although weak. He asked his mum to hug him and said, "Don't worry mum, I am not going to die. I won't leave you here. Anyway, I haven't got my medal from school yet!" if a child attends our school for all three years they get a Loyalty Medal - and this is the desire of wee Gio's heart!
But things worsened overnight. His body began to fail. The family ran out of money and Mary asked me to go and pray for the family and see what they needed. When I got there I was so sad. His mum was waiting for us and when she saw us she bust into tears and crumbled into our arms. "Please help my baby," she sobbed. Winston and I went up and saw Gio. He had tubes going into his nose, hands and feet, a ventilator was breathing for him and I counted five medicines going to his body by drips. It was a terrible sight. I managed to pray for him on a couple of occasions - in between nurses and doctors working away at him.
I know the doctor and she said it is a very serious case - 50/50. I spent most of the afternoon there, encouraging the family, trying to find blood donors and praying for the boys. I am getting our Cornerstone Pastors to be at the hospital for 24 hr prayer and support. Tonight and tomorrow are critical. This morning hos platelet level was 15 ... near death.
Will you pray for these two little boys - especially Gio? Take time to lift him up in prayer. Can you get the people in your church to pray? Inform the prayer chains and intercesors. Send this blog to your friends and ask them to stand with us. This is a spiritual battle. Pray that Gio pulls through and recovers fast. He needs us ...
His medal is waiting.
1 comment:
AWw those boys are cute, can remember them. Will be prayin for them both.
Love
Auntie Vivix
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