The Tribulation, Experience, and Hope.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4

This is the word that God put in our hearts this year to guide us and to become alive in us. And in every circumstance and crossroad that has come our way this year, this is the word that has guided us and is coming alive in our hearts. It has been wonderful to see joy and contentment in Him be with us no matter the circumstance. Living with Him has indeed been a challenging journey but an extremely satisfying on as well. Our hearts continue to be grateful to have you as part of our story.

THE TRIBULATION

I woke up at 5 am with our son James crying in the agony of not being able to breathe. James was having an asthma attack. 7 have I gave him another dose, and still no change in his state of pure agony, so we decided to call 111 ( the medical advice center here in the Uk) so that they could advise us as to what hospital was the best to take him in this situation. When I explained what was happening the medical advisor on the line asked me, ” Is his stomach sinking with every breath?” My answer was,”yes”. So the medical advisor responded with, ” a doctor will be with you in 5 minutes.” In literally 5 minutes there was a doctor in my living room measuring James oxygen saturation level and medicating him. When the medication didn’t work and his oxygen level continued to lower, the doctor explained, ” Mum, your son is not breathing very well on his own.

I am calling an ambulance to rush you guys to hospital.” In 5 minutes the ambulance picked us up and as we entered the ambulance the paramedic said, ” mum, your son is very close to having a respiratory arrest. Please do not panic with a number of doctors, nurses, and equipment that will be used on your son in the hospital. ” The sirens were turned on and in a few minutes, we were in the hospital where an emergency medical team was waiting for us. After giving James 7 doses of strong medication, with no successful result. At this point, the doctor turned to me and said, ” mum, we are going give James some sulfate magnesium via his veins, because he is not reacting to the medication that is normally given to toddlers in his state. This medication can have some unwanted effects in the heart, however, we need to try and save your child’s life so as a precaution we are calling a cardiologist to be here.

” Fortunately, James reacted well to the magnesium and it did help his breathing a little bit but he was still having an asthma attack, so he was admitted into the hospital where he was on oxygen and was receiving hourly medication until about 9 pm when asthma finally ceased. During this whole process, I was extremely calm, not wanting to believe that this was happening to my son. I was trying to hide the despair and the desire to take over me my sons agony. And when asthma ceased at 9 pm I finally came to grips with what had happened. At that moment the despair of feeling helpless, of not being able to relieve my son’s agony hit me hard, and I thought I was going to dismantle right there and then. But and indescribable presence met me and my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy over my son’s life. We knew we had friends and family praying for him all over the world.

The YWAM Harpenden community which we are a part of stood with us in prayer for James life during the morning worship and intercession. (James 5:16b) While all of this was playing over in my mind, I was certain that my son was alive because the Breath of Life breathed on him. The next day James was released from the hospital and the doctor reported that she has never seen someone take so long to respond to treatment, and then all of a sudden respond in such a way that his improvement was immediate and thorough. I smiled as my heart was once more filled with gratitude joy and the absolute assurance that because HE lives there is hope for tomorrow. James is home and in a long-term care plan, He hasn’t had an episode since he’s been out of the hospital.

THE TRIBULATION

The Experience Thiago was invited to photograph a friends wedding in Germany, so off he went! He got through immigration in the UK and got on a plane to Germany. When he got to immigration in Germany, he couldn’t find his passport. So he was taken back to the airplane he had just come off of to look for his passport. It wasn’t there. When he returned to immigration, it was already closed so he was led through another side door that led him directly to the airport gates, no one had stopped him! so he went directly to the police station in the airport. The police told him no problem just come back when you are leaving back to the UK and we will escort you to your flight. So just like that, Thiago got into Germany without a passport! !!

He had a wonderful time with his friend and his bride and had the opportunity to share a word of encouragement to the bride’s parents, which brought hope and renewal to them. On Monday Thiago went to the airport early to work out the whole passport situation and found out that whatever the officer told him when he arrived was not correct. He would have to go to Berlin and get an emergency Brazilian passport that would cost 400 euros! Thiago immediately called me with the news. I hung up and prayed, “God I am tired, I don’t have the strength to deal with a 400 euro debt at the moment, and we don’t have this money. Please, bring me a solution.” Immediately something came into my mind, call the Luton airport. So I called, and within 5 minutes I was told Thiago’s passport was there! So my neighbor drove me to the airport where I retrieved Thiago’s lost passport for only 5 Pounds. And immediately sent it to Thiago in Germany. He was home two days after. First miracle: Thiago got into Germany without a passport! Second miracle: Finding Thiago’s passport the enormous airport within 5 minutes of a random phone call.

Thiago needs to be there with the brides family, and him losing his passport did not keep him from accomplishing the Father’s will.

HOPE

(because he lives) It was a cold morning and it was my first day at clients home as her caregiver. I had been there once before for a 15-minute call. The lady was in her eighties. When I arrived for the 12 hours sit her daughter sat me down I said, “I asked you the agency to send you over here because the other day when you were here I felt such incredible peace. So tell me, why are you in England and why did I feel such peace with you here ?’ So an incredible journey started where I was able to share about LOVE himself. I had the privilege of sharing peace that is beyond understanding with this family and I was able to be unconditional love to this family who did not yet believe in the supernatural I shared about Jessica being hit by a car that was going 35 miles an hour and the fact that she got away with only a few scratches and bruises, this was enough to convince that Jesus lives. In their own words, “after witnessing such a great deliverance, there is no way to deny a God who cares and is alive!”