Thankful for life...
The other day, after looking at her MRI and CAT scans, her huge incision... I could imagine how big her brain tumor was and it made the fact that she was back to talking, moving, thinking even more amazing... The difference from days before was incredible when she was debilitated from excruciating pain and had little movement and speech... Her side effects now are not being able to tie a knot or do things like untangle her IV tubes untangled... One eye is a bit cross eyed... and there are certain events/people she can’t remember... and texting on her cell phone takes almost too much effort to figure out...
Giovanna talked about having another chance to live and wanting to be different... I told her she needed to fill the hole in her head (and heart) with God and good things... Tonight when I went to visit her, I found her sitting by her bed with her eyes tightly closed in concentration, her mouth moving silently... When I interrupted her, tears came to her eyes...”I was praying... there is nothing else that I can do...” It’s been three or four days since she’s had visitors (even her dad hasn’t come by)... The hospital discharged her two days ago... but she owes 10,000 Bs!!! ($1445 US!!!), much, much more than what the doctor had originally led her to believe it would be... They won’t let her leave or even get her pathology results until the bill is paid!! The hospital social worker has offered to knock the bill in half... but it is still way out of reach – because everyone’s money went into the tests and pharmacy bills before...
Her doctor told her that in surgery, Giovanna’s heart actually stopped for nearly 5 minutes... He has no explanation for why “she came back” except that God has some special purpose for her... Giovanna remembers having arrived to an indescribably beautiful place... and asking to be able to care for her boy a while longer... She feels that God has allowed her to come back - but with the purpose of telling others about Him... She feels so happy, thankful to be alive... but at the same time afraid because she has “sinned so much”...
She is trying to remember what else God told her when she was in surgery... and is grasping at any opportunity to get to know Him... she has no idea about anything... a visitor gave the ladies in her room “prayers” to repeat 5 times each, that’s what she was trying to do when I arrived... I read verses about what Jesus said about prayer and about his sacrifice on the cross that breaks down the barrier of animosity between God and man - allowing those who believe on Him to be near to God... She put her hand on the page in my Bible... and wondered if one day she could have one... if they cost a lot... She soaked in the Bible until visiting hours were up... I was sorry that I didn’t have any tracts or anything in my Bible that I could leave her to read... For a flash, I considered ripping out a few pages for her to have but in the next moment I figured that wasn’t very smart... but she just seems so starved to want to know... The only thing I had was a little bookmark with the colors of the wordless book...
In the years since I last saw Giovanna she has been more deeply involved in delinquency and drugs... While we were reading the Bible... she all of a sudden thought about the large “San Jorge” that she has in her room (the patron saint of street kids/thieves; they light candles in front of it, asking for his blessing)and asked me what she should do with it... I told her that some people who came to believe in Christ would burn or throw out their saints, things that didn’t honor God... Although it might seem that “San Jorge” had answered her requests – I asked her what she had to show for it... nothing... nothing to show... nothing that has satisfied or filled her... She has fear that “San Jorge” will retaliate/take vengeance when she removes her loyalty from him / betrays him... (She even named her son Jorge.)
Please pray:
- That Giovanna would come to know Christ in a real, personal, living way... and that He would take away her fears
- That her desire to study the Bible wouldn’t fade... and that I could have the joy of sharing more Truth with her...
- That God would provide for her to get out of the hospital... every day that goes by, the bill goes up... her dad has been trying to get a loan... but hasn’t been able to...
- That the tumor might be benign
Thank you for praying... and please continue to do so...
Corina... for Giovanna...