Over the last several weeks we have sent out emails to those on our mailing list regarding Joshua’s illness but I haven’t posted much here. I thought I would summarize his story here, even though his journey of healing is not yet complete.
APRIL 3, 2015
We would like to ask you to bring this young boy before the Throne in prayer.
Joshua is a 13 year old Ga’dang boy that lives in our village. He is very sick. None of the handful of possible illnesses he has are very good. Would you pray for healing for Joshua? We are asking for His will to be done. We pray that he will be able to live long enough to hear the Gospel and accept Him as his Savour.
Here is a little of the story:
Two weeks ago Joshua started to have pain and swelling in his right leg. The midwife came to look at it and didn’t see any injury so gave him pain medication. A couple days later Joshua’s father came to us to see if we could look at his leg. We figured that there was an infection in his leg and gave them some antibiotics. He took 1 day of the antibiotic and then decided to go see the Espiritista church to see if they could heal him. The family is part of another religious group but they went there anyway. They don’t attend the Espiritista church. The church tried working on healing him but said that his pain was so great that they couldn’t do anything. Joshua’s family decided to take him to the hospital in town last Friday. He spent 4 days and nights in the hospital. He was on strong antibiotics by intravenous and having trouble breathing. After 4 days the doctors also said they couldn’t do anything more for him and sent him home. He arrived home to Paradi late this Wednesday and we went to see him Thursday morning. His leg is more swollen now and his pain is more and he is still having trouble breathing. There is a lot of pus in his leg that Joshua himself is squeezing out! We have been in contact with a doctor friend. After sharing what has happened and how his chest X-rays look, the prognosis isn’t good. The quality of care this boy needs just isn’t available here. And even if he got it, there still might not be a cure even if they figured out what it was for sure.
He is now on some new antibiotics and we have some TB meds coming in in the next few days to try and see if that is the possible cause of this.
Pray for his healing.
Pray for guidance for us as we treat him.
Pray for the witness that we are to him and his family and even the village.
Pray for his family as they go through this difficult time watching their son be so very sick.
Pray for us as it makes us very weary.
Pray for Joshua’s salvation.
Most of all pray the HIS will will be done in this situation.
APRIL 6, 2015
Thank you for your continued prayers for Joshua. The swelling in his leg has gone down some since Friday but he is having a lot of trouble breathing still. He is in a lot of pain still and maybe even more so than he was a couple days ago. We have noticed that he is getting thinner too.
Friday after we shared with you all about this situation, we were contacted by a group that ministers to poor children here in the Philippines that are in need of medical care. One of their locations is in Baguio City. This is about 120km from us but would take 12 hrs by bus to get there because of the mountainous terrain. We are working with our helicopter pilot to have Joshua flown to Baguio on Tuesday (your Monday night). We are praying for clear weather and calm winds for this flight. We just had a tropical storm blow through over the weekend and it causes some strong winds off the back side of it.
Please pray that Joshua would be stable enough to travel tomorrow. Pray for the doctors there that they would be able to find out what is the problem and get him treatment. Pray also for those who will minister to him and his family during this time. Pray for the salvation of Joshua and his family.
We will keep you updated on Joshua as we hear more.
If you would like to help in a practical way to help cover the cost of his helicopter flight you can donate at these links for US Donors and for Canadian Donors. It will cost between $500-$600 to fly him to Baguio.
To learn more about those who will help Joshua in Baguio you can check out their website here.
Thank you again for your prayers.
APRIL 7, 2015
Thank you all for your prayers for Joshua.
This morning we were amazed at how much more alert Joshua was compared to yesterday. He was dressed and ready to go when we got to his home. The helicopter arrived at 8:30am and took Joshua and his father to Baguio. Claire was there waiting to pick them up and take them to the hospital. He was quickly assessed and tests were done.
The infection in his leg is getting better and they determined that it was NOT in the bone. Praise the Lord! He also has pneumonia. This explains his difficulty breathing. Joshua has been admitted to the hospital for treatment. He is expected to fully recover.
Thank you to each one for praying for Joshua. We truly believe that through your prayers Joshua was and is being healed. The way he looked on Friday and again on Monday made us think that it was impossible for him to make it through this illness if not for the grace of God.
We trust that the Lord has great things in store of Joshua and his family. Continue to pray for continued healing for Joshua. Pray for those ministering to him in Baguio. Pray also for the relationship that we have been building with the family. We pray that it will give us an open door to sharing the Gospel with them in the future.
APRIL 15, 2015
Please continue to pray for Joshua. He is still in the hospital in Baguio. He has quite the cough still and is on some strong antibiotics. He also continues to have a fever off and on. We are praying that he can start to improve in that area too. Yesterday he was able to walk around a little bit. Thank you to all those who have been praying and for those that have given financially to help Joshua and his family.
APRIL 23, 2015
Thank you for your continued prayers for Joshua.
He has been in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks now in Baguio. Helping Hands Healing Hearts has done a great job taking care of him and his family there. We are so very thankful for all they have done for Joshua.
Joshua’s dad came home last weekend and came to visit with us. He was truly amazed and thankful for all the help he received from us (you all) and from those at HHHH. He commented that it was God who brought the doctor back from vacation when they needed him. Praise God for the light that Johnny is seeing. He thanked everyone for their prayers.
Joshua has been doing well in the hospital and there was hope that he would be able to come home this coming week but today I heard from Claire saying that the most recent x-ray of his leg doesn’t look good despite the strong antibiotics he has been on. It had been looking good before. They are referring him to an orthopedic surgeon to see what else is the problem and what can be done.
If you would like to help with his continued expenses you can donate to Helping Hands Healing Hearts. Include a note saying it is for Joshua.
Please pray for Joshua. Pray that God would continue to touch his body and heal him. Pray that those working with the family will continue to be a testimony of His love for them.
We will keep you updated as we know more but sometimes there is just nothing new to share.