Would you join with us in praying for one of our Colombian missionaries?
The Barrios family pictured above serves the Lord among the Tikuna people in the Amazon jungle on the southernmost point of Colombia (where Colombia, Peru and Brazil come together).
Danelvis Barriosis seriously ill (her friends call her “Dani,” like “Danny”). She had a bad cough for several weeks, which she and her husband Jhon* thought was caused by a bad cold, but they discovered that it was TUBERCULOSIS, which is endemic in that area of the Amazon.
[*not a typo – Jhon is a common spelling in Colombia]
Her condition deteriorated rapidly and the doctors in the nearest jungle town sent her to the capital city of Bogotá to receive a better level of care.
This is the report that we have: She is in intensive care, at one point we heard that she only had a 40% chance of recovering. Beside her lungs being affected, her liver is seriously compromised as well as her digestive tract and her brain is not receiving sufficient oxygen.
As you can see, major organ failure is a very real possibility. We are asking God for a miracle to restore her to health. This family has risked everything for the cause of sharing Christ with the Tikuna people. May God show Himself powerful in her life.
Here is a bit of their story, in case you’d like a little background…
Eida and I haven’t met Danelvis and her husband Jhon Barrios. They arrived as singles to the Instituto Misionero training in Colombia after we had left that ministry. Jhon is from Barranquilla and Danelvis is from Santa Marta, both coastal cities. They were attracted to each other and got married, looking forward to serving God together.
Her parents were reluctant to see her go into missions, they were very torn up about it — they really wanted her to stay and care for them.
It has not been easy for the Barrios family. They really had to learn to live by faith when they answered God’s call.
One night they went to bed in their jungle home with nothing in the kitchen to eat the following day, looking to their Heavenly Father to supply their need. The next day, a Tikuna man appeared at their door, a man they had never met. He had been paddling his canoe for a long time and was delighted to present them with a very large fish and 2 large plantains!
Their Father in Heaven had woken up this tribal man who lived many hours away and moved him to fish and take food to a family he had never met. YES! That is their God, our God!
This has been a hard season of health trials for our Latin American coworkers. We have seen the health of several of them attacked with cancer, with a stroke, with CREST and various other serious afflictions.
Sometimes, God chooses to heal, sometimes He extends life and sustains through pain and struggle, and sometimes He takes his servants Home. It’s not always easy to understand why He does what He does, but our lives are in His hands and our trust is in Him.
Thank you for praying for Dani as well as Jhon and their girls, Sara and Moriah (Sara also got sick but is better). No doubt you can imagine what they are going through as they see the one they love so much fighting for her life. We’ll try to keep you updated as we receive news.
Before we say goodbye, we want to thank God and thank those of you who responded to our prayer request with intercession and offers of help. We have been abundantly blessed — my costs for the trip to Bolivia in July are totally covered. May God be praised.
Serving our Risen Savior together with you. Maranatha,
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