Update on Rachida

I was able to get some updates on Rachida this week. But before I share them with you, I want to THANK YOU so much for praying! It’s been so encouraging to get so many messages both from people I know and people I don’t know saying that they’re praying for little Rachida and her family. I look forward to seeing continued answers to prayer.

In the last update I shared with you that there was progress made on two fronts – the treatment going on in another country and the CT scans that were being brought to the US to have a doctor there take a look at them.

On the US front, they were looked at by a very kind doctor in Cincinnati who took a long time to sit down and talk with the missionary doctor. You can thank God for him! He said that he can’t tell what could be done just from them, though, and would really need two other tests (MRI and retinophotography) to be able to tell if there was a good treatment option available in the US or not. But in talking with Rachida’s grandma, she decided not to pursue those tests at the moment, since they are expensive and even if there was treatment available in the US there would be no way to pay for that, and also because she’s excited about what’s happening on the West Africa front. . .

On the West Africa front, they got in to see the doctor at his clinic (a clinic being nicer and giving better care than a hospital) and he has been caring for Rachida. He said that he believes that in 6 months she’ll have at least some sight back and will be able to keep her eyes, after going through more chemotherapy and then some laser treatment. That’s good news!

Now, I know that here, often doctors (and others) will tell you what you want to hear and not necessarily what’s true. Healthcare here also isn’t as precise here as in the US, and losing a patient is more common and more accepted as part of life. But I know that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people praying – you out there, people here, and people around the globe, and I believe that even if the doctors can’t do anything, our God can. I’m believing Him to work a miracle in this little girl’s life and to somehow give her back her sight and heal her completely from her cancer. Will you believe Him for that with me and pray to that end? And keep praying for the doctors and for the family – that all of them would see our great big God’s handprints all over this. May there be more than physical healing going on through this!