One particular Egyptian house visit that will leave a lasting impression on me...

The young boy between Risa and I just had surgery.

The boy in the photo to the left has a special place in my heart... when we visited him and his family we learned he just had surgery on his liver.  It's a two hour ride to Cairo (to the doctors and hospital) which is quite the distance when you don't have your own transportation nor is it very reliable when you need to get a ride there.

Back to this young man (I wish I remembered his name)... he is 10 and he recently went in for surgery on his stomach, the doctors found tumors, 17 of them to be exact!  They were only able to remove one during the surgery... then it gets a little fuzzy why they couldn't remove more  (or all for that matter) - it was literally lost in translation.  Maybe his body was too weak to endure a lengthy surgery?  We were told that his fragile body would never be able to endure any more surgeries, so the doctors sent him back home with medication (to help shrink the tumors).  It's unfortunate that the medication he was given makes him sick and takes away his appetite... so he doesn't have any energy to eat and remains weakened.  The grandma went to get something to show us.  She came back with some gauze and began unraveling it.  It was the tumor that the doctors removed.  It was just over an inch and maybe a half long and approximately the circumference of a jolly rancher.

God is so awesome placing Risa and I as the two missionaries that visited this young man, because we could relate to his struggle...

You see, Risa was sick before coming to Egypt.  She was pretty much out of commission for at least the two weeks leading up to the trip and the first couple days of the trip.  She had no appetite and felt nauseous - without any explanation along with some other symptoms.  She did her best to share her story and encourage him to eat even when he didn't "feel" like it because he needs the strength for his body to fight and to heal.  I, on the other hand, related to the surgery-side of his story.  I had surgery on my stomach when I was 3 days old!  I desperately wanted to show him my scar on my belly, but revealing my stomach is a cultural no-no!  So I tried to encourage him and share the healing powers of Jesus with him.  As you can see in the above photograph,  it's a struggle for him to sit there and listen, but I wanted to share how God has the power to change and heal him, like He did me.  Here I am, 30-some-odd years later and thankful for the opportunity to tell a part of the story God gave me with him, in hope that he becomes hopeful and makes the decision to do his part in the healing process.  After we shared our struggles with him and the rest of the family, we were privileged to pray over him and were struck at just how God totally orchestrated this family to be one of our families to visit.  I believe no one else on our team would have been able to personally share and relate in the same way as we did!  I do pray God heals him and he becomes a living testament of God's healing for others!