Fearing The Unknown

Anxiety doesn't need much of a catalyst.

Just an idea.  A fact.  Something that is known.

Like, for example.  We knew that this small child had an infection in his left leg.  But, this child didn't happen to live in a developed nation, with all the state of the arts resources to help beat his infection.

And, now, the infection had penetrated the large bone in his left leg.  Besides, there are no financial resources for treatment even if those medical resources were available.

Anxiety!  He is about 18 months old and his leg weeps from wounds on the leg.  He is in constant pain.  If the infection is not stopped he could lose his life ... or, at the bare minimum ... his leg!

Those were the facts NGM was faced with early this year.  But, this is not the first time that challenges have come to the life of Little William.  His mother died at childbirth.  The man who produced him had no stomach for fathering.  He told the grandmother, "Let the boy follow his mother to the grave."

William gowns up for the surgery room

But.  Isn't that a great word?  And when you follow it up with God it becomes even greater. A word full of unknown potential.

But God!  God is a deal breaker and a game changer.  When God is in the picture the outcome is unknown.  And, it is obvious that Little William has the fingerprints of God on his existence.

First ... he has a grandmother that loves him.  A grandmother of faith.  She listens to a radio program by Pastor Robert Kaawa and believes God can heal her grandson.  She travels to Jinja to have Pastor Robert pray for Little William.

Removal of the cast reveals great news!

Second ... Pastor Robert calls Next Generation Ministries.  He says that he believes this child needs prayer AND medical attention.  Can NGM help?

We do the best we can ... where we are ... with what we have been given ... by God.

Third ... God brings Dr. Brian and Maren Snyders to Jinja, Uganda, from Couere A'lene, Idaho. Though they are still feeling the pain of losing their 19th month old son to cancer recently, they give their hearts to Little William.

Fourth ... Financial resources are made available from various sources.

Fifth ... Dr. Muballe of International Hospital Kampala willingly takes the case after the infected bone had been removed from William's leg in a previous surgery.  Failure to irrigate the previous and surgical wounds with antibiotics left the leg still infected.  Dr. Muballe moved the smaller bone to the uninfected bone below the knee and above the ankle and attached it to them with screws.  And He fed the leg with medication to fight the infection.

Sixth ... NGM associates sustain continued mediation for William and transport him and his grandmother to and from the hospital in Kampala.

And, this past Wednesday the cast was removed. And a wonderful discovery was made beneath. The wounds were all healed.  The bone is attaching and growing in diameter.  It is time for William to let his growing bone support his weight!

We will return to Kampala in early February and give you another update on this amazing journey with Little William.

Thank you to all who donated funds, prayed faithfully, and loved this little guy.  It's been a great team that has worked together.  And, the temptation to worry and be anxious for the life and limb of Little William disappeared long ago.

But God!

For the medically inclined who are interested ... sorry about the loss of focus