Part of ministry this month has consisted of helping at a Seven Day Adventist hospital. We help with raising money for their child heart fund that provides funding for families that can’t afford the costs of the treatment, some of us help in the human resource department doing data entry of the vacation days of the employees (glorious, I know), while some of us get to go with the hospital chaplains and talk, listen, and pray for the patients.
Last Thursday (the 17th) Kat, who usually goes with the chaplain was too ill and ask to switch spots with me. I was paired with a chaplain named Cheong who is a very hands off quiet man and he basically told me to lead the way. Okay. Most of the patients have very basic ability to speak and understand English, and I had no ability understanding Malay, Chinese, or whatever else they were saying so Cheong would help with translating as he knew six language. I’m not exactly sure how the hospital places the patients in the different wards, some would be placed in big rooms and they would need anything from heart surgeries to bad cases of gas. Some patients would have a room to themselves and they could be awaiting a major surgery or recovering from a minor one. I’m sure there was a method to their madness, but oh well.
Cheong lead me to a room with eight patients, mostly Indonesians. Surprisingly, all of them had a decent understanding and ability to speak English. Cheong immediately lead me to an old man named Suigeharto (I’m pretty sure I spelled that wrong but it is pronuced Sue-gee-hear-toe) who was having a heart problem due to fluid levels in his heart being too high. I’m no cardiologist so I hope I get this right but I believe it is called pericardial effusion. The doctors needed to drain some of the fluid, but could not due to his blood being too thin which means it would not clot after the surgery. Suigeharto, his wife, and his son Stephen are all believers and were very open for me to pray that the blood becomes thick enough to have the surgery. So I prayed for healing for his blood and his heart, for strength for the family in this difficult time, for the presence of the Lord to fill the room, for steady hands from the doctor, and for him to use this experience as a way to glorify the Father. I started to have a conversation with Stephen who spoke really good English as he had worked for the U.S embassy in Indonesia when the doctor came in and told us that the blood was thick enough and that the surgery would be today. Well that was about the best news the family could ask for, and Steven especially was filled with joy due to the healing. He took me to all the other patients, made me pray for them and talk with them. I got to share my testimony, hear the testimony of a man who was healed from stage four prostate cancer, laugh and joke around with them, and take pictures with them, lots and lots of pictures. I felt like a rockstar. I’m now probably on a bunch of Indonesian’s Facebook pages and was seriously invited to go to Indonesia, only an hour away by plane, for a Bible study with one of the patients I met (the squad leaders said no). You could just feel the presence of the Lord in the room with these people, all smiles, all filled with so much joy and hope even though they were hurt or sick. It was honestly the best day of the Race for me so far; it was the first time this month where I really felt like I was making a difference and bringing glory to God.
I wish I could end the blog here. I wish I could tell you that I saw Suigeharto recovering from his surgery and that I got to give Stephen a high-five. I wish I could end this blog with a popular verse of how God heals, how if we ask we shall receive, how we are called to be the hands and feet of God to perform miracles. I wish I could leave the readers encouraged and empowered by being able to say the end, but this story is not over.
The next Tuesday (the 22nd) I was assigned to a different chaplain so I didn’t get to know if the surgery went well. On Thursday (the 24th) as I was walking up the stairs to go meet the chaplains I saw Stephen walking down the stairs. I was excited to see him and immediately asked how his father was doing. Stephen was not his normal cheerful self, instead he looked tired and anxious. He told me that due to complications his father still had not had the surgery because his blood was still too thin. I asked him how that was possible, I was in the room when the doctors told him his surgery would be that day. He told me that complications had arisen and the blood was still too thin, but all we needed were one to two more prayers. As Brad and I entered the mini chapel we quickly decided to pray for him and for healing.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to get to see Suigeharto again, we really only go where the chaplains decide and different chaplains are assigned to different parts of the hospital I believe, and I wasn’t sure if he was still in the same room as before. Well the chaplain I was assigned Tuesday walked in and I assumed I would go with him, but he said he would like Brad to go with him this time. Cheong walked in next meaning I would be assigned to him. The first thing he does is tell me about how Suigeharto still hasn’t had the surgery, is very weak, and that I need to go pray for him.
We enter the same room as before, and it felt so different from the last time I entered it. All my friends that I had got to know so well were all gone. It was quiet besides the beep….beep…beep noise from the heart monitor next to Suigeharto. I could just tell he was in a much worse condition than my last visit strapped to different machines, oxygen tubes in his nose, a running IV, and other medical stuff that I have no clue for what purpose they serve. He was dying.
He looked at me and smiled and said, “Good morning Mr. Robert (long story) how are you this morning?”
“I’m doing alright Uncle (you call your elders uncle here out of respect, kind of like calling someone sir in the States) I’m really sorry. I’m sorry that your blood isn’t thick enough yet, I’m sorry that my prayer didn’t lead to healing.”
I leaned in as he whispered, “Oh no no no that is okay. I still believe. God is number one. All of this is important, but God he is in my heart and is the most important part of my life. He is good.”
“How are you not mad? They came in and gave the great news, but quickly pulled away that hope.”
He looked at me and smiled, “No Mr. Robert they did not take away my hope, Jesus is my hope they can’t take that from me.”
So we prayed. I was left in awe. No God had not healed him, and that honestly sucks. However, the fact of the matter is that old people die, and even if he is healed it is better to know Jesus for one day than to live a lifetime. Just ask the crucified prisoner. As I left my heart was led to Psalm 22. The first lines are really famous due to the fact it was what Jesus said while he was being crucified. Reading it I realized that it was exactly how I was feeling from hearing the news and really being mad at God for what I perceived as not listening to my prayer, to being reassured that he knows each and every one of us, and that he does not ever abandon us, and that he will deliver us.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.
I couldn’t end this blog post until I knew if he was able to have the surgery or not. Something about closure I guess. Well, it turns out that he was well enough and his blood was thick enough and he is now recovering without any complications. Praise God! Praise God not only for health, but for the Holy Spirit, for his Son dying for us, for his presence, and for not abandoning us in the toughest of times.
If you read all this, congratulations, if we ever meet I’ll buy you a cookie or something. Peace out.
