First and foremost, thank you to everyone for all the kind thoughts and words and prayers for healing and peace.
To update you on my situation, I was admitted to a private hospital here in Santa Rosa de Copan due to an abscess on my lower extremity. I have been battling the Chikungunya virus since my very first month in Costa Rica. It has gradually worsened, causing different complications as I’ve traveled to different countries. My body has been constantly fighting this virus and could not fight the bacteria that caused this infection. In other words, my body now needs a break. LOL
What I thought I was praying for my body to heal from was not simply just an inflamed area or something minor that would just go away. The abscess grew in a very sensitive and important mobilization area. It was bad enough to have to be surgically removed. This is all a sign to stop and process what I have learned and walk out the faith that I have built over the past three months.
I stayed in the hospital for a few days after surgery, then returned back to my ministry site where my amazing squad leaders and friends could help care for me. The people God has placed in my life here have become family. I truly am so grateful for having them. I have developed friendships with some of the girls that I will cherish forever. Who knows, maybe I’ll return here to teach the children in the foster system.
FAITH BRINGS JOY…so I will be joyful in this time because my faith is strong in Him and the plan He has for all of this.
“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5
Through the times of pain and suffering, I said out loud “God be with me”…and HE WAS! I knew that my pain was only temporary. It happened at Easter, which was a very significant time to remind me that the “sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing” to what Jesus suffered on that cross and it is nothing “compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us”.
I will be returning home this week to recover and heal. It could take a month or it could take two. But my God is a faithful and loving God who heals and hears our cries. I am hopeful and very positive that I will return back on the field for my birthday (first week of May) to join my friends, sisters and brothers, to continue laying hands on Gods creation.
It was not an easy thing to accept going home after being away for so long and missing time in Chile with my team, but I have found peace. I trust in God’s plan and will continue my spiritual journey of growth back at home.
Please continue to keep praying for quick healing, endurance, peace, and obedience over the next few weeks for me. I can’t thank you all enough for being a part of this experience and what it means to me to build these relationships through Christ Jesus.
