My heart was bursting with excitement. After spending 3 weeks living on the hospital grounds, I finally had the chance to go in and pray with patients. We only had about an hour because our bus was about to arrive to take us to debrief, but I wanted the chance to go in. Walking down the tattered hallways, this looked more like an old DMV than a hospital. Twisting and turning, we arrived at the NICU. HMMM, NICU seems like not the right word to use. But, this is not America. So we walked right in, nowhere to check-in, no masks to put on, no nurses station to sneak past. We walked right in to a room where 6 premature babies were being cared for. 3 were in incubators, and 3 were in cribs. I walked around talking with the mothers and praying with them and their babies.
Then, another Squad mate and I ended up at the same crib. This little baby had no one sitting watchfully by. At first we thought it was a boy, but later discovered she was a girl (more on that below). This baby was very different from the rest. She was literally writhing in pain. Arching her tiny body backwards, moaning, and contorting her limbs. She was in agony! Not screaming agony, but ‘this is all I have ever known’, moaning in agony. Our hearts were broken. Nathan and I began praying and singing and worshiping over her. I had been sick so I didn’t feel comfortable touching her, (I didn’t think I was contagious, but just in case…), so I asked Nathan if he would touch her. Our hearts were broken. We begged God to bring her freedom, to ease her suffering, to care for her and call her as her own. We asked Jesus to fight for her, to defend her, and to take away her pain. We thanked Him that the work on the cross already took her suffering. We prayed that she would know the presence of God, that nothing else would satisfy her, and that she would seek the Lord, and find Him. That He would care for her and set her free from any demonic strongholds or generational curses that were causing this torment. We prayed for God to bring her peace, and rest, and healing. As our hearts broke more, Nathans touch became more confident, and he sought to sooth her with his warm hands. I saw Jesus reaching down and touching this young one because of a man who said ‘Yes’ to God.
After a while, a team mate joined us to let us know we needed to think about leaving soon since the bus was coming any minute. Michelle (the other Michelle) speaks great Spanish so when the nurse stopped by, we got the message: The nurse did not know this babies name, and said she had no family to come and visit her (this is also when we realized it was a girl). Our hearts broke even more! The nurse said that if there was anything we could do to help her, we should do it.
That gave us the confidence we needed that it was OK to hold her. Nathan eagerly picked her up and held her in his arms, singing over her, delighting in her, broken for her. Our tears, captured by Jesus in heaven, as we wept with this little one who was hurting so deeply. Slowly, she began to calm. Her frantic writhing became less intense, and her moans and cries stopped coming. She was in the arms of Jesus.
Another squad mate, Mariah, had joined now, and had the idea to name her. Mariah’s sister had a word from the Lord a few days back that Mariah would meet a Genevieve and she would be somehow significant. So we decided that Genevieve was the name she should have.
By the end of our time with her, Genevieve seemed like a normal, beautiful baby girl, slowly closing her eyes, fighting back the sleep that was creeping in. I cant explain how my heart rejoiced for the peace that was brought to this precious one of God. I am so thankful for the short time of rest she found in the arms of a stranger, a brother in Christ who loves her deeply.
I don’t know what medical reason she has for being in the hospital, but my spirit confirms that she suffers most from a broken heart. Touch is not optional in this life. It is not something we can go without. Like food and water, touch sustains our soul and gives us life. Today, we spoke life, and delivered it through our hands. Tomorrow, we trust her to Jesus who loves her more than we can ever know.
