Everyday Miracles
We live life here in the day-to-day. We get caught up in routines, much like anywhere else, and we find a steady rhythm to get through each day. Little things may come up to cause this pace to slow from time to time, but for the most part we carry on steadily, peacefully. However, every so often, something out of the ordinary happens; something so immense that it doesn't just slow our pace of life but brings it to a crashing stop. This is what happened a few weeks ago with Odilove.
Odilove is a preschool student at Jubilee School. He's almost 6 years old but in our Preschool 3 class. His father was a well known Voodoo priest in Jubilee who died suddenly last spring. Odilove has been living with his Grandmother since then, and experienced constant illness throughout the past few months. Just before Christmas he was treated for Typhoid and ear infections, and missed more than two weeks of school. After missing more school in February, Lala had a strong feeling of urgency to find him and see how he is doing. Seeing that he needed immediate care, Lala, Katie, Cody, and Brian cared for him in the clinic, treating what Cody assumed was very advanced pneumonia. It was clear pretty quickly, however, that without oxygen tanks there was little we could do, and his chances of overpowering the pneumonia were slim. At one point, we led every student and teacher to the Clinic building, where we surrounded the building, lifting our hands and worshipping together. Within the hour we located the oxygen Odilove needed, and his stats quickly improved.
Not being able to come off the oxygen machines, he stayed with Cody, Brian, Katie, and Lala above the school for close to 2 weeks after he initially came to the clinic. The second night, after steady improvement, our community came to him to pray together, and as we entered one by one his oxygen levels dropped rapidly. We shook the fear, rebuked the presence of worry, and prayed healing over him together. There are no words for what took place that night, but God was there, He was present with us and fighting along side us for Odilove's life, which we knew as we watched his stats rise again, feeling the collective breathe of thanksgiving.
The next week we reconvened above the school once again, praying that Odilove be strong enough to breathe without assistance, and that once he could be transported we could get him to a doctor to drain his very swollen, injured knee. The next morning, Odilove was walking the halls of the school without any breathing machines, and his knee began draining on its own. Holy!
Odilove is stronger now and continuing to heal each day back in the care of his Grandmother, and under our watchful eye at school. We get caught up in the routine, in the rhythm, in the demands of daily life here, but occasionally something happens so out of the ordinary that we collectively stop our routines and divert our entire focus. It's in these moments of crisis, amidst the chaos, that we see miracles. These are the moments we are reminded of how closely God is working among us here, and how great His presence is. I have seen His miracles unfold over the past few weeks, I have felt Him working among us and in us. It has been incredible, holy beyond words. My prayer now is that going forward we don't need the crisis to see these moments so clearly, to feel His presence so palpably, but that we raise our bar of faith and awareness just enough that we might see these miracles in the everyday as well. Because it is clear that miracles are happening around us, that healing and restoration is happening in the every day, and I would hate to be so caught up in the routine that I miss it.
Odilove is a preschool student at Jubilee School. He's almost 6 years old but in our Preschool 3 class. His father was a well known Voodoo priest in Jubilee who died suddenly last spring. Odilove has been living with his Grandmother since then, and experienced constant illness throughout the past few months. Just before Christmas he was treated for Typhoid and ear infections, and missed more than two weeks of school. After missing more school in February, Lala had a strong feeling of urgency to find him and see how he is doing. Seeing that he needed immediate care, Lala, Katie, Cody, and Brian cared for him in the clinic, treating what Cody assumed was very advanced pneumonia. It was clear pretty quickly, however, that without oxygen tanks there was little we could do, and his chances of overpowering the pneumonia were slim. At one point, we led every student and teacher to the Clinic building, where we surrounded the building, lifting our hands and worshipping together. Within the hour we located the oxygen Odilove needed, and his stats quickly improved.
Not being able to come off the oxygen machines, he stayed with Cody, Brian, Katie, and Lala above the school for close to 2 weeks after he initially came to the clinic. The second night, after steady improvement, our community came to him to pray together, and as we entered one by one his oxygen levels dropped rapidly. We shook the fear, rebuked the presence of worry, and prayed healing over him together. There are no words for what took place that night, but God was there, He was present with us and fighting along side us for Odilove's life, which we knew as we watched his stats rise again, feeling the collective breathe of thanksgiving.
The next week we reconvened above the school once again, praying that Odilove be strong enough to breathe without assistance, and that once he could be transported we could get him to a doctor to drain his very swollen, injured knee. The next morning, Odilove was walking the halls of the school without any breathing machines, and his knee began draining on its own. Holy!
Odilove is stronger now and continuing to heal each day back in the care of his Grandmother, and under our watchful eye at school. We get caught up in the routine, in the rhythm, in the demands of daily life here, but occasionally something happens so out of the ordinary that we collectively stop our routines and divert our entire focus. It's in these moments of crisis, amidst the chaos, that we see miracles. These are the moments we are reminded of how closely God is working among us here, and how great His presence is. I have seen His miracles unfold over the past few weeks, I have felt Him working among us and in us. It has been incredible, holy beyond words. My prayer now is that going forward we don't need the crisis to see these moments so clearly, to feel His presence so palpably, but that we raise our bar of faith and awareness just enough that we might see these miracles in the everyday as well. Because it is clear that miracles are happening around us, that healing and restoration is happening in the every day, and I would hate to be so caught up in the routine that I miss it.
