Jean Michel

This is my friend Jean Michel.  He's an amazing 16 year old Haitian boy.  One year ago a medical team visited the orphanage where he lives and found out he has a serious heart condition.  A group of people began working to get him care in the States, and to do all the work necessary to make that happen. 
On March 7, Jean Michel entered a hospital in Cite Soleil.  He was having difficulty breathing and he was severely swollen (filled with fluids)  He was put on a bed and given an IV drip.  His heart condition was not addressed.  I saw him on Thursday, March 10.  I recognized immediately that he was suffering from congestive heart failure, something I watched happen in both of my grandpas before they died.  I asked if we could please transfer him to another hospital, that he needed immediate attention.  The decision was made to leave him there until the following morning, when he had an appointment to have an ECG done. 
Four hours later, we received a phone call saying his breathing had become more labored, and they wanted to move him to another hospital.  We immediately went to the Project Medishare Hospital, where I was introduced to Dr. Toni, the CMO of the hospital (I didn't know that's what she was until later).  She was very honest with me about their ability to accept Jean Michel, and how that depended on his condition and diagnosis.  I left with her phone number clutched in my hand, praying that whatever was wrong was not terminal.  It could be anything but terminal.  When we arrived at the hospital and I got his file, I called Dr. Toni.  She asked me to read the diagnosis sheet to her.  I began reading it as if I had read medical language my entire life.  When she asked me a specific question about the information, I was able to answer her.  I realized afterwards that it was the power of the Holy Spirit, giving me the ability to pronounce words and give information as if I'd been doing this for years.  Dr. Toni agreed to admit Jean Michel, but said it might be awhile before the bed was open, and to wait for her phone call.  She said we had to bring the test results and treatment file from his current hospital with us.  When we went upstairs to ask for that, we were told that those records were property of the hospital and would not be released.  I was not going to just give up, and after a few tense minutes, we were handed a sheet of paper, handwritten by the doctor on duty, of his tests and treatments.  At this point, I stopped to realize that Someone way bigger than me or Pierre was orchestrating this one.  I mean, I knew it from the beginning, but there, going down the stairs, I stopped to have a quick moment of thanks. 
We arrived at the Project Medishare Hospital about 2 hours after we received the phone call.  The traveling around Port au Prince alone should have taken that long.  The streets of the city literally parted their traffic to let us through (or so it seems!)
Jean Michel was immediately put in a bed and hooked to a heart monitor.  He was given oxygen.  He was seen immediately by two doctors and a respiratory therapist.  He was asked through a translator how he felt, if he had pain.  He would be taken for his ECG the next morning, transported by the hospital because they had another patient going to the same doctor in the morning. 
The next morning Pierre and I had to take money to the hospital for his test.  We needed to get there before they left to go to the doctor, and we were running late.  They called to say they were leaving, but we just kept driving towards the hospital, hoping that we'd make it in time.  When we arrived, we found a car, broken down in the gate, trying to exit the hospital, but effectively blocking anyone else from leaving.  We were able to give them the money for the test, and all of Jean Michel's doctors were standing there to wave him off.  I was able to speak to each of them about his condition.  I talked with Jean Michel, and squeezed his sweet hand.  He drove away in the air-conditioned Land Cruiser ambulance, accompanied by two doctors, a translator, a respiratory therapist, and the woman who runs the orphanage (Madame Stcyr had not left his side all night). 
As Pierre and I drove back to the orphanage, I said, "Pierre, God has something, some amazing story, to tell through Jean Michel.  Can you see His hand all over the last day?  Shame on the person who tries to get in the way of what God has planned for this boy."
The test showed his aortic valve was in worse condition than last year, and he needed it replaced.  The hospital that had agreed to treat him decided that it was too much of a risk to fly him so far, and what he needed was more extensive than they had agreed to perform.  We began seeking other options.  It seemed like each day brought another 'no', or 'we can help in a year'.  We all became a little discouraged.  I just felt so much like this was not the end, but I just couldn't see any other options. 
A group of us fasted and prayed the first Tuesday of April.  I, of course, expected an immediate answer.  But 9 days later I received an email saying that a team would arrive on Saturday and med-evac Jean Michel to the States on Sunday for surgery. 
We have been praying for a year for this.  Tomorrow Jean Michel will have his aortic valve replaced here in the United States, because the God we serve is way bigger than anything we could ever ask or imagine.  The same Hands who healed lepers, the blind, the lame, the demon-possessed, the chronically ill, those are the same Hands healing Jean Michel's heart.  I am completely in awe of God's miraculous provision for Jean Michel.  I'm blessed beyond measure to be part of this with him, and I am anxious to see how God's hand will continue to work in this.
Will you please pray?  Jean Michel is scheduled for surgery tomorrow, Friday, April 22.  Jean Michel loves the Lord with his whole heart.  When I stopped to see him one day, he had written on a paper in red crayon, "Jesus is my life."  Oh what sweet true words those are, for all of us.

If you want to read more, go here and here.