Counting on Your Prayer

“Mark, get down here, now.” … The calm of a family vacation was broken by a phone call from my wife at a nearby medical clinic. As I walked in the door, I heard a commotion and saw my daughter vomiting dark red blood. The nurse called out, “Doctor!” Now, this was not a trauma unit, or an ICU, and it would be twenty hours before we would reach one. They had few ways to treat her and no blood to give her. Life became a blur and my heart began to break as the fragility of life became a reality. Where would our help come from? A few moments later, Allie, our 17-year old daughter, walked in and said “Dad, I was just reading the Bible and here is what it said…”

A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. (Matthew 15:30)

Ashley had an acute ulcer bleed. In the darkest hours of the night, Heather, Allie, and I laid her before Jesus and asked Him to spare her life. And something happened, as we prayed, her blood level increased even though she continued bleeding internally. God did something when no one else could have helped our precious daughter. What the doctors literally could not do, God did and we give Him all the honor. Later, the doctor said, “Most people do not survive this.”

This leads us to three reflections and one promise:

We are grateful for God’s mercy … Ashley did not do anything to deserve this miracle. We did not deserve God’s intervention. But God was merciful to us. He healed her and raised her up form death’s door.

We are grateful for praying friends … We were overwhelmed by the prayers, calls, and messages from our partners and colleagues. You refused to let us walk through this by ourselves. Thank you!

We are grateful for faithful examples … We realize others have lost loved ones at early ages and we’ve watched them cling to God in their tragedy. We drew strength from your examples of faith in God and recognize you as some of our heroes.

We promise to give you a “Prayer Workout” … For those that choose to partner with us, we vow to serve and work in such a way that it demands your greatest prayers. We will not think small, love small, or live small. As your missionary’s, we will take big risks. We will live worthy of your investments.

Barcelona deserves our all.