Baby Joel

Some experiences are just too holy to fit into words.

Meet baby Joel:

He is the son of the guard at Amani.

The guard told us that he needed to leave work because his wife had just given birth and was in critical condition so we drove him to the village clinic where his wife had given birth. We found his wife very weak and still bleeding and his two hour old son barely breathing so we drove them both to the hospital. The drive to the hospital was terrifying as baby Joel’s breathing became more irregular and we sat in the car navigating Jinja’s roads at night and begging God for Joel’s life. When we arrived at the hospital we met the usual Uganda health care frustration which I’ll save for a different post. We ended up leaving in a rage and rushing Joel to Amani where there was an oxygen machine. We called Amani’s nurse and once she established that Joel did not have any other serious needs other than oxygen right now we settled in for the night. When the sun rose Joel was ready to breathe on his own and we were able to bring him back to his mommy.

Today we found him with jaundice and the mother’s milk hasn’t come in yet (but her bleeding stopped and she seems much stronger). Please keep Baby Joel and his mother in your prayers.

We were given the honor of naming Baby Joel and chose Joel because it means Jehovah is Lord. May we never forget that Jehovah was Lord the night Joel fought for his life as he is every day. Nothing we do or accomplish is us… it is all for his glory.

“Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

Joel 1:13