Prayer Requests

Today as I looked at a list of prayer requests, I became acutely aware of the monotonous nature of what I saw. Someone asked for prayer for a legal situation. A grandfather asked for prayer regarding an especially emotionally draining situation with his grandson. A young woman asked for prayer regarding her mother’s back pain. Others asked for prayer for those who were ill or undergoing surgery.

I thought back on the events of my day. It is not uncommon for me to visit the homes of young moms who are trying to raise infants with serious health problems. Many do not gain weight like they should, some need intense therapy, and others desperately need heart surgery. Some of my mothers are struggling with drug addiction. Some have lost their children to child protective services because of abuse or neglect. And others are teen moms who are struggling to get through high school while raising their kids. And then there are the stories that I hear from my nursing friends. One of my colleagues is trying to find adequate care for her mother, who is suffering with Alzheimer’s and has developed pain that has not yet been diagnosed. Another friend watches people die in her ER routinely.

As a nurse, it is not uncommon to be thrown into the most painful places in people’s lives. It is easy to begin to become numb to what is going on around me. I hear of surgeries and illnesses and it seems so routine to me. I almost want to say, “So what’s the big deal?” But it would be a big deal if the affected person were someone that I am close to, if I were the one hurting.

Lord, there are so many people in crisis and pain around me. Please open my eyes to their real needs, and open my ears to hear their hurts. And when my eyes and ears have seen and heard enough, please open my mouth in intercession to You. And as I see prayers answered, may I always give glory to Your Name.

Ambili part II

Here's another letter, this time from the Conrods, demonstrating God's power through a recent answer to prayer for healing.

Dear Friends,

I feel a need to update you all with something that is happening here. Maybe some of you think that missionaries have lots of faith ("I mean someone's got to have faith to move to Africa... right?") Well, the truth is that we all struggle. I personally have had many struggles with my faith through the years and this past year here has been no different. In fact, it has probably been even harder than other years. As you know from reading our updates, we see a lot of death here. It's very hard being here, representing the Creator, telling them how much He cares, praying, and then seeing death claim the victory time after time. I especially think that it's important with the Baka, as they already believe in many "spiritual" things. They need to see that God is more powerful than all their charms and rituals. The continual defeat did not help my struggles with faith.

There is a little boy here named Ambili. About a week after we arrived in the bush back in Nov 2005, he was about a month old and almost died. We took him to the Catholic Clinic in town and he survived. Yet throughout the entire year he's been sick many times. Sometime around Oct/Nov 2006 he started to lose weight. He started to look like he would die any day. One time the nuns treated him but said that it didn't look like he'd make it until the follow-up visita week later. Another time they didn't think he'd survive the night. We prayed for him periodically when he was sick and I was more than once surprised that he was still alive. But he still got worse.

One day in Nov he was here with his mom. I was sitting there just looking at him and praying (to myself). I finally told his mom that I was going to pray for him every day. So I did. And he only got worse.

I pleaded with God to show me His power by healing Ambili. I wanted Him to show me that He really does say "yes" sometimes to our prayers. Weeks later, when we saw him at the Christmas party we held at the camp and he still looked awful. He was still just skin and bones at about 15 months old now, and couldn't keep his head up for more than a few seconds at
a time. We were going to be leaving in just a few days for a missionary conference in another part of Cameroon. I wondered if he would still be alive when we returned. I doubted it.

This past Sunday (the 21st) I saw him again for the first time since our return. I was sitting out by the fire and Lendo (the Baka grandmother who lives next to us) was holding a baby on her lap--facing away from me. I thought it might be Ambili but I hadn't seen his mom around so I got up and walked around to see. I looked at the child for a few moments wondering if it was him. It sort of looked like him... but not really. Lendo, however, started talking about him and calling him Ambili and I realized that he just looked so different because he had gained weight. His face was fuller, his eyes more alert. He could hold his head up straight and look around--his neck was no longer so tiny that it looked like it would break just by the weight
of his head. There was muscle under his skin. He had made a huge turn-around since we had left the last week of December. Lendo (affectionately: "Mama Lendo") kept speaking. She said "Ambili's strong now because Jesus healed him."

I can't say that I chose to pray for Ambili out of my deep compassion, though I was truly concerned for his welfare. I chose to put God to the test with his case because I knew it was hopeless. Kids around here get sick and then get better all the time--that's life. When kids get really sick they die--that's life... here. He was way beyond the point of no return and it could only be by a miracle that he would recover. And that's why I chose to pray daily for him.

God chose to have mercy on him, yes. But God chose to have mercy on me as well. In my faithless state I reached out with what I could muster and prayed. And God responded.

The battles can be hard. The days many that we must fight. Yet let us stay on our knees and fight each day until the battles are won and we can lift God's banner high as we glory with Him in victory. The battle for Ambili is not yet over. He's well over a year old and extremely behind in normal development for his age. Will you continue to fight this battle along with me? And when we've won the battle for his health, will you fight with me for his soul?

By His grace and strength alone,

-Nathan A. Conrod
Luke 18:1-8
I Thess. 5:17

Praise God for His willingness to show us His faithfulness, even in our faithlessness!!!

Ambili

This is an excerpt from a recent letter from the Abbots in Cameroon.

After church, we greeted all those involved and noticed Lendo, an older woman from our village, holding a small baby. We almost didn't recognize a baby we've all become very acquainted with. You see Ambili has been a very sick baby from birth. He is well over one year old and has not begun to walk. Before Christmas he was unable to hold up his head and his facial features were sunken in. Many children have passed him in weight and ability. We, as well as our teammates, have taken him to the hospital numerous times over the last year. Many times the people working at the clinic expressed to us their concern for him. A couple of times they told us that it would be unlikely that he would live much longer. So a couple of months before Christmas our teammate, Nathan, felt God impressing on him the desire to pray specifically for Ambili's healing. He shared that with me (Barry) on one of our jogs together and we all agreed to make that a primary subject in our prayers. We have been impressed, as well, to pray beyond this that Ambili would know Christ as his Healer and Savior and that he would tell others.

So when we saw him, we had to do a double take. What a change? Here he was holding his head up on his own. His face looked full and his wrists and ankles had meat on them. He even had a lively expression on his face. He looked a bit like his older brother Angu. Lendo saw that we were amazed and she said, 'Awa Jesua' which means 'because of Jesus'. A part of our prayer for Ambili has already been answered. Praise God with us for this answered prayer and please continue to pray with us the second part of this prayer. God is faithful.

Praise God that He chose to exercise His healing power in little Ambili's life. I truly believe that God has a plan for this little one's life. God has already revealed His ability to heal to "Mama Lendo" and to other Baka people. Let's join the Baka missionary team in praying that Ambili would know Christ as his Savior and would also tell others about God's power and love.

Cameroon Bound

With much joy, I announce that I am planning to journey to Cameroon in mid to late March for a month-long field visit. This is the next step in the process of going to Cameroon long term. Once I have visited the field and gotten a fresh perspective of the ministry going on there and the team and field that I hope to join, I will have an opportunity to meet with a couple members of the field leadership. After they have a chance to discuss my fit with the Cameroon field and the Baka team, they will decide whether or not to invite me to join them in ministry in Cameroon. This is a very necessary and important step in the process of preparing for ministry to the Baka. Please pray with me that I will be able to find reasonable airfare to Cameroon, that the timing will work out to minimize travel for the missionaries who will be hosting me, that I would be a blessing to all those I come in contact with, and that God would give me wisdom and safety during this trip.
Also, praise God for grace from my employers who have approved the time off of work, and for good communication with friends in Cameroon leading up to a proposed time-frame for my visit.

A River of Sparrows?

I saw a very odd sight today. I was driving not far from work when I spotted what could have been a swarm of locusts, only the locusts were very large. I nearly wanted to start batting at the air around my ears to keep them from landing on me. Of course, I knew that they were birds (sparrows I think), and that they were very unlikely to land on me. What was spectacular was the way that they were moving, like a giant current waving to and fro, and in spite of flying in very close proximity to each other and constantly changing direction, they did not collide with one another. Several minutes later I found myself driving back in the direction of these remarkable birds and discovered that I was not just watching an enormous flock of sparrows, but a grand river of thousands, if not millions, of feathered fliers all working together in one great entity. I continued to watch as I waited at a stoplight and noticed that the river of birds continued on both sides until they just faded into the sky. There were so many of them, that I could not see the beginning or the end of this grand river. WOW!!!

This great river of sparrows reminded me of the birds of the air in Matthew 6:25-34. Isn’t it wonderful how each and every one of those little birds is cared for by God? Even more wonderful is how God provides for each one of His children as we pursue His kingdom.