An emotional weekend

On Thursday evening we heard that a little boy from our church was in hospital after falling into a pond at the Domain, a park in the centre of Auckland. Little Benny is 22 months old. He was resuscitated at the scene by a midwife who happened to be passing then taken to the nearby Starship hospital. He has been in a coma ever since. The whole church and friends around the world have rallied around the family and we have been praying for him for the past few days. He seemed to be making good progress with all the specifics that were prayed for being answered - that his blood pressure would stabilise - his lungs would clear - his stomach would retain food. By Saturday the medical staff were able to confirm that he was showing signs of brain activity (he's not brain dead in other words) but he has been having seizures suggestive of some brain damage. His Dad asked Ian and I and another couple from the leadership team to go to the hospital on Saturday night to pray for him.

The Starship Children's Hospital is an amzaing place. I'm glad to say that that was my first trip there. The ICU had a very peaceful atmosphere to it. It didn't feel as hopeless and depressing as some hospitals can feel. Benny is in a room with 3 other kids. Two toddlers and a baby. Benny is hooked up to lots of machines that are feeding him, breathing for him and giving him drugs as well as assessing him. We anointed him with oil (something that church elders in the bible did when they prayed for the sick) and prayed for him and his parents. It was a very emotional time. There was a very real sense of God's presence and peace.

This morning the medical team were due to begin bringing him out of his coma in order to assess the damage to the inner brain. It is a slow process that can take a number of days. I was due to speak at church this morning but it didn't seem appropriate to do anything other than pray for Benny and his family particularly as it was such a crucial day. We split up into groups and prayed for them and wrote messages and verses for them on big sheets of paper.

Afterwards we invited some mates around for lunch and let the kids run around the garden in the sun, counting our blessings, name them every one.


Psalm 141:1-2
"O Lord, I call to you, come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice."