The End of a Long Fight

While I was spending some unplanned time in the capital city, I received word that Yeye died. I’m not surprised, but it is hard to accept all the same. We’ve been caring for Yeye for the last three months. At her older brother’s request, we went to pick her up from her father’s encampment, and brought her to her brother’s encampment, just a short walk from my home. From the reports of her failing health, I expected to find a very ill child, bedbound and breathing her last breath. What I found when we showed up was a skeleton of a child, still able to walk, in spite of her severely compromised state. A quick physical exam confirmed our suspicions of tuberculosis. We expected that she would die within the week. She survived the week, though her condition was still very fragile. Each time we walked down the dirt road to see her, my ears were tuned, wondering if I would hear the sounds of the death wail as the family mourned the loss of her life. We started her on TB medications, which she could not tolerate at first, and I wondered again if she had any chance of living at all. After a short break for the sake of her weak stomach, we started the TB medications again, in addition to multiple other drugs to lessen her symptoms and improve her breathing.
A month went by, and I was amazed that her lungs, full of fluid, worked well enough to keep her alive. I was even more amazed that her greatly compromised heart continued to beat, though it was doing more than double the work it was meant to do. Her family, though they have very limited resources, cared for her the best they could.
Another month went by, and though we had seen slight improvement, Yeye declined once more as she fought the cold virus that was making its rounds in the encampment. We thought that this must surely be the end. Yet she survived even this setback.
Two weeks ago, Yeye’s brother came to tell me that she was hurting. I went to see her and found that her little heart had finally had enough. She had developed congestive heart failure. I gave her a shot of lasix to make her more comfortable and prayed that God would do his will in her life and in the lives of her loved ones. The next morning she looked much more comfortable, but she required a shot again that evening.
That night I was robbed and the decision was made to go stay with some other missionaries. On the way out, we stopped to check on Yeye. I told her where I was going and that I would be back soon. Though I didn’t expect that she would still be living when I got back, I wondered if God would choose to continue to extend her life, against the odds. He chose, instead, to allow her to die. I don’t quite understand His timing. He preserved her life for 3 months, but she didn’t live to fully understand the Gospel and its saving message. I know that God loves Yeye much more than I ever could and that He desired that she would become His child. I know that He knows best and that He does what is best for us. And I know that He is sovereign over every situation, even life and death. I don’t have to understand. I just have to trust Him and keep doing what He called me to do.
Please pray for Yeye’s family. Pray that they would see how God miraculously preserved her life during those 3 months. Pray that they would begin to truly understand God’s saving grace through the blood of His son Jesus.