Monday, May 11, 2015

Emergency Prayers for Josie!



It's late and there is a fire in my bones. Burning on behalf of a precious little life. She needs our prayers, and this is something you don't want to miss out on.



This is sweet precious baby Josie. She is not even 6 months old yet. She is the precious child of some villagers that we love out in a very rural area of China.

Josie is the 2nd born child to my friends. They are permitted to have more than one child because they are an ethnic minority. However, soon after Josie was born, it was discovered she was sick. Desperately sick. 

Her mother and father have nothing. Zero money. They are subsistence farmers. A sick child has no hope in their midst. Their plan was breaking their hearts in half: they had to just wait for her to die.

But my BFF in China, J and her husband R, said NO! They knew that God was calling them to use this desperate situation to shine the love of Jesus to the village. They personally took on the health costs of little Josie. They took her to two cities, two expensive hospitals and paid for all the expenses: travel, food, surgeries, doctors. It was more expense than they had ever seen in their own lives. They took out debt against their home, borrowed from people they work with and are STILL in the hole paying for baby Josie's healthcare. She told me through tears: "this is the hardest thing I have ever been through."

But this did not stop them. They loved ENDLESSLY. They saw opportunity for the light of Jesus to SHINE in that dark village through the life of this child. They had more than 10 people staying in their apartment while it was going on. It was a massive effort to feed and keep everyone emotionally going. The extended family has a faith, but it is not in the Almighty Living God. They bow down to wooden statues and feel deep anguish in their mindless routines.

Josie was mid treatment when I met her last month. (This was a few days before we went to Gable's orphanage and adopted him.) She had come "out of the woods" as we like to say and was looking amazingly good. Her surgery to put a shunt into her brain was successful. (You can see where they did that on the side of her head.)



You can see how Josie connected with me as I held her. She locked eyes with me. I KNEW she was a special gift of God. I prayed over her that the darkness of the village would be broken by the power of Christ's light because of this baby. 

After we left, the family returned to the hospital for a check up. Josie was doing great! The deeply grateful family returned to their mountain village with her. Life went back to normal. Her parents strapped her to their back and headed back out to the fields to work. 

But something went very wrong.

After only 8 days of hearing that she was all better, Josie became violently ill. Her fever soared. She could no longer eat/drink. (She is exclusively nursing still.) Everyone in the village was crestfallen. They knew there was no hope. 

Surely not now.

Everything had already been given. The debt incurred on my beloved J and husband R is still enormous. How could her parents ask for help again?

They didn't.

They simply sent word that they were going to let her die.

(I'm sorry...can YOU IMAGINE!?!??! We are soooooooooo blessed in our culture to have healthcare insurance! What if WE had to look at our critically ill daughter and merely resign to watch her die? This shakes me to my core.)

J and R said they would not stand by while their niece died. They insisted she be brought out of the village. They took her once again to the local hospital for treatment. In 3 days, they spent a massive amount of money. 

And she's getting worse.

Liver infection. Pulmonary infection. Baby Josie is dying before their eyes.

Church, we need to RISE UP AND PRAY.

This is a picture of Josie taken a few days ago in the smaller hospital. You can see she is losing weight and the sparkle of life in her eyes is dimming.

Even now as I am posting, she is on her way to the larger city for the best possible treatment available to her. J is begging for prayers on Josie's behalf. Prayers that she will survive the long journey.

Pray for Josie that she would not only arrive safely to the larger hospital in the big city but that GOD WOULD HEAL HER COMPLETELY.

We need a miracle, friends.

We want this village to come to the joy of knowing Christ, and we believe with J and R that Josie is going to usher in this faith.

I wanted to ask for people to fast and pray for Josie, and even while writing this a friend messaged me and said she had already planned a 3 day fast and would focus her prayers on Josie. She doesn't even know ANYTHING about this situation yet! How I rejoice! 

God is calling prayer warriors to join in this story. Join in and fight for Josie's life. Pray for total healing. Pray that no more debt is incurred. Pray that the family will receive their beloved daughter back, whole. Pray that the village will see once and for all that JESUS IS ABLE. 

Shine the light by praying for Josie.

(It would be most encouraging to my friends J & R if you commented here or on my Facebook or Instagram that you are joining in the prayer battle! She cannot access any social media, so I will merely tell her numbers. I told her I would gather hundreds to pray. DO NOT LET ME DOWN!! If you choose to share this, let's use the hashtag #prayforjosie!)


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24 comments:

  1. Just prayed and will continue praying for miracles!

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  2. Praying...oh sweet little love....Lord Jesus, flood her with Your healing! Provide the funds needed for her care!

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  3. Praying for Baby Josie! Father, your precious son Jesus spoke, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them (Matthew 18:19-20), Lord we are reaching out to You to ask for Your help and presence! Lord, please be with us as we pray for healing and peace to come to Josie. Lord, her body has fallen ill. Please help heal her, Lord! Please bring hope, peace, love, and compassion to her parents. Lord, please embrace Josie's parents as they must be feeling full of despair because they do not serve a Living God. They do not know Your comfort, mercy, compassion, or love. Lord, please help bring your light to them by healing Josie! In your precious and powerful name ~ Jesus~ I pray! Amen

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  4. I am not just going to pray for baby Josie, but will share on my FB page that a sweet little baby girl needs our prayers NOW...I have many prayer warriors who will rise up and be faithful to pray this through and not give up~~so, we shall step out in our faith and trust in our God, the Great Physician that He can and WILL heal sweet baby Josie~~we shall Never Ever Give Up-NEGU!!!#healbabyjosie

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  5. Praying right NOW & sharing on FB. Father God, please intervene in only the way that you can & bring healing to lil Josie & may your redeeming & restorative work be done in this village as people come to know you - the one true,living God.

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  6. Is there anyway we can send money to your friends as well as pray?

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  7. Is there anyway we can send money as well as pray?

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  8. Praying...praying....praying...

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  9. We are praying here in the Gautreaux house!

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  10. Praying for baby Josie!!! God has wonderful plans for and through the life of this child!

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  11. As I think of my little one sleeping upstairs this brings tears to my eyes. praying for this little life.

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  12. I am praying for precious baby Josie. I know the LORD will do great things in her life and through her. How could He not? He is the living God, who hears the cries of His children, who answers, and whose name will be glorified in every nation.

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  13. Agreeing and believing for complete healing, in Jesus Name!

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  14. Prayed for a mighty work to be done in the name of our Father! Sweet baby girl. ♡

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  15. Only just saw this. I will pray for Josie. and the finances.
    Love Sandy in the UK

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