Dear friends,
Seven-month-old Khalil (right) is waiting this afternoon outside the Israeli
Embassy in Amman, Jordan.
Khalil has a large hole between the ventricles of his heart, which has
kept him from growing normally. His legs look like toothpicks sticking
out from under his clothing. With open-heart surgery Khalil can be fully
healed and lead a normal life; if he is not operated on within a few months,
developing pulmonary hypertension will leave him inoperable and awaiting
a slow and agonizing death.
Doctors in Tel Aviv have agreed to accept Khalil for urgent surgery, and
he was due to travel today, November 17. But permission to cross the Jordan
River into Israel has not yet been granted, because Khalil's parents are
refugees from the Gaza Strip and they do not hold full-fledged Jordanian
passports. Embassy personnel are willing to help, but Khalil, like tens
of thousands of other refugees in Jordan, falls between the cracks.
Meanwhile Khalil is vulnerable to chest infections, and we had to hospitalize
him in Amman last week for IV antibiotic treatment to fight off an infection
which was beginning to cause heart failure.
A struggle is on for Khalil's life. As one of the least, as one homeless
and forgotten, he holds a place of highest importance in God's kingdom.
Would you pray that grace would overcome all opposition to his rescue?
Despite his frailty, Khalil is alert and often fixes on me a penetrating
stare. I believe God has great things in store for him!
Yours for Jesus' sake,
Jonathan Miles
Coordinator
Shevet Achim
POB 32296
Jerusalem 91000
Israel
