Dear friends,

Little Hussein, the baby from Gaza who went to Haifa for emergency heart surgery just over a month ago, is now in critical condition. I talked with a doctor in the ICU a few minutes ago, and he believes that Hussein may not make it through the night. While Hussein's heart surgery was successful, he was still left with a heart of basically just one ventricle. After surgery he developed a fungal infection and he hasn't been able to fight it off.

Hussein's father, the Palestinian Authority policeman who waited years for this firstborn son, has just called. He's worried about his wife, who is in the hospital with Hussein, and has asked us to help shield her from the news if Hussein should die. "It's harder for the mother than for me," he said, but he too sounded once again near tears.

I've told the father that people around the world will be praying.

Jonathan