Ahmed 's Heart Surgery

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Ahmed

How Big is God's Love

Posted on Wed, 02/10/2010 - 00:00 by Michelle_Bradburn

What a peaceful day at the beach! Since Ahmed and his mother are leaving on Friday for Iraq, we desparately wanted them to see the beauty of the sea before they left. Most of the families who come from Iraq have never seen it before, and how wonderful it is to watch their faces light up when they see the hugeness of it for the first time!

They were all enthralled, but Ahmed and Barzan (who are really close buddies) definitely were most excited. Even while we were still driving they could hardly stay in their seats, leaning forward as much as they could just to get a glimpse of the sea. Once we hit the sand they headed straight for water, not even taking their shoes off before stepping in! The sun was shining brightly on the sea, but their faces glowed even brighter with pure joy as they raced back and fourth from the waves to the sand. They skipped along the beach and showed me the shells they found, grinning as if they had found pure gold.

The crashing of the waves is beautiful music in itself, but I also brought my guitar along, and both Ahmed and his mother had great fun experimenting with this instrument for the first time. His mother also hummed a little tune, and they actually came up with some really lovely sounds.

After this Ahmed and Barzan showed off their artistic talent by building sand castles and even carving beautiful pictures in the sand.

It was a lovely day for all, and I'm so thankful for the chance these families had to see the sea, perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity for them. Something about the bigness and beauty of it helps us to look beyond ourselves, to remember how small we are. I pray that God would use this day and its sweet memories to lift the eyes of these dear women and children to his mercy. That amidst the fear and difficulties they face they would see that God's love is so much bigger, that he knows their fears, hears their cries, and he is the giver of all life.

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Ahmed Does Not Yet Need Surgery

Posted on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 00:00 by Donna_West

Morning started off a little different than expected. The plan was for Ahmed and his mother and Barzan and his mother to accompany their boys to Schneider Children's Hospital for ECGs and echos. Due to an unexpected problem with Ahmed's mother's pregnancy, she was immediately transported to a local clinic and restricted to bed rest for the next two weeks.

How wonderful is it to have a friend to go to the hospital with you? It worked out great! The boys were great companions and we learned that Ahmed's heart defect is mild and he will not need to have surgery at this time. We don't always know what God wants to accomplish when He brings a family to Shevet Achim. But his time we believe a mother's health and the well-being of future members of her family were of great importance to our Creator. We will continue to monitor the narrowing of Ahmed's main artery coming out of his heart, but for now, he can do anything any other healthy seven-year-old can do.

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This Boy Looks Too Good to be Sick

Posted on Sun, 01/31/2010 - 00:00 by Jonathan Miles

That's seven-year-old Ahmed, standing before passport control at the Jordan River border crossing as we attempted to persuade authorities that he really does have a life-threatening heart condition and is coming to Israel for treatment.

Ahmed and his partner in crime Barzan then proceeded to race around the hall in a determined effort to prove they weren't really sick at all!

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Finally though they collapsed in exhaustion, and eventually were allowed to cross the river into Israel.

Late last night we reached Jerusalem safely, thank God, and Tuesday morning Ahmed will have his first examination by Israeli doctors. We'll update this page as soon as we have news.


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