Elaf 's Heart Surgery

How would God deal with these four problems?

* Lost airplane ticket

* Empty oxygen bottles
* Problem with the van
* Lack of time

The last leg of the journey for Alaa, Hemin, Elaf and Wahaj was a real adventure.

Hemin and his mother had been waiting at our house for three days for their return flight and they were a little bored. However, once Wednesday came and they were joined by the other three Iraqi families there was no time for boredom.

We were all very happy to be able to host Elaf, Wahaj, Alaa and their mothers here again. So, the night was filled with talking, praising God, sorting out things, looking at pictures and a little sleep. All the time Alaa s oxygen generator was humming in the background.

The return flight was scheduled for 1 PM and we knew we would need the morning hours to get out list of things completed. One of the mothers had lost her return ticket, so we had to rush to Amman to get a new one at the Iraqi airways office. Also, Alaa had used up almost all of her supply of oxygen on the way, so we needed to get a refill for her.

We tried to start the day early, but our van would not start, despite the fact that we had just received it back from the garage two days before. It took us awhile to get it started by pushing and rolling it down the hill. Fortunately, Dirk was still there and could help with this procedure.

While Dirk drove off to Amman with the old van, Manuela tried to get a new supply of oxygen at the Italian hospital in Karak. We found the man who usually takes care of refilling oxygen tanks for the hospital, but the connectors to these oxygen tanks would not fit the tank that Alaa had brought over from Israel. This man was able to give Manuela the address and phone number of the company in Amman where we could get the oxygen bottle refilled. Praise God!

Praise God also for the new Shevet van that we received a day earlier. This additional van allowed Manuela to take the remaining three patients to the airport. Alaa had just enough oxygen in her bottle to get to the airport.

As Manuela drove the patients to the airport, Dirks was in Amman battling time. It can take hours in the city to get from point A to point B. Dirk reached the Iraqi airways office an hour later than anticipated. He managed to secure a new ticket, but still had to find an oxygen refill for Alaa.

Manuela reached the airport in time. She was able to inform the Iraqi Airway officials about the oxygen generator, and show him Alaas medical report, which clears her to fly.

Once all of these things were completed Alaas oxygen bottle was almost empty. Manulea had already begun searching for a power outlet to connect the oxygen generator to.

Because all of the luggage was in Dirks van and he had not yet arrived, we were unable to proceed with the check-in process. The next two hours were very stressful for Manuela and the three mothers that were waiting with her.

Dirk was attempting to rush through Amman to try and find the company that provides the oxygen. Forty-five minutes before the fight was scheduled to leave Dirk picked up the oxygen and began to make his way back to the airport.

Dirk reached the airport at 1 PM, the scheduled time of departure for this flight. The Iraqi Airway official understandably became more and more impatient.

Eventually, he left and two friendly airport assistants waited with the mothers. We had considered taking all of the patients and mothers back home and have them fly with the next flight three days later, but we prayed against this option.

The Iraqi mothers and Hemin spent most of the time on the phone with their relatives at home explaining to them the situation. Consequently, in the midst of the chaos, Dirk was receiving calls from nervous fathers in Iraq asking him to hurry up.

In the end, the flight left an hour late because they waited for our group of mothers. Thank you Lord and thank you Iraqi Airways for this grace!

Quickly, the empty oxygen bottle was replaced with the full one. Without time to say goodbye, the mothers were escorted away with the airport assistants. We would like to ask Gods blessing on them. God is waiting for them in the same way the plane waited for them. Even though their departure was delayed, they did arrive home safely and in good health!