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Volume. XX, No. 24 How God hath had compassionDear friends, I just want to share this with you, since I observe that a number of our Christian brothers and sisters are falling seriously sick with terrible ailments. I hope that this sharing of my faith in God our provider and healer will encourage and strengthen you. “I am the Lord that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:26) “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;” (Ps:103:2,3) “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” (Ps:107:20) “And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity EIGHTEEN years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. (Luke 13:11-13). “And a woman having an issue of blood TWELVE years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. ……And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” (Luke 8:43-48) “And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” (Mark 5:18,19) Here I want to share with you, how God hath had compassion on me. SEVENTEEN years ago, in the month of October 1988, an incident occurred that had a major impact on my life. I had been baptised in a Bible-believing Church on 15 August 1988 and then two months after that I had to go to the hospital for a very minor operation. The surgical process apparently seemed to have gone well, but there was something that did not seem to have gone quite right. Nobody knew what went wrong. That night while lying on the bed, I kept vomiting and fainting. On examination the next day it was found that my blood pressure had gone very low. I again had to undergo an emergency operation, a very major one, an exploratory surgery – one side of my abdomen had to be opened up. It was discovered that I had developed heavy internal bleeding and I had to be given a large amount of blood transfusion. After the operation I was still in a very critical condition. But by God’s grace the operation was successful and the bleeding had been stopped. I was released from hospital after a week, but I was in a very pitiable condition and had become so very weak and was constantly falling sick. Only after three months was I able to start working again. But not for long as I just kept falling sick again & again. So I just gave up work and rested for at least 6 months, but keeping myself occupied by doing a short course. In the meantime many of my Christian brothers and sisters who were instrumental in my Christian life were praying for me. Through their intercession, God slowly began to restore me to health and I could resume back full time work, in about 15 months after my operation. In March 1992 I migrated to Australia. Then in June 1996 I again fell very sick. When a blood test was performed, it was discovered that I had been infected with hepatitis-C virus. This came to me as a bolt from the blue. The doctors realised that the only way that I could have been infected was though the massive blood transfusion that I had in India, when I had developed internal bleeding. I was advised to undergo a medical treatment, which might help in getting rid of the virus. But the probability of that happening was very low, just 25% and the side effects would be too much. As I was studying in University around that time, I decided to put off the treatment after till I completed my studies. So sometime in 1999, I started the painful treatment. But 8 months after the medication, it was found that my condition was still the same and so the treatment was stopped. I was told that I could start another round of treatment when much better medication was available and if the government continues funding! So I had to wait for another 5 years before I was told that I could try another system of treatment, more painful than the previous one. I started this treatment in June this year and for about three months it was just terrible. I just can’t explain it. I wanted to stop it. However I was told to take a blood test and see the results so far. I really didn’t think that this would work. When I got the report, it stated – No HCV detected. Praise God! I continued the treatment for another 2½ months and again another test with the same result. I just thank God for His work of healing in my body and for all the people who have been praying for me. I don’t understand why I had to go through this process. But we can’t understand His ways. Sometimes He just speaks the Word and a person is healed, sometimes he touches them, sometimes He puts clay on them and sometimes He puts them through the fire and heals them. And some times He just gives them grace to endure their suffering till the end – when we enter a better place where there is no pain, nor sickness nor death and where God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Bro. Edwin D’Mello |
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