“Where are all the guys?”
After being unable to attend Jovenes (‘youth group’ for highschoolers and young adults) for the past many months, Juan Zuniga wondered what had happened to all the guys who used to attend Jovenes. Juan was a faithful attendee of Jovenes for many years until he was physically unable to attend anymore. Juan has had some major health complications in the past year. He was working as a carpenter when he pulled something or moved a certain way. Not sure exactly what happened, but knowing something was wrong, Juan went to the doctor to see what was happening. He found that his abdomen was filling up with cerebral spinal fluid. In order to fix things, the doctor had to operate and drain the fluid from inside him. This was the start of operation after operation, countless doctors appointments, and months of being bedridden. Juan woke up from one surgery to find his intestine on the table next to him. Another operation was performed without antithetic. During this spur of the moment operation, the doctor used his bare hands to move around his insides to try to fix things. On top of all this, Juan is a hemophiliac which complicates every operation. I’ve personally been able to visit Juan at his house three times in the past few months. I’ve heard countless times people discussing his situation. However, since most of those discussions are in Spanish, I don’t quite know what else is going on with his health situation. I do know, however, that he is not doing very well emotionally. With another operation in the future, Juan is struggling leaning on Christ through this trial. In the past few months, Juan has been making progress keeping food down, but he is still very much under weight. He is also stuck in a wheelchair with no encouragement from the doctors that he will be able to walk again.
After being unable to attend Jovenes (‘youth group’ for highschoolers and young adults) for the past many months, Juan Zuniga wondered what had happened to all the guys who used to attend Jovenes. Juan was a faithful attendee of Jovenes for many years until he was physically unable to attend anymore. Juan has had some major health complications in the past year. He was working as a carpenter when he pulled something or moved a certain way. Not sure exactly what happened, but knowing something was wrong, Juan went to the doctor to see what was happening. He found that his abdomen was filling up with cerebral spinal fluid. In order to fix things, the doctor had to operate and drain the fluid from inside him. This was the start of operation after operation, countless doctors appointments, and months of being bedridden. Juan woke up from one surgery to find his intestine on the table next to him. Another operation was performed without antithetic. During this spur of the moment operation, the doctor used his bare hands to move around his insides to try to fix things. On top of all this, Juan is a hemophiliac which complicates every operation. I’ve personally been able to visit Juan at his house three times in the past few months. I’ve heard countless times people discussing his situation. However, since most of those discussions are in Spanish, I don’t quite know what else is going on with his health situation. I do know, however, that he is not doing very well emotionally. With another operation in the future, Juan is struggling leaning on Christ through this trial. In the past few months, Juan has been making progress keeping food down, but he is still very much under weight. He is also stuck in a wheelchair with no encouragement from the doctors that he will be able to walk again.
Yesterday
(July 28, 2012) was the 191st celebration of indendence for the
country of Peru. Every holiday and birthday is of importance here. With that
being the case, the Jovenes of the church wanted to have a party after our
weekly meeting. Juan, who has not been able to come to church in the two months
that I’ve been in Peru, really wanted to be able to join us for our Independence
Day party. With the help of his cousin, Juan was able to attend Jovenes for the
first time in many months. However, he found it slightly different than when he
had last been able to go. Our church is now overrun with females! I’m not sure
how Juan felt about this change ;) But hopefully we made him feel comfortable
and welcomed him back with open arms. Pray for Juan. He needs emotional,
spiritual, and physical uplifting. Pray that he’ll have the strength to come to
church more often. Pray that our church family can be an encouragement to him throughout
his upcoming surgery and the recovery process.
No comments:
Post a Comment