Maurius

A few days ago it was my birthday and I spent my afternoon working on the wards. I couldn't have picked a better thing to do for the evening. I had me some African baby snuggles. I had one little boy Maurius who has a cleft lip and palate, he came to us malnourished and became part of our feeding program.

Two months later he was all plumped up and ready for surgery. His mama could not be prouder of her little boy, she was showing anyone who would look his before picture and then proudly pointing to the little guy in her arms.... saying yes it is the same boy!  She could not have been more dedicated or worked harder to diligently care for this little guy. Her love for him poured out of her. During the course of the evening her pastor's wife came to visit and she went to chat with her for about 20 minutes and I was quick to volunteer to hold onto Maurius while she was out. 

Today was Maurius's day for surgery. We all know that surgery is risky but we do this every day, many times a day and we just assume they will go in and come back out fixed and healthy. Today during the operation Maurius ended up being very sick. They fixed his lip, but now is not able to breath on his own. When I came on shift at 2 we were just admitting him to the ICU and fighting as hard as we know how to keep Maurius breathing.  

When things settled down a little and he was a little more stable, although still on a breathing machine his mama came to see him for the first time. Her only request was that she could see him and pray over him so he could hear her voice. That is exactly what see did. As she walked in I cannot imagine how scary it all looked and how foreign, here was her tiny baby boy with tubes coming out of his mouth, his nose, his leg, hooked up to machines and just laying there motionless. But with courage I cannot fathom she walked to his bedside, lifted her hands, closed her eyes and sang a song of praise to Jesus. Then she held her hands over his precious little body and cried out to God in her native language to heal her baby boy. All commotion in the room stopped, with tears in our eyes we all stopped and joined her in prayer..... all of us crying out to one God for this one precious life. 

I wish I could end this post saying Maurius is doing good and that God has performed yet another miracle, but the truth is Maurius is still very sick. The fact is he is just as sick now as he was when I started my shift, he even ended up back in the operating room for another procedure to help him breath better. The whole time we were working his mama was on her knees by her bed pouring her heart out to God. So for now we continue to pray, we continue to lift Maurius and his beautiful courageous mama up to Jesus.