Praise God!

           I have to share this good news with you all.  Last Saturday Dr. John Carroll from Peoria, IL, arrived to take care of a woman named Marie Claude.  Marie had had heart surgery in the States back in 2001; however, she now needs to have a valve replaced or she will die.  Soon. 

            Saturday night Dr. John e-mailed numerous contacts looking for a surgeon and a hospital.  By Easter morning he had volunteers for both!  That never happens that quickly.  A surgeon volunteered to do the surgery, and Edwards Hospital in Naperville, IL, agreed to have the surgery done there.  Letters were sent in to the American consulate, Dr. John found someone to submit the visa application (it has to be done online), and an appointment was made for tomorrow morning for Marie to go to the American embassy for a visa interview. 

            The last thing that needed to happen was finding a host family.  Dixie and Scott Sandborn from Michigan have a son who lives in Naperville, so they contacted him to get the word out.  I sent out e-mails to some folks as well.  As of last night, no takers.  However, another group arrived last night, and I was explaining to them the situation.  Kim Sorrell, the group’s leader, said, “You know, Pat’s from Naperville.  I’ll talk to him in the morning.”

            “No.  You need to talk to him now.  It’s that serious.”

            So, Kim headed down.  She didn’t come back up, and I sort of forgot about it.

This morning at breakfast I asked Dr. John about a host family.  He broke into a huge smile!  Pat’s going to be the host!

            In less than a week, God has put everything together so that Marie Claude can get to the States for this much needed surgery.  A part of me wants to say “I can’t believe it.”  But then I think, “Of course I can believe it.  God can do anything.”