A Cry For Charles

 

Fellow prayer warriors, the church in Zambia needs your prayers yet again.  Our foreman, Charles, is in great danger.  He is HIV positive and has been living with it for over 11 years.  God has blessed him this far in keeping him healthy and away from anything that might destroy his immune system, but for whatever reason, Charles has contracted TB in his lungs.  He started coughing back in January and he went to the clinic every two weeks getting tablets for the cough, hoping and praying that it wasn’t something worse.  Well finally, it has gotten so bad, that he hasn’t worked in almost two weeks and he just got a referral from the doctor at the clinic in the bush to go to the hospital in town.  The doctor only comes every two weeks, so Charles has been sitting here, trying to regain his strength, waiting for the referral.  He got it on Thursday and we took him to the hospital the next day (Friday, March 23).  After a chest x-ray, the doctors confirmed the TB and that his lungs are really bad off.  His wife, Brenda, is staying with him in the hospital and his daughter is caring for the children at his home until they return. 

In Livingstone, a large city, they say only 30% of people who go into the TB Ward make it out alive and I would assume that a large portion of the 30% is probably HIV free, so Charles chances are not good, everything is against him at this point, except God.  We have had a few people in the community say that Charles is not going to make it, but I cannot believe that in my heart.  God has appointed Charles to work among the children at the orphanage in this community project.  He helps them in so many ways and is such a blessing to those around him.  He is a great man, with a very humble heart, who loves Jesus dearly and I know wants to glorify His name above all. 

So I plead with you that the moment you read this, your knees hit the ground in humble prayer for your brother.  He may not live near you, you probably have never met him, you may not know what he looks like, but you do know that he is your brother and that we all have the same Father.  Go to God on Charles’ behalf and lay your requests at the feet of your Savior.  Thank you in advance for your faith and the prayers you have already given up to God. 

 

 

“I waited patiently for the Lord;  He inclined to me and heard my cry,

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.”

Psalm 40:1-3