March 2, 2011

What Are The Odds ?

On Saturday we received an email from a couple in Mississippi. Their 86 year old mother Florence was on a cruise near Brazil and she had a stroke. They took her off of the ship and put her into the ICU unit in a hospital in Brazil. One of Florence's 3 sons and daughter in law live in Mississippi, and they were frantically looking for a way to learn about their mother's condition. They finally did a search on the internet for missionaries in Brazil and they found many sites.

For some reason they were drawn to our site, and they saw on the site that they could contact us by email. Still not knowing where we exactly lived in Brazil they contacted us and told us that their mother was in a hospital in Santos Brazil, and they gave the name of the hospital, and asked if we could help. As it turns out, we know the hospital well, and we live only a 10 minute walk from the hospital. In fact, we live on the same "avenida" or street as the hospital. What are the odds that Florence's son & daughter-in-law do a search on the internet for missionaries in Brazil, which is a very large country, and they contact us, and we end up only a 10 minute walk from where Florence is ? God is truly amazing.

We have gone to see Florence in the hospital every day since Sunday, and have been able to relay news and information back to her 3 sons and families. She had a stroke and at the beginning could not move her left arm or leg. She is all alone in a foreign country, and does not speak Portuguese. It is a very difficult situation. Yet God has shown Himself to be faithful, and He has provided for Florence in the midst of a difficult situation. She has improved enough to have been able to enter a private room yesterday, and she can move her arm fairly well, but can only move her leg & foot a little. Thankfully her condition is stable and she is improving. 

One of her sons who lives in Florida is working on getting a visa so he can come down and stay until he can take Florence back home (she lives in Florida also). We are not sure when she will be able to go home. Please pray for Florence and her family, that she will be well enough to be able to go home soon.

One of her sons sent me this verse after we sent some good news about Florence after our first visit:

"Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land."   - Proverbs 25:25

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great story...God is sovereign and faithful. Thanks for sharing this, Kevin. May God bless her life and her family. Hope she gets better soon.

Oliver

Kevin Bart said...

Hi Oliver, it's good to hear from you. Hope you and your family are doing well. Tell them we said hello. Florence was able to go back to the US last night, and now she will need at least a month of therapy to help her move her arm and leg again.

cheryl edwards said...

Kevin, Hello again, my brother. Last weekend I was told that Florence would be probably be going home at the end of this week. She is using a walker for now.
Thank you for adding me to your news letter. It's exciting to see how God is moving. I look forward to reading more about your ministry. You and Nancy are in my prayers for strength and perseverence in this ministry.

Kevin Bart said...

Hi Cheryl, thanks for the news. Darla had sent me a note in Facebook that Florence was able to go home on Wed., and that she is doing very well. Praise God !

God is doing some great things here, and many are coming to Christ. It is such a privilege for Him to let us be a part of His work here. Thanks for your prayers. God bless you.