Hello again,

the first day after the christmas break. I just went down to the Hospital this morning to look for some of my Somalifriends who are admitted. One of them was Abdi, a 12 year old boy who was struggling for life for many weeks now. He came to the Hospital almost 6 weeks ago when his stomach and intestines perforated. The doctors did many operations on him, but the infection which was caused by Typhoid has gone to far.
I had a great time with this boy, whenever I came in we could chat a bit, and I always prayed for him. But he was just getting thinner and thinner. He was down to 17 kg, which is basically skin and bone. I have not seen anything like that in my life before. Everytime I asked him how he was doing he said he was fine.
When I came in this morning I found the doctors already frantically working on him to resuscitate him, cause the pulse was already gone. Only five or ten minutes later the doctors pronounced him dead. There was nothing any doctor anywhere in the world could have done for him, and still all of us were hurt. The surgeon who did the operations was deeply moved as the whole rest of the team.
Then I had a chance to talk to the relatives who took care of the boy over the weeks. It is always stunning to me how this particular peoplegroup handles death. They just know that lives are in the hand of God, the almighty. And the one who has given the breath is the one who also takes it away again, whenever he pleases. There is no tear, no crying, no accusation. That is what I can see on the surface. What is going on deep inside I do not see.
This boy at least had a chance to experience the love of God and hear words of the loving Father, which many of his people never get, cause they live under the dominion of fear and oppression.

Have a lovely day and enjoy the peace of God, Thomas