Renee Valach

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Prayer Letter/Ministry Update

December 2011
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Shocking!
A 20 year old young man, named Alliance, came on December 23rd with a very fast, unstable heart rhythm that didn’t respond to IV medicines. With an electric shock, his heart instantly went back to the normal rhythm. Without help it’s very unlikely he would have seen Christmas. The story behind this story is that last month a couple from Rochester read in my letter that we don’t have a cardiac defibrillator, the machine with the paddles that shock the heart. They were already planning a visit, and decided to get an automatic defibrillator for the hospital. We used it for Alliance within two weeks of their arrival. For him and his family, it is a very Merry Christmas.

Film in the village
On December 22nd I went with a group of people from the Bongolo church to show an evangelistic film in Kanda, a village near Bongolo. On arriving in Kanda, it was a special surprise to see twins, Esther and Ezra, who I had cared for in the hospital several months ago. They were premature and little Esther was especially sick for some time, but now they are both growing and doing well. The film was projected on some pieces of plywood put up in the back of the market pavilion, and people came with their plastic chairs from home. The main character in the film was an African man, who was spending all his money going to witch doctors trying to get protection and success, to the point where he was trapped in this system. Terrible things happened to him, until he heard that Jesus could help. He then went back to his village and dramatically broke his fetishes. The audience applauded at this scene, as there are still many people here who are ensnared by the witch doctors. Many people responded to the film.

Prayer Requests/Answers to Prayer

Thanks/Praises
• Just this week, there were several patients whose test for the TB bacteria is finally negative after several months of treatment. This means that the medicines are winning against the bacteria and the patients will probably get better, rather than eventually dying of TB.
• I’m very thankful for this time of year when we celebrate Jesus’ birth, and for the special moments of celebration here.

Prayer Requests
• Our long awaited lab technician has arrived, but the lab equipment is malfunctioning. Continue to pray for the lab.
• Continue to pray for Fatoumata, receiving treatment for kidney disease. She was doing well until mid-December, when she had another relapse.

Thank you for praying.
Renee

Gabon

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