Meet Harim Jafeth. Little Harim was born with a hole in his heart. 14 month old Harim's heart is now the size of a 90 year old woman's. If Harim did not receive an unavailable in Honduras heart surgery he would have died before age 2.
Harim's case came to Misión Lázaro almost six months ago. The Misión Lázaro medical team, led by nurse practitioner Allison Brown set up an electrocardiogram in Tegucigalpa. After undergoing the electrocardiogram the cardiac specialist broke the bad news to Harim's mom, 24 year old Senaida. Without heart surgery her son would die. A surgery that is not available in Honduras. Allison Brown began researching organizations that carry children to the US for medical procedures. Childspring International out of Atlanta Georgia seemed to be the most promising. Many times applying with these organizations is a shot in the dark. The paper work can seem endless and the communication problems from Honduras to the US at some times made the entire process seem hopeless. But it was not!
In June of 2004 Misión Lázaro received word that Harim's case had been approved and that the tentative travel date was for July 15. God showed his greatness! Now the process of obtaining a visa from the US Embassy began. The process of approving and denying visas can appear to be handled by the luck of the draw. This worried the Misión Lázaro team. Once the interview was obtained everyone was frustrated to find out that the date of the interview was set for November. After numerous phone calls and faxes an expedite interview form was sent to the Embassy. Within 24 hours the Embassy was calling to say that the interview was changed to July 13, two days before scheduled travel. God showed his greatness.
On July 13, Allison Brown with Senaida and little Harim at her side entered the uninviting US Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. After two hours of waiting for their interview along with hundreds of other wishful travelers, the two visas for mom and child were approved. God showed his greatness.
July 14 was a busy day spent preparing Senaida to travel to the United States of American from Choluteca, Honduras. There was much to be done. By the end of the day it was all taken care of. On July 15 Senaida and Harim accompanied by six other Honduran relatives along with Allison and two other Americans traveled once again to Tegucigalpa, all 101 crammed into Allison's Land Cruiser. Upon arrival at the airport in Tegucigalpa there were other family members and friends present to say goodbye to this young mother, whose ignorance of the US and Miami International Airport, had protected her from been afraid.
Rebecca Brown, Jarrod Brown's sister and Misión Lázaro summer intern would accompany Senaida to Miami and make sure she made her connecting flight to New Orleans. Rebecca waved goodbye to Senaida and Harim as they literally ran through Miami International to catch their connecting flight to New Orleans.
The next four days passed without any word from Childspring International on Senaida and Harim. Did they make the flight? Did anyone pick them up in New Orleans? When would they operate? Were mother and child being looked after? All of these questions kept Allison Brown awake at night like a mother worried about her children. So much time, effort, and emotion had gone into the whole process and now Misión Lázaro was in the dark.
The lack of information was too much so on Monday, July 19, Allison called the clinic in New Orleans hoping to find out something about the young family. After a number of different line transfers, she finally got to speak directly to Senaida. Young Harim had been operated on that morning and everything went fine. He was now in Pediatric ICU and would be there for about five more days. God showed his greatness.
Today and for the next few weeks we want to ask you to please be praying for little Harim and his recovery. Also please pray for Senaida, this 24 year old single mom from Choluteca, Honduras, has taken an enormous step of faith out of her comfort zone, trusting in the Lord, so that her little boy can have a second chance at life. She is away from her home, her culture, her language and her family. May God bless her in this time of need. This young uneducated woman has accepted the challenge that God placed before her to step out of her comfort zone, may this be an example to all of us. God showed his greatness.