hubert update

hubert went home to Jesus this morning--it was a gentle, peaceful leaving. my prayers (many others' prayers) for his healing were answered--just not in the way our minds and hearts cry out for. his healing was eternal and not temporal. but he leaves behind a mother who just last week was finally beginning to believe her child could live and allowing her mother's heart to show towards him and now she leaves with empty arms and a broken heart. he leaves behind a father who was often absent during his hospital stay but who made it in time to say goodbye. he leaves behind a big sister who already viewed the world through eyes much older than her 3 years, a sister who didn't really understand all the fuss and bustle around hubert but knew that the lack of it meant something worse. he leaves behind other lives who were touched by him, who rejoiced in his gaining weight and worried over his fevers and loved him.

his leaving touches so many. most of our ward translators and counselors do not have formal training or medical knowledge and yet they are vital to this work. we ask them to speak harsh things to families or patients. we ask them to walk a bit against their own culture to say these things. in western medicine, we constantly inform patients and families of what is going on and teach them it is their right and even "job" to learn about the illness and treatment options and plans etc. here, the harsh truths are spoken to a family member (usually male) and later relayed to the mother in very general terms. in fact, my translator last night asked if i really wanted him to tell the mother directly such a harsh, hurtful truth. she had asked, so i told her as gently as possible, but in her culture the natural "softening" of a male relative was missing last night. one of our other translators asked me what and how i prayed for hubert. she voiced the age old question in different terms of "if God is good, then why?" and the answers looked at thru our eyes are insufficient, not good. and we have to ask that we can hopefully glimpse it thru the Father's eyes and trust that He really is Sovereign and Love and Comfort.

so i ask for you who read this to please continue to pray, no longer for hubert's healing, that is complete, but for those he left behind that they would be comforted.