I want to report a miracle in progress. Last year a little epileptic girl of about 11 in a refugee camp in South Sudan was horribly burned. Her mother had left the cooking fire for a moment when Mary had a seizure and fell into the fire, severely burning the left side of her face. When I met her a year ago, she was scared to engage with anyone. A few months later she tried to commit suicide; thank God she thought swallowing some soap would do it. Mary has a guardian angel by the name of Cathy, who is the founder of Confident Children out of Conflict. The Bill Cook Foundation works with her. She did everything possible to arrange for Mary to come to the US for surgery; everything was approved when the hospital involved pulled out. Since then Mary has been to Uganda for evaluation and some minor surgery. I waved goodbye to her yesterday as she left for Uganda once again. Cathy managed to persuade a hospital to help her. A family has agreed that she can live with them and has even hired a tutor so she will be able to go to school while recovering from a sequence of surgeries. The Bill Cook Foundation has provided a significant amount of the money needed for Mary's care. When I saw Mary yesterday, she was smiling. We walked and held hands and talked, though we have no common language. Cathy and Mary and I had lunch, and the two of them were engaged in spirited conversation and laughter. Joy and hope are now part of who Mary's life. This is an unfolding miracle, and God has used many hands—her mother’s, Cathy’s, the family in Uganda’s, and yours through your gifts to the Bill Cook Foundation. Please continue to help us to be helping hands as miracles occur in obscure parts of the world.
