As I continue to serve here in Kenya with Empowering Lives International, it has been exciting to see God work to change and heal both lives and hearts. Every now and then I meet a special individual or community that has an urgent situation that brings me to my knees and I feel compelled to reach out and share the story. This is now of those times and I wanted to share with you about a special opportunity. I'd like you to meet Karen, an eight-year-old Kenyan girl who loves going to school and playing soccer with her friends. (Picture attached) Unfortunately Karen can no longer play soccer and has a difficult time getting to school and back. You see, Karen has a hole in her heart. And it’s a pretty big hole. Without open-heart surgery she won’t make it to adulthood let-alone finish school, or ever be able to play soccer with her friends again. For the last month I've been praying for Karen and trying to seek out opportunities to get her surgery.
I recently learned that there is a special team of heart surgeons coming to a mission hospital in Kenya to do just these sort of surgeries. I've managed to get Karen's name on the list for an evaluation which will happen just about two weeks from now. The team will be returning to Kenya several times next year. So they will evaluate all of the children needing heart surgery on this visit. Then they will perform surgery for the kids who are deemed to be most critical. They will return next year to perform surgery on the remaining children. We aren't sure yet which group Karen will fall into. But we do know that we need to raise approximately $3,500 to cover transport, housing, and surgical, and hospitalization expenses. This is an incredible opportunity as I had previously been quoted $50,000 for the surgery.
I would like to ask that you be praying for Karen and her family during this time. Pray that the funds will be provided in enough time to get her seen by this team of doctors. Pray for Karen to stay strong until she can get her surgery. Pray for a total healing of her body.
If you would like to partner in helping Karen to get her surgery please click here Once you get to the page you will click on "Ministries/Programs" and choose “Kenya Health” from the drop down menu and then write in "Karen's Medical Fund" in the comment section. All donations are tax-deductible. Your contribution will go towards helping to save Karen's life and giving her, her childhood back.
Thanks for standing with Karen during this challenging time!
