Benjamin

Please pray for our Benjamin Dear praying friends, Please pray for our son Benjamin.  The short story is that he fell here in Malawi, he has a fracture on his skull, he seems to be doing well under the circumstances but he and Anita were airlifted down to South Africa to receive better medical care.  Here are more details: Yesterday afternoon (August 19, about 2:00 PM), our six year-old son, Benjamin, was climbing on top of a six-foot brick wall (something he was not supposed to be doing) with our other son Bradley and two other boys.  Benjamin fell off the wall and landed on his head on a concrete slab.  He was crying a lot and appeared to have a concussion because he wasn’t sure where he was or what had happened.  We took him to the ABC clinic here in Malawi (just down the road from our home) and he was able to have a CT scan there.  The scan showed that he has a fracture on the top of his head.  Basically, there is a fracture that runs from one ear, over the top of his head, and down towards his other ear. The clinical officer told us that if possible, Benjamin should get down to South Africa as soon as possible.  We called our medical insurance company and within an hour or two they had commissioned an air-ambulance plane to leave from South Africa to pick up Benjamin.  Anita and I decided that it would be best for her to fly down with Benjamin and I would stay here with our other three kids.  The plane arrived here at 7:45 PM but there was a mix-up at the airport and no ambulance was there to bring them to us.  After arranging to get the air-ambulance personnel here and then arranging another ambulance to get them all back to the airport Anita and Benjamin finally got to the airport and their plane took off at about 11:00 PM.  They landed in Johannesburg at about 2:00 AM and were admitted into the hospital at about 3:00 AM. We have lots of praises.  The doctors who saw the CT scan said that there though there is some bleeding under the fracture it is a small amount.  This is good.  Also, the fracture is serious but the overlap of skull fragments appears to be minimal.  Benjamin is conscious and talking and, although he can’t remember falling, he remembers quite a bit leading up to the fall.  His vital signs seem to be normal though he is very sleepy and has vomited once.  God has provided lots of people around us from our church and community who are praying for us and supporting us during this time.  The hospital he is going to in South Africa has a pediatric trauma ward.  Anita’s parents and brother are in South Africa and I am sure they will be a big encouragement and help to Anita. Please pray for Benjamin – the concern is that the bleeding under the fracture will expand and that he will need brain surgery.  I spoke to Anita this morning and though he has been seen by a doctor there in South Africa, they are waiting for a neurosurgeon to see him and then they want to do some more scans.  Please pray for wisdom for the doctors.  Also please pray for wisdom for our family as we make decisions over the next couple of days.  Please pray that the next couple of days go well for Benjamin – that there would be not be excessive bleeding under the fracture and that they would not need to do surgery.  Ultimately, please pray for God’s will and God’s glory.  Also, please pray for Anita – she didn’t get much sleep last night. In Sunday’s sermon, I was speaking at our church about spiritual strengthening (from Ephesians 3:14-21) and I made the statement that we should welcome any trial the Lord allows if it means that we could grow spiritually.  Anita and I are both grateful to God for His sovereignty and for this trial.  Though we would not have written today’s script as it has turned out, we trust the One who wrote it this way and desire to glorify Him in each and every circumstance.  We do believe that God answers prayer and we do ask you to call upon His name today on behalf of our Benja. Thank you for praying, Brian for the Biedebachs