God healed her heart, and people are noticing

By a diaspora outreach worker — Saturday around 2 p.m., I got a serious call from the doctor treating Baby S, who was born 16 weeks early to a refugee family near Atlanta. "I know the parents were here this morning, but can you get them back here quickly? She's not doing well." I asked him bluntly if he was expecting her to go. He said, "Right now, that's a very real possibility. Please get them to hurry."

I called someone closer to take them immediately, and then I battled traffic to get there as fast as I could. When I arrived, scrubbed in, and got to the NICU, baby’s mom ran into my arms sobbing. I looked over at Baby S and was shocked! I had just seen her the day before and she was fine. Now she was sickly yellow grey, and as time went on she became more and more grey. Her kidneys had shut down. She had only peed a slight amount on Friday night, and nothing since.

The doctor got an interpreter on the phone and sadly told the parents that with the kidneys failing, the heart wall was thickening, and there was little they could do.

We called for prayer. We cried. We prayed. We sent out a request for anyone available in the local area to come to the hospital to pray. Honestly, my faith was so small that I really just wanted a few extra sets of arms available to hold us when she died.

I asked the NICU nurses if the group coming could meet in a side room so we would not worry other parents arriving for visits — but instead they allowed the prayer team to come in and surround Baby S in her incubator.

Baby S lay grey and grimacing and twitching. The team began to pray. We did not pray in turns or even always audibly. We prayed in English, German, and sometimes just quiet, desperate cries of "please Jesus." After an hour, the team filed out so that the nurse could do her job.

The nurse opened the bed, and began to care for Baby S. As she opened the diaper, I heard a quiet, "She peed!" The nurse helping her repeated it, and they checked again. "Yes, she really peed!" Word spread around the nurses’ station, and shoulders slumped slightly, relaxing tension. She peed!

Her color began to change, slowly, slowly, less grey, until finally she was pink again. The parents watched. I watched. The nurses watched. She relaxed. No more grimacing. She wiggled more – she’s always been a feisty baby!

At 6:30 p.m., they asked us to leave for change of shift. I went to visit two other babies born that day. When I was done, shift change was over, so I went back to the NICU to see Baby S. She was resting peacefully, and the nurse said, "She peed again, a significant amount!"

At 1:30 a.m., I phoned in again. "She peed again. She's looking good. Her blood pressure is stable. Get some sleep."

Before church, I phoned in again. "She peed all through the night. We repeated her blood gasses and she's not in metabolic acidosis anymore."

God is good.

I texted baby’s mom the news, and she said "Thank you for prayers." That thank you is for all of you. A few representatives stood around her bed, but there was an army before God pleading for this tiny baby's life.

To me, it is so much more than the life of a child, as dear as she is to us. It is the name of our God. The community is talking about how God healed her heart. I told God that afternoon, "Do not let your name come to dishonor. You have set your name on her, and these unreached people are watching."

Keep praying. Baby S is fragile. God is showing his might, but also his tender loving care. And pray for us. The NICU is both an emotional rollercoaster and an endurance race all in one. Throw in a few near misses and miracles, and it's a lot to go through. But we are resting in God and our eyes are on him.

Additional Posts

From Uncertainty to Trust: Abigail Niles' Journey to Romania

By Erin Brown • July 2, 2025
"This probably looks impossible, but you serve a God who is greater." These are the words of Abigail Niles, a young woman who followed the Lord to Romania.

The Weight of Sacrifice

By Diaspora North America • June 29, 2025
March 7, 2025 Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution only to break it in less than a week? On March 1, 1.8 billion Muslims began their annual fasting month called Ramadan. They are supposed to fast completely—no water or food—during daylight hours from March 1–Mar 29. It begins with much fanfare, promises, and declarations, as fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims believe that faithfully keeping the fast ensures one’s place of favor with God. But many Muslims won’t be able to keep the fast through the whole 30 days. The reasons and excuses are myriad. Sometimes they will continue to claim to be fasting, but in reality, they are eating behind closed doors. To gain God’s favor, they must fast through the whole month, not just part of it. So, they live with the guilt and shame of not fulfilling the requirements of Islam. What was supposed to help gain their salvation now stands in condemnation. A Feast Within the Fast To complicate matters even more, Persian New Year’s Day is March 20, right in the middle of the fasting month. Persian New Year is one of the most important cultural holidays for most Iranian and Afghans, as well as many others with a Persian background scattered throughout Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, many people with Persian heritage don’t just celebrate on one day. Their New Year’s celebrations extend over two weeks! How do they reconcile these two weeks of festivities within Ramadan? For Arab Muslims, it is a non-issue. But for the Persian world, it IS a struggle. The hard-core Taliban will try to push people to keep the fast. However, many will lean more towards keeping their more ancient pre-Islamic traditions of New Year’s. I would encourage you to take time to explore with your Muslim neighbors and colleagues why they fast. Then share why Christians fast. Perhaps read Isaiah 58 with them, summarize it, and ask for their thoughts on this passage. One more thing to note during Ramadan is the Night of Power. Each year, during Ramadan, on or about the 27th day of the month, there is a special time called the Night of Power. This year it will happen on or around March 26. Muslims believe the Night of Power is when Mohammad first received the revelations of the Quran from the Angel Gabriel. Prayers offered up by Muslims during Ramadan—especially prayers in a mosque—are believed to be weightier than prayers at any other time. However, prayers on this special Night of Power, prayed in a mosque, are considered infinitely more valuable than any other prayer. Many Muslims will stay up all night praying on the Night of Power to earn extra points with God. There is a small problem in all of this, though—Muslims can’t agree on which night is actually the Night of Power. It is sometime during the last ten days of Ramadan, with tradition stating that it is on the 26th or 27th night. There are several resources to help Christians and churches pray for the Muslim world through this month of Ramadan. I would encourage you to connect with some or all of them. Please make others in your church aware of these resources. Perhaps you could even host a special prayer time at your church, utilizing these resources. Ramadan 30-Day Prayer Guide Booklet – This can be purchased as a hard copy or PDF. Prayercast – A wonderful website with many videos on the Muslim world. If you sign up, you can receive daily prayer videos that also work great during a Sunday worship service to help raise awareness of the need for prayer for the Muslim world.

"He must increase, but I must decrease."

By Erin Brown • June 25, 2025
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
Show More