Valley of the Shadow of Death

“God, what will happen to my wife and my little girl if I die?"

Less than two weeks ago Emmanuel, a courageous member of our Tuen Mun Service Center team, should have died. He’d contracted Covid-19, his body was shutting down and his doctor told him to prepare himself for death. And then God intervened. This is his story.

From the moment Emmanuel arrived at the hospital on December seventh his health began improving. But on December 18 all hell broke loose: his body descended into a “cytokine storm,” wherein his immune system violently attacked his healthy tissues. Doctors cautioned that if his blood oxygen continued to fall, he risked dying from acute respiratory failure.

“God, what will happen to my wife and my little girl if I die?” Emmanuel cried. His mind raced and he was seized with fear. He sent out urgent prayer requests to his church community and Christian Action colleagues. My husband Marlon and I prayed earnestly for him, we encouraged him to trust God for his supernatural healing.

Emmanuel’s lung damage was so severe that his doctors were on the verge of intubating him. As he despaired, he remembered Marlon saying “if God has saved me, God will save you.” He decided to believe and wait in faith for his healing. But instead of getting better, his condition worsened. On December 20th, the doctor told him to prepare himself for death. Emmanuel surrendered to God and chose to praise and pray, giving Him all the glory.

One night Emmanuel heard a voice telling him that Yahweh would heal him. In his prone position, he felt a pair of hands running along his back where his lungs were. He was sure God was healing him at that very moment. By the next morning, the infection index began to fall for no reason!

One day later his doctor reduced his oxygen intensity level. Then on Christmas Eve, the doctor took him off the ventilator and meds. On Christmas day his virus and inflammation index dropped to a safe level. By the next day, his lungs were delivering 90% blood oxygen level. Filled with gratitude and joy, Emmanuel was discharged on 27 December. Hallelujah!

Facing death showed Emmanuel afresh the importance of persevering in prayer and just believing. Thank you to the Healing Rooms, Resurrection Church members and Christian Action staff who prayed earnestly for Emmanuel. None of us need to walk through the valley of death by ourselves, we just need to turn to God and ask for His help. All glory to God!