One Cobra in the Car is One Too Many!

I decided to share one of our TRUE missionary stories on this post.  I needed the encouragement and maybe you do too!  Thanks to "Ring Around the Blogs"

It was a typical, beautiful Sunday morning on the southern island of Mindanao, in the Philippines as our family loaded into our little 10 year old car which was once a Philippine taxi.  After a few months in the Philippines we were accustomed to the stares and laughter as our family of six rode to church in our four-passenger vehicle, so that’s no longer our topic of conversation.

Jim preached the morning message primarily in English with a few words and phrases in Cebuano. In spite of the language barrier, the Holy Spirit spoke to the heart of a Filipina woman and she came forward to accept Christ during the invitation.  This was a special joy to our family as we had invited her to the new barrio church in Lapu Lapu Village just that morning.  After the service we rode home happily, anticipating our afternoon drive to Tagum, an hour away, where we would minister in testimony and song that evening.

We finished with lunch and began packing the car for our overnight stay.  Tara, our three-year-old daughter, was walking to the car when Jim looked out the front door and saw a 3-foot long cobra behind the rear tire.  As Tara came closer the snake rose to strike, but just in time Jim yelled and pulled her out of the way.  Immediately he went to get a large bamboo stick to kill the snake, but when he returned, the cobra had disappeared.

Jim began a thorough inspection of the grass, bushes and drains, but found no cobra.  Because we have many holes in the floor of our old car, we thought it best to check it also.  After removing all the luggage and looking under the seats, Jim stillcould not find the snake, so we were partially satisfied that we were safe.

We resumed our repacking and by 2:00 pm were on our way to the meeting in Tagum.  Jim turned onto Ma-a Road—a very bumpy, dusty, gravel road.  After driving for a few minutes, we hit a hole and one of our suitcases fell off the top of the car.  We stopped while Jim retied the baggage and then were on our way again.

  Tammy (9), Chad (6), and Tara (3) were chattering away in the back and I was thoroughly enjoying the view of tall coconut palms and nipa huts scattered among the trees.  There was a fresh sea breeze that day and the scenery seemed like a picture postcard.  Of course by this time we were used to the bumpy road, so I didn’t pay much attention to the next bump as our heads hit the ceiling until Jim began kicking and yelling.  I couldn’t believe he was telling us to get out of the car while we were rolling along at 25 m.p.h.  Then I caught it—“A snake!” The snake was in our car!

Evidently the snake had entered in through one of the holes in the floor and crawled up behind the dash board.  When the car hit the bump the snake dropped down between Jim’s legs.  He looked in horror as the cobra raised its head, opened its hood and struck him on the right leg.  Thankfully, he was wearing his cowboy boots and the snake struck ¼ inch below the top of his boot.  In trying to kick the snake,though, Jim caught his right foot between the brake and the clutch pedal and we were unable to stop.  The cobra crawled up between the seats and headed for the children in back but because they were waving their arms it turned around and came to my side of the car. The black and yellowish snake slithered over our 20 month old baby, Tania’s leg and bit her on top of the right foot.  By this time the car had slowed down and Jim, in desperation, had opened his door and put his left foot out dragging it in the sand in an attempt to stop us.  Finally, the car stalled and I flung open my door as the snake made his exit along with Chad, Tammy and Tara who were by this time hysterical.  I was out immediately after them with the baby.  I did not realize that the snake had escaped or that Tania had been bitten. 

In less than a minute hundreds of Filipinos surrounded us--they had been watching the crazy scene of six Americanos yelling and trying to jump out of an old taxi.  As they began to ask questions we were amazed at our ability to communicate with them in Cebuano, even though we had only been in language study for five months.  

As several men with bolo knives chased the snake, we all suddenly realized that Tania had been bitten.  A man immediately began squeezing her leg and rubbing it in his effort to force the poison back down her foot.  Jim quickly applied a tourniquet to her leg, and then we all jumped back into the car and headed for the closest hospital.  

Sunday is always a big market day with traffic-congested roads, and this day was no exception. We drove in three minutes what normally took ten.  I was sure we would have a terrible accident as Jim cut between traffic and raced through the market.  It was as if the Lord moved the cars and made openings just wide enough for us to squeeze through.  We reached the hospital, our 12-inch tires squealing and smoking.  Jim brought the car to an abrupt halt in front of the emergency entrance. 

We have been told that with cobra bites an adult usually has 20 minutes to live, but for a child, that length of time is greatly reduced.  Tania was already pale and her eyes were rolling back in her head as Jim carried her into the emergency room. At first the nurses and doctors refused to believe us, but after examining Tania’s foot and hearing Jim describe the snake, they suddenly came to life.  An incision was made between the fang marks and the blood and some of the poison were suctioned out of the wound  The doctor then told us that there was no anti-venom in Davao City. This was a shock we had not anticipated. 

Jim took the three older children out on the hospital lawn and prayed and then took them home, not knowing if Tania would be alive when he returned. 

After one hour in the ER they put Tania in a private room for observation.  None of the doctors could believe that she survived.  When our pediatrician came the next morning, Tania was up and smiling.  What we had witnessed was nothing less than a miracle.  Even though the cobra had left much of his venom on Jim’s boot there was still more than enough left to harm a small child. The doctor’s comments on his discharge report said “MIRACLE”. 

Humanly speaking we should have had a tragedy before Christmas that year, but God in His wonderful mercy and grace brought us again through the fire of purification and spared our youngest daughter.

“For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways...You will tread upon the lion and the cobra...”  Psalm 91:11,13

 

Copyright 1982  Denise Greenacre

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Today I met a soldier

September 22, 2008 By Denise

The friendly young soldier I met today  just finished boot camp at Fort Linerdwood in Missouri.  He grew up in the dry heat of Arizona, so the muggy summer in Missouri was a struggle in itself for this young man.  I knew that (since I was born in Missouri), but we were standing in the very hot Arizona sun at the moment so I was having a hard time even remembering that it could be any hotter anywhere else!  He wasn’t in any hurry though so we chatted a few more minutes.

We talked about his possible deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.  His unit was already in Iraq.  He wanted it over with as soon as possible because he had a wife and children, but I really sensed he was at peace with whatever the U.S. Army gave him.  He was in church today because of his grandmother.  He talked about what a wonderful woman she was.  You could tell he loved her very much.

Later today, after he was gone I learned that he had not always been at such peace nor would I have had the opportunity for such pleasant conversation with him even a year before.   The loneliness of basic training for him and his brother who was not in his unit but in the same boot camp, caused them to seek each other out.  In basic that isn’t ordinarily allowed though, except if they went to church.  On that one day a week in church they could see each other.  Church was not something they had done back home in Arizona, but certainly God’s ways aren’t our ways…and with that motive–just to visit with his brother–God used that to bring about a changed life in this soldier on the eve of his departure–a US base or a foreign soil–I don’t think it matters because he is ready.  I consider that story one of God’s miracles!

What does a family do when their precious baby girl is traumatized at birth?

September 4, 2008 By Denise

The story of Makayla’s birth in March 2006 in Cheyenne, Wyoming is heart wrenching and definitely worth repeating.

Chad & Heather had three children and were anxious for the birth of number four due a few weeks before Chad’s College graduation. It was a Sunday though and most of our family, living in many different states, were in various stages of going to and from church that day. When Chad called from the hospital to let us know there were some complications we had no idea the horrific scope of the scenario taking place just a few hours away from us.

Heather’s labor wasn’t progressing satisfactorily so a decision was made to try to speed things along. That may or may not have been an unwise choice but there were no early indications that it would cause a problem–it was considered a means to an end–the birth of a baby! Evidently the hard contractions that followed created a problem– perhaps the placenta was already weak and would have ruptured anyway. No one knows nor even thought of that during the next minutes.

Chad & Heather sensed distress as they watched the monitors, but no one else seemed concerned. Eventually they got the attention of a nurse. When the doctor arrived and assessed the situation he immediately realized that the baby needed to come out right away. It was an emergency, but there was NO ANESTHESIOLOGIST present! “Heather I can’t give you any anesthetic, but we must do a c-section immediately to save the baby.” Heather’s response to the the doctor was, “do what you have to do.”

In the next few moments he made incisions in the first layers, knowing that the last layer would be the most excruciating for Heather to bear. He told her he wasn’t sure if she could stand the pain. Just then the “lost anesthesiologist” burst through the doors. He had been unable to make his way through the stairwells for some reason. Everything had been readied so he was able to administer the drug immediately so Heather, thankfully, didn’t have to endure the last cut.

When Makayla was born she was barely breathing. No one knew how long she had been oxygen deprived, but it didn’t look good. Her APGAR was 0, and her prognosis was next to hopeless, but the parents didn’t know any of that as Makayla had been taken away immediately.

After an hour or so while Heather was just in the beginning stages of her recovery Chad & Heather were asked to make a serious decision for Makayla’s care. She was being prepared to fly to Denver to Children’s Hospital where they had tried an experimental procedure on other oxygen deprived infants. To make a decision about a new medical procedure with very little information was a gamble or was it “faith”. Everyone knows that newborn heads are kept warm with a stocking cap for at least 24 hours, but they were making plans to put an ice cap on Makayla in an effort to keep the damaging brain swelling from happening. It was a hard decision, but in hindsight, one that God used.

No helicopter was available and the only ambulance was one of Denver’s oldest! Chad insisted on accompanying Makayla on the long hour’s drive to Denver. Upon arrival they indeed put the ice cold, silver cap on her head along with needles, patches and wires all over her body. Each time we went in to visit her in the Neonatal Infant Care Unit (NICU) it never failed to grieve me.

Maykayla was beautiful! The nurses commented that she was the healthiest looking baby there, but she was the sickest! That hurt all of us and there were alot of us! Family and friends arrived in Denver daily to support Chad and Heather.

The Ronald McDonald House housed them and gave us all many free meals where all of us could talk and pray together for many days. We laughed and cried many times and had so many opportunities to testify to the Lord’s comfort in spite of the situation. Chad led a father to Christ and bought him a Bible. His son was facing surgery but it was not life threatening, not like Makayla. http://www.angelfire.com/blog/greenacrefamily/Makayla/

On Friday of that first week the medical team met with Chad and Heather. The news was not good. They gave them almost no hope for her survival–maybe a few days, a month….but if she survived longer she “would need 24/7 special care. Care that could only be provided by professionals, specially Denver. Heather, still in recovery from her unconventional surgery and Chad, holding up, prayed with both sets of grandparents and then returned to the Ronald McDonald House.

In the meantime Jim observed Makayla’s doctors leaving the conference room where they had just shared with her parents her grim prognosis and their suggestion to “pull the plug” on her ventilator. They were crying. Only later did we find out that their tears perhaps were the result of the words Chad shared with them. He told them that they would leave things as they were and that they would continue to trust God to work through her doctors. If He wanted to take here he could, but they would not make the decision to end her life prematurely.

The next morning we began to realize that God had already begun healing Makayla. She had begun taking milk and within a few days she was taken off the ventilator and had learned to suck–something they were told would never happen. Her progress was nothing short of a miracle and that very word “miracle” was mentioned many times in the NIC unit by Makayla’s caregivers.

On her one month birthday, her dad was given the privilege of giving the “senior testimony” during his graduation ceremony while she slept in our arms in the audience. I doubt there were many dry eyes that evening as he briefly shared her miraculous healing to the many folks who had prayed for her — when it looked like there was no hope!

Today, a year and a half later, after heart surgery this past January 2007, Makayla is a beautiful little girl who walks around with a big smile, looking for things to get into and doesn’t seem to need much sleep! This family is grateful that God chose to answer beyond what we could ever have imagined when we prayed day in and day out for His will. What does a family do?

…have FAITH!