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My wife and I would like to acknowledge our Lord Jesus and His faithfulness in our lives in all the sequence of events over the past one and half years. May all praise honor and glory be accredited to our Lord Jesus.
Mid August 2008 began a series of symptoms that indicated my kidney function was nearing its end stage. This was due to a hereditary kidney condition which I was aware of for some twenty over years. I became very weak and often fell ill as my haemoglobin levels fell sharply with increased blood discharge and sharp back pains. Frequently I was on medical leave and even on work days, most of the afternoons, I was so weak that I had to come back home and rest. One morning while I was driving to work the pain was so unbearable that I stopped the car beside the highway and cried out to God in tears. “Lord Jesus, I’ve had enough of all this pain and suffering in my life. Enough is enough. I do not want to live like this anymore, just end my life in this world and take me home.” Unable to bear the agony of suffering, I was ready to leave this world. But in my heart I realized that my dear wife would be left alone and my heart struggled with that thought.
It was almost two months later that God spoke to us through one of His anointed servants “My beloved son, unable to bear the pain, you prayed to me to take your life. No my son, you belong to me. I will not let you down, …………” “Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him, I will set him on high, because he has known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer Him.(Psalm 91:14,15).” We were much encouraged but we did not see an end to the pain and suffering in sight. With great difficulty, I managed my day to day life at work, house and church responsibilities. As I was going through much agony and pain physically, I always used to tell our Lord that I could not understand what the Bible says of Him that He is a God of love, mercy and grace who cares for His own. One day through one of His servants, the Lord spoke to us. “My son, in due time you will look back at your life and realize how good I have been in your life.” God is good, He is good all the time.
We crossed into the year 2009 with no change in our circumstances. But the Lord continued to send many of His servants to us to encourage us and instructing us to keep walking and that he will perform for us. One Saturday on 23 rd May 2009, my condition worsened and my wife admitted me that night at the Gleaneagles Hospital, Ampang because my nephrologist was there. After a week’s stay in the hospital, my doctor told me that I had no choice but to start on dialysis as the toxic levels in my blood were very high. Being on dialysis was another stress and torture. Every alternate day, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 pm to 5pm I had to be at the dialysis centre of the hospital for my treatment. On these days I could only be at work in the morning and from noon onwards I had to be in the hospital. After each session, I go back home weak and tired. At work my bosses and colleagues extended their favor and support in many ways. I could sense and see the favor and grace of God at my work environment. During this seven month period, much of my job responsibilities were handled by my colleagues. All praise and glory to God for His favor and grace extended to me through my colleagues.
It was during this time, that the doctor said I will do very well and return to normal life if I had a kidney transplant done. So my wife asked the doctor whether she could be the donor and the doctor responded by saying that he could initiate the process of investigation on compatibility and see how it goes. Thus, began the process of investigation of almost six months. The first compatibility test was the blood grouping. I was group AB positive and my wife was group O positive. So, I was a universal recipient and she was a universal donor. The second compatibility test was HLA Typing test (Human Leukocyte Antigen). This test was very much a genetic match in which twins will have 6 out of 6 antigen match and siblings would have maybe 4 out of 6 antigen match. In our case we had 2 out of 6 antigen matches as husband and wife. The final test was tissue cross-match for which the results have to be negative at various temperatures. And this test was negative at all temperatures. Along with other screenings, the doctor finally decided that we could go ahead with the kidney transplant. All tests results were in our favor and anything else will be controlled by the anti-rejection medications. All praise and glory be to God for His mercy and favor towards us in this matter.
From the time I began dialysis treatment on 25th May 2009 until we were admitted for surgery on 13th Nov 2009, we had some doubts as to whether this was the path that our Lord wanted us to follow through in organ transplant. I was fervently praying for the Lord to heal and restore my kidneys and deep within my heart I did not want to put my dear wife through this ordeal of her having to donate her kidney to me. During this period, the Lord spoke to us through many of his anointed servants and His Word. “My ways for you are not according to your thoughts and plans.” It was then that I realized our Lord had a specific process of healing for us in which he wanted us to experience Him. “Both of you are praying for the same purpose and I the Lord will perform for you.” One of the servants who prayed for us had a vision. “You are going for the surgery in the operation theatre, the surgeons are working on you and the Lord’s hand is performing the miracle. You are walking out of the hospital, happy and healthy and going back to your work.” Here are some verses through which the Lord spoke to us. “For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in me” (Jeremiah 39:18) “No weapon formed against you shall prosper”.(Isaiah 54:17) “Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the lord shall be your rear guard.” (Isaiah 58:8)
With the Lord speaking to us through many of his servants and His word, His path became clearer to us. We put our trust in Him and our hearts were filled with calm and peace as we sensed His guiding hands. About two weeks before the surgery, the Lord dropped a thought in our hearts to pen a list of prayer items and mass e-mail it to all the praying people we knew and many servants of God. This spread like wildfire to wider and wider prayer networks around the globe to many praying people whom we did not even know. Until today we are receiving e-mails from people who prayed for us around the globe. Our church pastor and the congregation prayed for us for a few consecutive Sunday services. Our Lord cannot remain silent but rise to send His Word of healing especially when hundreds of his people unite hearts to pray. All praise and glory be to our prayer answering God.
Gleneagles Intan Hospital : From 13th Nov. 2009 ~ 21st Nov. 2009.
My wife and I were admitted as scheduled on Friday the 13th Nov. 2009. We went through the day with much anxiety. Some friends and family members came and prayed with us. On Saturday, 14th Nov. 2009, at 8.30am, my wife was wheeled out of the room to the operation theatre. As I watched her go, my heart struggled within and my body trembled with tears rolling down my eyes. I asked the Lord again, “Why does she have to go through all this because of me”. With many thoughts running through my mind, it was almost 11am when I was wheeled to the operation theatre. Unable to think anymore, I prayed the Lord’s Prayer and surrendered myself and all events to follow into the hands of our Lord. And a great calm and peace came upon me. Within a few seconds, I became unconscious. I regained consciousness late in the evening of the day in an isolated glass door room of the intensive care unit (ICU). With all sorts of monitoring equipment and drug administrative equipment hooked on to me, I could not move much but could just wave to the many friends, relatives and church members who stood behind the glass doors and waved at me. All the nurses in the ICU were very kind and cared for me very well. I thanked God for His favor upon me through them. I was in the ICU for about five days. Every day morning and evening the surgeon and my nephrologist would come and monitor my progress. They marveled at my progress. Out of the mouth of the surgeon came these words, “John, I am surprised at how fast you are progressing. I had my own fears. My part was to perform the surgery successfully but after that your body has to take over the function of the kidney. Your kidney started functioning immediately. God must love you both very much. Your wife is doing fine too.” His remarks stirred my heart to raise my hands and thank God for His healing touch. Every morning in the ICU, I thanked God for renewed strength and recovery and the Lord dropped one by one into my heart all the promises he has given me for the past few years. Tears of joy rolled out as I sensed his presence. The surgeon made sure that my wife was wheeled in a wheel chair every morning and brought near me so that we could share some moments together. These were wonderful moments the Lord provided us through the favor of doctors and nurses.
On Wednesday evening 18th Nov.2009, (5th day in ICU), I was sent to the ward. My wife had already been sent to the ward on Monday evening 16th Nov.2009, (3rd day in ICU). In the ward, again we saw the favor of God. We were placed in independent rooms next to each other. All praise and glory be to our Lord. We were in the ward from Wednesday evening to Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, we were both discharged. That was exactly eight days from Friday (13th Nov.2009) to Saturday (21st Nov.2009). We are now resting and recovering at home with regular check-ups with the doctor. The promise of Isaiah 58:8, “Your healing shall spring forth speedily.” was literally fulfilled. My Hindu neighbor, who saw me leave home for admission to hospital and then saw me eight days later at home said, “John, so fast you are back home. You both don’t look like you have been through a major surgery”. All praise, honor and glory be to our Lord Jesus.
On a second note, in Genesis we read that God made Eve out of the rib-bone taken from Adam. As early as in the creation stage, God had already made the wife “rib-bone compatible” with the husband. “And the two shall become one………..” “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder……….”. Now our marriage relationship has taken on a new dimension. Even to the extent of compatibility in the sharing of organs, God has united us in compatibility. An awesome God the creator, who ordained marriage, has also planned all finite details in our lives.
Here, I must really thank God for uniting me with a wonderful and caring wife who has exemplified sacrificial love towards her husband by putting herself on the platform to give me the gift of life. May God honor and bless her.
In Dec. 2009, the Lord has given us another word. “I give you new beginnings.” What a personal and wonderful Lord God whom we serve. All praise, honor and glory of this account of our lives be accredited to our Lord Jesus alone. Amen.
Submitted By: Mr. & Mrs. John Steven Navamany.
Johnsteven@uniten.edu.my