That’s when everything changed for Shiva and Petros, a married Iranian couple. They moved to Cyprus for job opportunities 22 years ago. There they made friends who were Christians and started attending church.

Joe Willey with SAT-7 USA says, “Petros specifically, he would read the Quran and the Bible to compare both. Now, he couldn’t reconcile the two. The Quran says this, and the Bible says this. And he wrestled. In fact, he wrestled so deeply that he became an atheist.”

Then Petros heard the priest speaking in his own language, not once but three separate times. Fourteen months later, Shiva and Petros were baptized.

The surgery

Things wouldn’t get any easier for the family. Petros needed heart surgery in Switzerland. But the family needed help. Willey says, “Two women volunteered to help in their home with their children while he and his wife were in Switzerland. Two unknown churches provided financial support.”

Beforehand, the surgeon said he had a 10 percent chance of survival. Willey says, “So as he’s on the operating table, in his words, he said, ‘I saw Christ. Not a vision. I saw Christ there with me.’ Interestingly, he came through the operation so well that the hospital staff said it was a miracle.”

Today, Petros’s heart is completely healthy. He also doesn’t need to take any medication.

He and Shiva work at the SAT-7 PARS studio in Cyprus, sending the Gospel back to Iran. Praise God for being present with them throughout their lives.

The header photo shows Petros and Shiva. (Photo courtesy of SAT-7 USA)

Brianne McKoy, Relationship Manager of Bloggers for Compassion International says, “Mary is a sweet beautiful six-year-old child living in desperate poverty in Ghana. And at about six months old, she started having complications. And her parents were able to take her to a hospital, but they weren’t able to get her the care that she needed because it’s expensive.

“And since six months ’til now, she’s been living with this condition—this hole in her heart. And it just makes life very difficult for her. She can’t play without running out of breath. She can’t walk long distances without needing to sit down.”

(Photo and header photo courtesy of Brianne McKoy)

Mary’s rare condition is called Patent Ductus Arteriosus, Ventricular Septal Defect (VCD) and Sub-aortic Membrane. Along with running out of breath and being tired, Mary is more susceptible to illness and has lost weight because of a loss of appetite. She is even at risk for an early death.

In other words, Mary isn’t living the life of a typical child. Her quality of life, McKoy says, is quite horrible. But last May, she was introduced to a local church in her community. This church happens to be a partner church with Compassion International. And as soon as she could get registered with Compassion’s program, they intervened.

And now, Compassion is raising money to help get Mary the surgery she needs to be healed. For an open-heart surgery, they’re trying to raise $15,000.

Compassion International exists to release children from poverty in the name of Jesus. McKoy explains that this surgery for Mary falls under that umbrella goal:

“Poverty comes in all kinds of different forms: not having enough food, not having clean water, not having the ability to get education, and not having the ability to get regular medical checkups. And so, as Compassion’s mission to release the child from poverty, we need to attack all areas of poverty, including the medical side.”

“She was constantly losing weight, running a very high body temperature regularly, coughing seriously and profusely sweating all the time, and she had a lot of boils,” said Mary’s mother, Susana, of her daughter as an infant. (Photo and quote courtesy of Compassion International)

Compassion’s Medical Assistance fund is for children whose needs go beyond regular checkups and routine medicine. But since Mary’s surgery is so urgent, they’ve also started up a GoFundMe page to raise that money.

You can read more about Mary’s story at McKoy’s blog, here.

To support Mary financially for this surgery, click here.

And finally, please keep her in your prayers:

“Ultimately, just pray for full healing of her heart and that she can receive and return to the childhood that she deserves to have. And I would also say, prayer for her parents as they’ve been walking through this, watching their little girl be so sick over the past five years.”

To Compassion, Mary’s mother said, “It is my prayer that [Mary] will be healed of her ailment so that she will live and exhibit all her potentials for all to see the glory of God in her life.”

(Photo courtesy of Jaclyn Reierson with MAF)

The birth of conjoined twins is very rare, accounting for only one out of every 200,000 births according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Conjoined twins have their skin or often even internal organs fused together in the womb. Around 40-60 percent of conjoined twins are stillborn and 35 percent only live one day. Only between 5-25 percent of conjoined twins survive.

Pilot Brett Reierson with Mission Aviation Fellowship in West DRC knew something was up when he saw a crowd some 200-strong headed toward the airplane in Vanga. The doctor ushered a woman aboard with a bundle in her arms.

The doctor explained that the woman had given birth to conjoined twins nine days before, in a village so far away that no one in Vanga knew where it was. The twin girls were joined at the naval and shared some intestines. After reaching a nearby health center, the family then traveled 250 km further on a motorcycle to reach the Vanga Evangelical Hospital. The doctors in Vanga contacted a team of volunteer surgeons in Kinshasa who operate free of charge on children born with deformities.

(Photo courtesy of Jaclyn Reierson with MAF)

According to the doctor in Vanga, “The big problem was their transport from Vanga to Kinshasa. The newborns were stable but fragile and could not tolerate another, longer, overland journey over difficult roads to Kinshasa. MAF was contacted and without hesitation agreed to transport these children. The airplane transported these kids the next day from the MAF airport in Vanga to Kinshasa. We sincerely thank the MAF team and their donors for their willingness to assist in transporting these wonderful kids.”

Reierson explains, “After they were separated, they were in observation and recovering here in Kinshasa. They contacted us again and said, ‘Would you be willing to take them back to Vanga?’ And so we were, of course, excited to be a part of their return story as well…. They still have more to go, but they’re going to spend a little time in Vanga before they carry on.”

(Photo courtesy of Jaclyn Reierson with MAF)

MAF has three operating bases in the DRC. Reierson and his wife have been with MAF in West DRC for about a year, and he says carrying out medical flights are just one of the many ways they serve in the country.

“We operate and maintain eight small aircraft across the country and we do that to provide flights for missionaries, the local church, and humanitarian aid organizations that are working in the remote areas of the country,” Reierson explains.

“With MAF, we’re just one link in the chain but the transportation link is an important one. Vanga Evangelical Hospital is really there to provide hope and also through medical care to the patients and families. They also provide training for more medical professionals that can be trained and then sent out to various regions within Congo. So medical flights are really a way that MAF is able to provide reliable, fast transportation in situations where sometimes there is no other option or the option makes it extremely difficult for the patients or sometimes in certain situations it can actually save lives.”

As MAF serves the communities and families in the DRC, they are serving as witnesses for Christ.

“We have a really cool role to serve the Church, to serve others. When we fly for humanitarian groups, many of the passengers are not necessarily Christian. So we have a really cool opportunity to interact with these people from all walks of life and [share] why we’re here because we are a little bit of an anomaly. There are [humanitarian] aid workers that come, but it’s usually for very short periods of time and they ask the question, ‘Why are you here?’ It just opens up a great door to share Christ with them.”

(Photo courtesy of Jaclyn Reierson with MAF)

As the conjoined twin baby girls rest and recover with their parents in Vanga, please pray for good health and that as they grow in stature, they would come to know their Heavenly Father and grow in spiritual maturity as well.

Reierson also asks, “Prayer requests for our team would just be that we would be able to continue to share the love of Christ in this context. Congo is a very challenging context, it’s a very tiring context, and so sometimes it’s easy to allow the little things to creep in where you have a very negative outlook. So we want to continue to keep a positive, Christ-centered outlook.”

Finally, you can support Mission Aviation Fellowship’s critical ministry to make emergency medical flights like this possible! Please click here to support the life-transforming ministry of MAF.

Andrew Semenchuk is a beloved senior missionary for Slavic Gospel Association (Photo courtesy of SGA)

International (SGA/MNN) — Last week we asked you to pray for Andrew Semenchuk as he was admitted to intensive care on December 6 for bleeding on the brain.

Andrew Semenchuk is an active missionary with Slavic Gospel Association and has been ministering to Russia with the Gospel since 1934.

After being hospitalized with bleeding in his brain last week, Andrew has improved and has been moved out of intensive care into a private room. He is alert and in great spirits, and is able to take walks. His appetite is improving, and the Lord is using Andrew in the hospital as a witness through his sweet, gentle spirit.

The doctors have been waiting for the clotted blood to thin as much as possible, and surgery was scheduled for Monday, December 16. According to Andrew’s daughter, Ruthie, the surgeon is cautiously optimistic. However, Andrew’s condition is still considered serious, and the family asks that we continue to intercede in prayer.

SGA’s Bob Provost shared the family’s gratefulness for your prayers.

SGA will issue an update as soon as they can. Be sure to check out their Web site for this information.

Faced with eking out a living, medical issues often are ignored until they become critical. Then comes the problem of finding a medical facility within walking distance, where doctors are likely overworked, equipment is failing, and supplies are non-existent.

That's partly why Bibles For the World (BFTW) founder Rochunga Pudaite launched the Sielmat Christian Hospital. Co-founder Mawii Pudaite says, "Next year will be the 50th Anniversary of this little hospital we started with one doctor, one nurse, one pharmacist, and a caretaker. We called it ‘Sielmat Christian Hospital.'"

The facility provides medical care to the remote region, and being one of the only hospitals in the area, they rapidly outgrew their building. A campaign was launched to enlarge and equip the Sielmat Christian Hospital by 60-bed capacity and provide critical equipment necessary to save lives.

In a slight departure from the Bible distribution work for which they are known, BFTW regularly sends medical missions teams to the Sielmat Christian Hospital for 5-day medical camps. Pudaite says, "This was the fourth time we partnered with our friends at Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI). They brought doctors, nurses, and volunteers, not only from USA but also 8 from Ethiopia." Word spreads quickly about free treatment. On the most recent visit a couple weeks ago, she says, "The demand is so great, and the ministry is so effective. The people from the city of Imphal and the nearby towns came by bus."

The mission team works hand-in-hand with the ministry partner's doctors, nurses, staff, and volunteers from the nearby churches. In addition, Pudaite explains that "national pastors, evangelists, and students from our own Trinity College and Seminary were engaged as counselors." There were also five nurses and volunteers from the USA BFTW teams.

Despite a full day of surgeries, the team always took time to remember why they were there. Each day before work began, all of the staff, volunteers, and teams from USA, Ethiopia, and India met together to praise and worship the Lord together at the Chapel. The devotional messages, prayers, and worship music nourished their hearts and helped them get ready to face each day's challenge.

The five days went by very quickly, and the camp came to an end even though there were many people still waiting in line. Over 7,000 people were treated, adds Pudaite. "Patients from far and near came to receive free medical attention during the Medical Camp. Among them were Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and others. JVMI's main focus group are the remnants of the 'lost tribe of Manasseh' present among the tribal groups in Manipur."

Teams handed out over 3,000 pairs of free eyeglasses and performed 51 cataract surgeries, as well as 33 major follow-up operations. Exhausting: certainly, Pudaite acknowledges. But the whole reason for being in a remote area became clear when the spiritual needs rounded out the helps picture. "3,461 came for prayer and counseling at the counseling room, and 133 people received Christ as Lord and Savior."

Local churches are busy now in follow-up with new believers, and even as the team participants catch up on their sleep back in their home countries, plans are in the works for yet another medical mission trip. Says Pudaite, next year the Sielmat Christian Hospital will have been active for half a century. Lots of change, and yet, not enough. They'll soon be forming teams. "We have not set the date for next year's Medical Camp. If anyone is interested in coming, we would love to hear from you. Please give us a call at Bibles For The World at 1-888-382-4253, or check our Web site."

I've been working with MNN for 2 years, so I see a lot of similar stories come across my desk.
Normally this would be another news story, but I’m going to interject some personal connection because this story really hits home for me. Literally.

My dad is an eye doctor, so eye care was always a given in our house. If I need more contacts, ordering new ones is as easy as stepping into my dad’s study. If I get pink eye, the medicine drops are in my dad’s bathroom drawer right next to his shaver and comb.

But it’s far more difficult for 131 developing countries that share 5% of the world’s eye doctors. In Haiti, the situation is extreme with 1 optometrist for every 180,000 residents.

For me? I think I’ve taken my eye exams for granted. In fact, few things get me more excited than knowing I need an eye exam, because it means my dad takes me on a “father-daughter date” to dinner and then to his office to check my eyes–unless I need to get the “puff test” where a machine puffs air on your eye to measure something I’m sure is unnecessary. Then I am less than pleased.

But in a nation like Haiti, many families have to choose between food that day or getting their eyes examined. I can understand how in those situations, eye care would be pushed to the side.

Jeff VanDerMolen with Kids Alive International says, “About half of primary-aged children [in Haiti] do not go to school. Only about 60% stay enrolled through sixth grade. If [children have] trouble with their vision, that’s one thing that would take them out of the classroom, which would really affect their whole life: job opportunities, further education.”

I get that. Third grade was rough for me because gradually I couldn’t read what the teacher wrote on the board. Because of this, I got distracted and my grades went down. If I lived in Haiti with half of my friends not even in school, I’d probably be tempted to skip out altogether.

But I got glasses and went on to graduate high school, attend college, and discover my love for writing. Eye care enabled my education. I’m literally realizing this as I write these words and reflect on how different my life could’ve been.

And how different things are for so many kids who simply need quality eye care.

That’s why I think it’s so cool that Kids Alive did something in Haiti to help kids like me who needed eye care to succeed in school.

I’ll let VanDerMolen tell you about it: “We work with a little over 140 children in a very poor area in northern Haiti…. We worked with four specific kids between the ages of 6 and 15. Two of these children had crossed eyes, one of them had another case in which one eyelid was not opening fully, and then another one of the girls in our community lost her eye in an accident several years ago and was not receiving good care for that eye.

“Particularly with crossed eyes, one of the things that happens is that one eye becomes dominant and the other eye really loses its ability to see because it’s not being used. So the sooner that’s corrected, the sooner those two eyes begin to work together.

“We had a visiting team from HCJB Global–HCJB has a medical component to their ministry–and they helped bring to our attention to the possibility of care for these kids. They [provided] some funding that allowed us to step into this need. It’s not something we were able to accomplish in Haiti, so we identified in the Dominican Republic a very good eye hospital.

“We brought the kids over to Elias Santana Hospital [earlier this month]. It’s a ministry hospital with a mission to provide the highest care of medical eye care for the poorest in the country…. Several of the kids will come back for some continued care next month in June, and that will be their final care. The ongoing condition then will be continued recovery.”

And just like my dad cares for my eyes and encourages me in my walk with the Lord, Kids Alive wants to do more than just make sure these kids’ eyes are okay.

“Our opportunity to impact those kids is through our school and because of this eye surgery, their ability to continue on in school exists,” says VanDerMolen. “In our school, we share the Gospel with these children. We understand the need they have to know Christ, and this eye care really provides us with the ongoing opportunity to be plugged into their lives and the lives of their families.”

If you’re touched by this story and don’t want to take your blessings for granted, you can do something about it!

Kids Alive has child sponsorships for $39 a month. It really does cause a ripple effect when you impact the course of a kid’s life and embrace them with access to care and Christ’s love. Click here to sponsor a child with Kids Alive.

I for one will be much more thankful next time I sit in my dad’s eye exam chair–“puff test” and all.

The financial services FBZ provided were only part of the package. FBZ celebrated CURE's arrival by sponsoring the catering needs during the opening ceremony at the hospital. They also hosted a lavish dinner the same evening at a five star hotel. In that part of the world, meals are very highly esteemed.

FBZ has once again recognized CURE's need for local financial support. FBZ has deviated from the norm and donated $50,000 toward the treatment of poor children with disabling conditions.

Upon receiving this donation, CURE held an event to commemorate this gesture. FBZ provided the tent and the refreshments. They also received a tour of the hospital. Mr. Barkat Ali, the managing Director, was humbled by what he saw.

Mr. Ali stated that the donation to Beit CURE Hospital is one way through which the Bank has demonstrated its commitment to reducing the child mortality rate.

Beit CURE Zambia is one of the few hospitals in Zambia that is able to adequately address the surgical needs of the disabled children in the country. Along with patient beds, the hospital also houses a chapel and spiritual center, three operating theaters, an outpatient clinic, an administrative building and a general services building.

Pray that the hospital will continue to impact lives. Ask God to provide for the spiritual needs to all who enter the doors. Praise the Lord for the willingness that FBZ has to be involved in the CURE Hospital.

CURE spoke to over 10,000 people at the concert, sharing their mission of "healing kids and proclaiming the Gospel." Using a live Skype broadcast, they introduced crowds to their CUREkids coordinator in Honduras and Carlos, a boy who recently had foot surgery to correct his condition. Festival-goers also met Jon Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot, in the CURE VIP tent. Foreman chatted with fans, signed autographs, and performed an acoustic set.

Through these efforts, along with with speaker Tony Nolan's commendation, CURE raised enough funding to give each of the 15 children a much-needed surgery.

In the developing world, children born with leg deformities or clubfoot are often crippled for life. While clubfoot is the world's most common congenital birth defect, affecting over 200,000 newborns each year, it is curable. Kids under the age of 2 can be cured permanently–without the trauma and dangers of surgery–by using the Ponseti Method, a casting process used to straighten the feet.

Treatments or surgery for kids in the developing world is often just not available. But since 2006, CURE has healed more than 10,000 kids of clubfoot. Click here to see kids waiting for surgery and a chance for a normal life.

Over the last number of months, the small, central African nation of Malawi has gone from bad to worse economically. Previously on Mission Network News, we informed readers about the significant foreign exchange issues Malawi has been facing, not to mention its severe fuel and food shortages.

The problems have all gotten worse. And CURE International is in the thick of it.

One major problem for the people as well as the hospital is the increasing shortage of fuel. The hospital needs fuel for ambulances and other necessities, but it's exceedingly hard to come by.

"I've had to contract for nearly half a million U.S. dollars worth of fuel in order to secure [CURE] a very modest 2,000 liters [528 gallons] a month," notes the CURE Malawi's executive director Stuart Palmer.

The value of the Malawian currency, the kwacha, has also caused problems. "The Malawi kwacha is officially held at 166 Malawi kwacha to one U.S. dollar inside the country. But across the border, it trades at 230-240 Malawi kwacha to one dollar," explains Palmer. "So that's about 38-40% overvalued in the country."

Meanwhile, food shortages are worsening. Palmer notes that one feeding program has increased its enrollment by 90% for children under five over the last few months.

Power outages are increasing. Even for those lucky enough to have a generator, fuel is nowhere in sight to power the generators.

To put the proverbial icing on the cake, in late November, Malawi implemented a Zero Deficit Budget, reports All Africa. Essentially, instead of receiving the usual 40% of its annual budget from donors, the government will cover this amount by sourcing funds from elsewhere–namely through the introduction of exorbitant taxes on products.

From fuel shortages to budget crises, the situation is unarguably sticky. It's not hopeless, but with so many problems, Palmer says it's hard to know what to attack first. "As a country, it's difficult to see what could be done apart from a large devaluation of the currency, which would be quite painful."

CURE has suffered directly from all of these trials. Nonetheless, the hospital continues to be a beacon of light in an ever darkening place.

"I think many times we forget, as Christians, that how we walk through times of challenge can be our greatest testimony," Palmer observes.

Eyes have certainly been on CURE. Despite the extreme difficulties in what is already one of the world's poorest nations, in-country giving to CURE's efforts to provide free surgeries for disabled children has actually increased as people recognize the importance of what CURE is doing. Hearts are softening more in Malawi, already named "The Warm Heart of Africa" for its friendliness. Palmer says that softening is moving people toward the Gospel as well.

Besides performing surgeries, says Palmer, "We also share the Gospel with all the children and the guardians that come through, and that really is a very life-changing experience for many of them. They've never come across what I would call a true, balanced, Christian, Gospel message before."

This extremely trying economic season for Malawi coincides with a joyful time of giving for Christians–Christmas. CURE already helps the poorest of the poor, but those people are now getting even poorer. This holiday season, you can help CURE give one of these children the chance to walk on earth, and also to walk one day in heaven. Partner with CURE by supporting just one of these children in prayer, or by helping to pay for a surgery.

To see the faces and read the stories of the kids you could help, click here.

Of course other nations have had kids' soccer games before, but none like this. It will be the world's first soccer match in which every child on the pitch has been cured of clubfoot.

The game this Friday, October 21, will feature children who have been cured of their clubfoot, thanks to CURE International Beit Hospital and the Malawi National Clubfoot Program. These children would never even be able to kick a ball if it weren't for these organizations, and now they will be playing a whole game.

Stuart Palmer, Executive Director of CURE's hospital in Malawi, says, "The children's football match epitomizes the work of CURE in Malawi. It demonstrates the complete transformation of young lives previously blighted by an easily curable physical disability and very painful social stigma. And who knows: some of these children may go on to be international football players. After all, Steven Gerrard was born with the same conditions."

The match will be a celebration and also hopefully will mean more people hearing about CURE's hospital. CURE provides free surgeries for children and adults with clubfoot and other conditions, all while sharing the Gospel.

Pray that this soccer match might be a doorway to Christ for some.

CURE's Malawi hospital is just one of many around the world. Learn more about their work here.