Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Praise God!!!! Praise Report!!!

Since Erika sent out the last prayer target for Asher's edema and for his abdominal swelling to go down last night his swelling has gone down tremendously. It is noticeable just by looking at him. Here's a picture from last night:


You can obviously see his swollen belly. We sent out the prayer request out for his kidneys and now his kidneys are recovered enough to be able to handle more diuretic drugs to make him pee. His kidneys have been seeing improvement. Last night we sent this prayer request out for the swelling/edema. Now look at him!!!



His position has been changed but you can see a massive difference in the swelling. It still has to come down some more and he is still not out of the woods yet but this is great news. Because the sooner that swelling goes down, the sooner he can go into surgery and get his little heart fixed so that we can take him home and have our family all together again.

Pray that his liver would continue to recover.
Pray that the surgeons and doctors would have the wisdom of God concerning his surgery.
Pray that his surgery would be successful.
Pray that his kidneys to continue to recover.
Pray that the bleeding from his catheter would stop.


So Asher has been accumulating quite a bit of art these days thanks to his big brother Joel, our friend Carolyn and his cousin Mary Grace. Here is a picture of his "art wall".



You are all amazing and I am so thankful for you all praying for this little man. Today we had a friend named Diana Scimone come by and visit. She was praying for Asher last night and God told her to anoint his feet with oil because he was going to be a missionary. She had no idea that the main scripture we were praying over him was the blessing that Moses spoke over the tribe of Asher from Deut 33:24 through the end of the chapter. In the first part of the verse, Moses says that he "shall dip his foot in oil". It was an amazing confirmation that brought us strength and encouragement as this si the same thing I prayed for him when I dedicated him to God minutes after he was born on the sidewalk of the birth center. We feel that he is also to be a Samuel set in the house of The Lord and we dedicated him so on the night of his birth.

Please pray for our whole family as this time is putting quite a strain on us. It is jus tso hard to only be able to see Joel for a few hours a day and to have to leave him all the time. I miss my family being together and I could use some encounter with God during this time. He is bringing back memories of by childhood that are rather painful to remember but The Lord is using this experience to bring healing to those areas of my life. For a lot of my childhood I was in different mental hospitals. Being in medical facilities through my childhood left a mark on me that I didn't know hadn't yet healed. This whole experience is really bringing me back to a part of my life that I thought I was done with but apparently I still need quite a bit of healing. It looks like the Lord is using this this experience to bring some much needed healing. It's just hard going back sometimes.

Non-the-less, God is using this situation to even minister to others that are staying at the Ronald Mcdonald house. I met a man named Mike the other day. Mike and his wife (sorry I forgot her name) have a son in the ICU as well. Their son was born with his intestines on the outside of his body. Mike's wife had to go home for some personal reasons which left Mike here all by himself and his son underwent surgery today. He approached me in tears today as he was quite overwhelmed. He was in desperate need of a touch from The Lord and I thank God that I was there to be able to encourage him. It is due to the prayers of all of you that I am at the level of peace that I am in to be able to minister to him. After a Word and some prayer he thanked me profusley telling me that I have no idea how much it means to him that I take the time to talk with him and to share the Love of Christ with him.

Pray for more open doors to minister The Love of Christ with the suffering families around us.
Pray for grace to minister.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to minister to the families as we minister to them.
Pray for favor with hospital personnel.

So keep us in prayer about all these things and we will do our best to keep you all updated.

We Love you all and thank you for your support.

P.S.
Many have been asking what our needs are so I wanted to first say that first and foremost, we need you praying for Asher and praying for us as a family and us as ministers here to those who are suffering. If you are interested in meeting some of our practical needs, our needs are posted on the sidebar of this blog. All financial gifts are tax deductible if made out to OHOP and sent to Matt and Erika Bond 485 Silver Star rd. Ocoee, Fl, 34761. Thank you so much for everything. We need your prayer and encouragement first and foremost. Everything after that is extra stuff. You guys are amazing.

Bless you in Jesus' Name!!!
M@ Bond

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi guys... Feast your eyes on another awesome scripture: "And a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased" John 6:2. Let the dunamis power for miracles come forth, show Jesus to be Who He is, and cause many to know God!! Amen.

Anonymous said...

Praise God the prayers are working! We serve such a powerful God! Just this week I was telling Him how much I need to see His mighty arm move right now to keep my faith alive. Watching ASher's improvement each day has truly been an inspiration. I too will be joining you tomorrow in the fast.God is good to give us His grace. Matt and Erika sometimes we do not realize whose lives are being affected because we have to focus on our own circumstances but know this; more people are watching then you think and more people are being affected than you realize. This baby is becoming an inspiration to many. Keep reaching out and offering prayer to those around you. I believe that the more you are able to minister, the more the Lord will reveal some things that you could not see before.Quite possibly this experience is about more than Asher's healing. I know it is hard to think about this right now when you are in the midst of praying for recovery but God does not waste any opportunities.He is a good God! Even in the midst of your struggle, He has graciously given the two of you time together to think and pray and become unified. We never know why things happen the way they do but God ALWAYS has a bigger picture and our best interests at heart so hang in there and feel His amazing grace!! It is all around you! Rachel

Unknown said...

I just want to let the two of you know that my kids have committed to pray for Asher. We will make sure we pray consistently for him.

The faith of a child is the best faith, and through their small prayers it will move the mountains.

I trully see the hand of God in all of this, God is with you all forreal, be encouraged, your not alone (you have burden bearers crying out for Asher).


call me anytime Erika

Natalie