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Steve & Eida Irwin
United States
Ethnos360, Spanish Language Resources
Urgent. Please pray for Julio Ramírez
Julio is a relatively new member of our field leadership team in Colombia. He and his wife have experience in tribal church planting and he now serves as a teacher in our Instituto Misionero, preparing cross-cultural church planters to work among unreached tribes.
A couple of weeks ago, he was in the jungle, and he suddenly found himself barely able to breathe, which must have been terrifying!
So he was flown urgently for emergency care to the city of Villavicencio at the foot of the Andes. He had been leading a small group of trainees who were doing an internship in a tribal village. His wife, Nadya, and their teenage boys, Jonathan and Josué (Joshua) were with him as well.
He has been in intensive care in a clinic for about 11 days now. Fluid is accumulating in his lungs, which is why he can't breathe adequately on his own. They have inserted tubes surgically and a catheter to drain the fluid. Fungus and bacteria have been discovered in the lungs. They did another MRI, which thank the Lord showed that his lungs are just a little bit more cleaned out than they were. He can't really eat, although he can drink a bit of Gatorade which Nadya brings him, and they say his kidneys are not doing well.
Thank God also that a new antifungal medication that the clinic had ordered has now arrived, so we’re hoping that this helps kill that fungus.
A referral order for a transfer for him to be taken up the mountain to Bogotá, the capital city, to be seen by a lung specialist has been approved, praise God.
Also, their medical insurance only covers them in the state of Cundinamarca, which includes Bogotá and Fusagasugá (where the Institute is located). We don't know what the medical bill will be for the 11 days in the clinic in Villavicencio, or if their insurance might cover any of that.
Nadya is very encouraged at Julio's spirit. Although he could hardly speak when he first entered the clinic, he can now talk, with effort, and he is expressing tremendous faith in the Lord in this trial, entrusting his life into God's hands.
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