On the road again..

Well it's 12:52am on Sunday morning and I am in Miami. Yes I am on my way back to Nicaragua. I can't really explain to anyone how Oscar's death makes me feel. I am not sure anyone would understand if I told you.

When I first met Oscar God did something in my heart for him I can't understand. I love many kids in Nicaragua but none like him, other than my girls of course.

God used Oscar to stretch my faith farther than anything. There are many times during the last two years when Oscar needed help that I did not have the finances to do so and I watched God show up in a mighty way.

I will never forget last year during August when he needed his house to be fixed in order for him to come home. I got a call at the last minute and it was going to take like $600 to fix it and I didn't have a dime to give him. God and I went around and around and when it was all said and done it was my faith God was working on, not my pocket book.

I have learned so much from this. I have had to trust God in ways like no others.

I have to have closure. I can't just sit and let them bury my little buddy and not be there to be a part of it and have that closer.

In addition the family is so distraught. They truly believed he would wake up one day. I am proud to see their faith. I am happy to know during this time they have prayed more than ever before. My concern now is to make sure there is no anger toward God. I understand there is and hope to help work through that.

Of course this trip and the last was not planned. We are again having to trust God for the finances to cover these expenses along with burial arrangements.

I have had many of you ask can you help and yes you can. If you would like to contribute to the burial for this family please just send your check to me an I will apply it to what was spent. So far we only know the casket is around $225 and that we have to purchase the land for the grave and pay the people to dig the grave. They have a type of wake also but I am not sure of the details just yet.

Things are so different in Nicaragua. My friend Carlos had to prepare the body. He and the dad had to clean the body up and put his clothes on him as well as put him in the casket. Maybe God knew if I was there I would have felt obligated to do that for the family and trust me I would not have been able to handle that. Carlos is a great friend to me and knew that I would have not wanted the mom to have done it.

They took the body to Somotillo tonight and now he will be there for the wake until I get there. We will bury him on Monday morning. They don't em-bomb the body but they do something to keep it so the family can keep it up for the wake.

Please pray for the family as they are heart broken of course. Francisca can not have any other children and Oscar is her only one. Pray this family will find God through all this.

I am not sure all of you reading this understand the magnitude of the prayers that have been going on for Oscar. You are a part of 100's that have been praying faithfully. People in Kenya, the Philippines,  all over the US in many cities have all joined together to pray for this little guy.

Little Oscar has brought us all together crying out to God on his behalf. This is how it is suppose to be. Not just in a crisis should we be on our knees for each other. Daily we need to lift up others and help carry their burdens.

I will never be able to thank each of you for all the prayers.

God Bless each of you.

Pray for support and rest for me as I travel 3 hours by plane and 3 hours by car.

Praise God my little buddy hurts no more.

Angie

The Power of One Ministry 198 Mellwood Drive Charlotte, NC  28214

God's Will Has Been Done

I got home last night around 10:00. It was truly the longest ride from Nicaragua I have ever taken. Oscars condition had not changed yesterday but it has today.

It is with the greatest sadness to tell you that he went to be with God finally this morning.

His battle is over and he is now completely Healed...

I am at peace that he is in heaven now but extremely sad that I was not there. I wanted to stay so bad yesterday but felt I had responsibilities at home I had to be here for. I have to just deal with the fact I guess it was not meant for me to be there during this time.

If I had some frequent flyer miles I would leave today again but I don't. If you have some you would like to give away I would take them but would need them ASAP.

Carlos says the family is doing as good as expected. I had prepared them Thursday night the best I could.

Please pray for me as this hurts much more than I expected.

I know that the family would want me to tell all of your how much they appreciate your prayers and support for them.

Please continue to pray for them during this time. They will have a "wake" tomorrow which will last 24 hours and then they will bury him.

We are taking care of the burial arrangements for them since of course they do not have the resources to do so.

Thanks again for everything.

Angie

My journey end today...

Well after a very long long week it is time for me to come home. I really don't want to leave but I know in my heart that my time here is over.  I am at peace with coming home so I guess it is not meant for me to be here during these last moments.

Last night during the 9 o'clock visit the nurse gave Oscar a shot and he jerked as if it hurt. This was a natural thing to happen but the parents immediately saw it as he can feel something which then cause a great deal of issues to arise.

I truly felt if he did not pass on his own last night it would be time for me to go. I have done all I can for him and now only the machines and God can help him.

I am at peace that God has Oscar in his hands and it will only be a matter of time until his body wears out. The doctor says they can only force him to live for a period of time. At some point the medicine they are giving will no longer keep his body functioning enough to live and he will hopefully pass on his own. I am praying that if God wants him to come home he will take him because the parents will never pull the vent. They think t that one day no matter how long it will take he will wake up.

I tried to explain things to them but they will hear none of it. It is so sad. They feel they would be killing him if they pull the vent. I can't imagine what that would feel like either. So we wait. The gov't will allow them to keep him on the vent for as long as he is body will allow it.

Please just pray for God's will. That is all we can pray for how.

Carlos just called and he is at the hospital and they are discussing if he is stable enough to move to do the wave test.

I will not be able to know much now that I am not there. The parents don't ever ask questions and get facts. We will be limited in what we find out from now.

Please pray they are more aggresive to ask questions instead of just accepting what they are told.

I will be home after 6 and will call Carlos who is staying at the hospital for me today.

Until then...

Angie

Another bad night...

Well this mornings meetings with the doctors found to be disturbing again. In the night his blood pressure dropped way to low and his heart is not beating enough beats to keep the blood flowing fast enough.

The doctor basically told us that he is clinically dead at this point. They are giving him special medicine to keep his blood pressure at a minimum and they are giving him special oxygen because his brain is not functioning enough to tell his body to work.

The doctor said they have taken him off any medicine that was keeping him asleep so he can wake up any time but due to his condition they feel he won't ever wake up on his own.

The nuro doctor did the reflex test again today and there was no response at all. He wants to do the wave test again but all the doctors in charge of him agreed that moving him to another room would cause him to die immediately. He can not be moved at all because his body is living off of all the machines. They are giving me some type of adrenaline medicine to make his heart pump also.

In the morning they will access his condition and determine if he is able to be moved or not to do the wave test again. They only want to do the test to prove to the parents that he is already brain dead.

I do not even know how to ask you to pray anymore for Oscar. I suppose we need to just pray for his parents and for me and trust God has already done what he needs to do for Oscar.

I have one specific request for me. I am to leave in the morning at 10. There is no way to tell what is going to happen in the morning and even if they declare him brain dead his mom has already said she will not remove the tubes. So, with that said I think it is ok for me to come on home but I personally do not want to leave at this point.

If he passes on his own today or tonight of course I will not come home but if he does not I will have to decide if I will get on that plane. I went to the airlines office here to check on the price to change the ticket and because I took a note from the doctor they waved the $250 change fee and it will not cost me anything to get a new ticket. The biggest problem is I can't come home until Tuesday because there are not seats on any flights out.

Additionally, we have to work on Saturday and Tuesday and I am having to ask staff to do a job they are not ready to do. I trust they can do it but it will be a little rocky on my husband.

I want to be here for the family and they need me to fight for them. I really am in a fight for Oscar because you have to push them to do everything, however, I need to do what is right by my family as well. This trip is costing a lot lot more we have and I will be the only to pay for the funeral as well I am sure.

I am not giving up on God at all but I am also at peace if God chooses to take him home. He is in a much better place if that happens.

I have asked Terry to pray about what I should do. Leave or stay. It's easier for him to make this decision because I am way to tired to be making it and way to emotionally connected. Pray for wisdom for him.

For now we wait on any changes to take place or for him to pass or for a wonderful miracle from God. He is in God's hands now and it is up to God to do what he wants.

I do ask that you pray that if God wants to have Oscar that he takes him and do not make Francisca to decide to pull the vent.

Also, she got a call today and found out that the judge that decided to let her go has been over turned and they are telling her she must report back to prison on the 18th. She will not get an extension this time.

Can you imagine the stress that is causing Francisca?

Many things to pray for.. Many needs. I appreciate all your prayers and ask for you to continue praying.

I'll let you know something when I can.

Angie

Eyes are responding...

This morning I arrived at the hospital and the nuro doctor was walking out. The dad said he saw him with Oscar this morning already so of course I immediately thought maybe he has done the test already. We stopped him and ask and in fact he had and found a considerable amount of change. Not enough to declare a healing miracle just yet but a difference.

He did a reflex test and his legs responded where as yesterday nothing happen.

He shined a light into his eyes and one of the eyes reacted where as yesterday neither responded.

He ran the nuro test again and the brain waves were more than yesterday by a little amount.

Needless to say this is a huge improvement from one day to the next. They have been giving him the medicine to reduce the swelling in his brain and feel it is starting to work more.

The doctor said that in the morning he will redo the reflex test, if his reflexes are the same he will wait until Friday to do another wave test, if they are worse or better he will redo the brain waves test to see if there is any improvement or not.

This is really good news and has made a major change for Oscar's mom Francisca. Yesterday was a horrible day for her and she did not eat or drink much at all. I have had to force her to eat. Unfortunately, she is having some bad pain from the surgery which is making matters worse. Today she saw the doctor to make sure it was nothing serious and they will followup with an ultrasound next week but feel it is more from the stress than anything and gave her some pain medicine.

Last night during the visit someone came into the room that Francisca is living in and stole all she and her niece had. All of their belongings were taken in addition to the stuff I had bought for Oscar like the towels, his clothes, pj's, her makeup, everything. How cruel for this to happen the night before she thought she was going to hear her child was brain dead.

The doctor is not jumping for joy just yet but feels these are good signs. He said it is to early to tell and we will just have to wait and see what happens in the next day or so and to keep praying. He said there are still many serious things that has happen and we need to just keep our focus on praying for him.

I choose to believe this is God's hand working. I am only here for another day and have to leave early on Friday. I am expecting some really good news before I leave.

I am so glad I have been hear because there have been so many things I have had to take care of. The family is very passive and just receive what ever is given and do not stand up for their rights to know what is going on. If I had not been here the doctor would not have been pushed to do more tests and get the nuro doctor involved. They were going to just say he was brain dead and be done with it and ask her to pull him off the vent days too soon.

The doctors here are treating me like I am the parent since I asking so many questions and challenging them to do more. They do the bare minimum here and find it easier to just give up. Praise God I am very stubborn person some days.

Please continue to pray for more stimulation to occur and for the other symptoms to go away.

I will see the "regular" doctor again this afternoon to find out about the pneumonia and the heart attack issues.

I will keep you posted as I have new information.

Thanks so much for everyone who is praying and sending me encouragement. I need it. Please pray for my health as I have not be able to sleep well and it is the hottest I have ever experienced in Managua. My body is not handling the lack of sleep and the heat well and I am extremely emotionally exhausted. I know it is just the enemy trying to wear me out but that is not going to happen because my heart is much stronger.

Praise God with me for these changes. He is working and your prayers are being answered.

I pray the next time I write it is a MIRACLE story to tell.

Angie