Hope

Hope Testimonies, are stories that are full of encouragement and hope in the midst of struggles and difficult times.

Testimony 1

Reuven - My Child

After five years of matrimony, Osvaldo and I wanted to have children. I had an allergy problem to drugs and anesthesia, and could become crippled from their effect on my body; I was advised not to bear children. Only after a long and expensive treatment I could become pregnant.

Osvalso and I (Kesia) are from Brazil, we made an ‘aliah’ in 1998, after five years of adaptation in Israel, I became pregnant. The doctor informed me that the pregnancy was going well and the tests were turning out well. I was delighted that the pregnancy was going well. One evening I felt strange pains, I came home and ran to the bathroom. I saw blood!

We went to the gynecologist and he detected a urinary infection. The doctors recommended me absolute rest at home; I started to take antibiotics then. On the day completing the 24th week of pregnancy, I woke up with a terrible pain in my back. So we went to the hospital. I was assisted by 15 doctors and four nurses, and in 9 cm of dilation. I was very afraid. There were indications of normal birth, but the doctors did not give me any medicine due to the unknown condition of my baby. Reuven was born in 10 minutes, weighing only 680g and measuring 22 cm. So little and fragile, surprising everyone with his strong cry. He was placed in my arms for only a few seconds, I cried. He was then taken to the Neonatal Intensive Therapy Unit. They took me to the surgery room, because the placenta was not left complete. They told me that Reuven is stable, but the first 24 hours are very critical. Meanwhile, I was in the hospital, still under the effect of general anesthesia. I couldn’t walk for five days; feelings of frustration and fear were inside of me. I did not understand why our Lord allowed us to go through so much pain, yet the answers came later, with time.

After five days of hospitalization, I returned home. My battle was just beginning. While our questions were answered by the doctors in the ITU room, I was shocked to see my son so small in the incubator. Connected to wires, tubes, monitors. These were the most intense days of suffering in my life. I had to be strong for Reuven, but there were moments of deep pain and anguish that I cannot explain. We were with him every day. Talking to him, singing to him, praying and those moments we felt his reactions. My son needed us, and we needed him. Reuven was recovering very slowly; he had days of ups and downs. I could not breastfeed him, and he took my milk through a tube. The first day I could take him in my arms was a celebration! I was overjoyed. He was hospitalized for a total of four months and fifteen days. On June 10, the pediatrician told me it’s time to prepare to go home.I scream out the news to the world! God is faithful, and kept His promise! On June 16, 2003, Ruben came home. Osvaldo and I left the hospital crying, carrying our baby, now four months old looking as if he had just been born.

At home there were difficult times and tension, because of the oxygen machine and the monitor. We were confused, with so many obstacles, but doing our best to take care of him. My mother and sister helped me so much God provided everything

Because of slower development in relation to other children, Reuven needs a team of doctors and professionals to accompany him through life. Today we can say that he is in good health and is developing well! Thank God! Ruben is today six years old. He is a fighter. A fighter since he was in my womb! And He is a winner! Hallelujah

Testimony 2

Mona Lisa Christine - My Daughter

In September of 1969 I found myself to be pregnant with my boyfriend’s child. I had had a relationship with this man in high school and it continued for almost 7 years. Needless to say I was very much in love with him but when he found out I was pregnant he gave me an ultimatum—either I have an abortion or he would leave me. I told my boyfriend that I thought abortion was murder and that I couldn’t possibly abort the child of the man I loved so very much. He sneered and mocked what I had said as if babies in the womb were nothing of any consequence and pressured me even more to get an abortion before anyone found out about it. Well, I refused and he left. I was utterly heartbroken. My father had died the month before and my mother was still grieving his death. My sister had just divorced and was left with two small children. My whole life seemed to come to an end. My one thought was how to keep this child.

My mother found a place for me to stay in a home for unwed mothers. I remember crying every day. My mind was in constant turmoil. I kept wavering back and forth with the question “shall I keep the baby, or shall I give the baby up for adoption, shall I keep it or give it up?” Back and forth, back and forth, day after day, day after day until I was a mental wreck. The staff at this home were very concerned for my mental health as I was constantly crying.

One night as I sat in the nurses station crying and talking to the night nurse she said “Look at it this way” and she took my hand in the palm of hers. “If you try to hold onto something tightly” she formed my hand into a tight ball, “it comes out of the cracks of your fingers, but if you hold onto it loosely” she spread out the palm of my hand, “you always have it.” “It’s like giving away a great work of art to a museum,” she continued, “you created it, but everyone can enjoy it.”

I thought about what she said and two days later when I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl I named her Mona Lisa Christine. They allowed me to hold her only twice before I signed the adoption papers. After signing my baby away I walked out of the office brokenhearted and crying, knowing that I would never see the baby I loved so very dearly again!

Two years later I was completely and totally broken and saw no purpose or reason to live. It was only by the grace of God that I became a believer in 1972. Through a series of events I felt the led to live in Israel. I first came to Israel in 1980, I met my future husband in 1981. Before I got married to David I had to put my future marriage on the altar by sharing this story with David. I shared it with him and he graciously accepted me.

Well, this is not the end of the story. In January of this year I got a telephone call from a social worker in Atlanta, Georgia. She told me that my daughter was trying to make contact with me and asked if I would be interested in meeting her. Of course I said yes!!!

To make a long story short, Mona Lisa Christina came to visit us for two weeks in April/May. She is a believer in the Messiah Yeshua.

She has performed in the former Soviet Union with her high school wind ensemble as part of President Reagan’s Cultural Exchange Program. Mona Lisa Christina is a pianist and was chosen to participate in the Governor’s Honors Program in Georgia (as one of ten piano students in all of Georgia), where she studied piano, conducting, and Japanese. She has studied in Japan and it was while there that she met her future husband who is a Doctor of Microbiology and does research funded by NASA. Christina is currently is the mother of five sons and home schools her children.

If I had aborted this work of art the world would have been deprived of a beautiful person. We have a wonderful relationship. We call each other and pray together once a week and I either go to visit her or she comes to Israel to stay with us.

Isn’t God good! I just praise Him for what He’s done in my life.

Michaella Lazarus