Suhad

Many of you might be saying, "what's a Suhad"? Others of you may remember last summer when we brought to the U.S. a wonderful sister in Christ from our Baghdad church who badly needed double hip replacement surgery. Her name is Suhad (pronounced Soo-hod) and she quickly worked her way into our hearts and became very dear to us here at NewPointe.

As a recap, our missionary in the Middle East (Blake) met Suhad a number of years ago when the church was planted in Baghdad. Suhad had a severe and very noticable limp from the double hip displasia that had plagued her all of her life. She had asked for prayer over the years but had never complained much even though it was evident that she was in constant pain.

That all changed in the fall of 2007 when Blake and I, along with three other NewPointers, were in the north of Iraq hosting a Spiritual Life Conference for the church in Kurdistan and the church in Baghdad in the south. Suhad showed us a recent x-ray of her hips and a letter from her doctor that said she would soon be confined to a wheelchair if surgery, that could not be performed in Iraq, was not done soon. It was evident that Suhad was now in extreme pain and feared a life of confinement in a culture that does not readily accept disability.

To make a long story a little shorter, Blake and I began discussing Suhad's case with a local Dr. here in Dover who referred it to a specialist friend of his who immediately escalated it to a friend of his at the Cleveland Clinic. As a result, the Cleveland Clinic and her soon to be surgeon Dr. Wael Barsoum, after studying her case, elected to do the surgery at No Charge. What a huge blessing for Suhad. God was definately at work!

Suhad had two surgeries one week apart in late May of last year and many from NewPointe took care of her and nursed her back to health through rehab, language barriers, Dr. appointments and visits. Suhad went home to Iraq in late August - without a limp.

So, for all of you that touched Suhad and in turn were touched by her, the following video is for you. It is a testimony to the greatness of God and the generosity of his people. I was priveleged to shoot it last month in Iraq at the 2009 Spiritual Life Conference in Kurdistan. Watch and enjoy. I certainly did.