A plea for prayer

You know, every day of our lives is filled with "stuff." Some stuff is joy-filled, some is full of discouragement, there is the "stuff" of new awareness of Christ's presence or, as I encountered tonight, there are those moments of grief that almost defy description.



I guess it sort of blind-sided me. When there is so much tragedy around us every day (all we have to do is watch a newscast to see how much pain is in the world), we can almost become immune to it...almost numb...perhaps as a way of surviving the pain of focusing on it. But sometimes something comes along that grabs your heart so fiercely you feel it will fall completely out of your body.



Tonight I became aware of some missionaries in training that are desperately in need of prayer support. Following is a quote from their mission organization's website:



Scott, Andrea and Isaac Sward were involved in a car accident on Sunday morning, February 3, 2008 at 10:00 a.m., local Colorado time.

Isaac was fatally injured and died on Monday morning.


Andrea is scheduled for surgery at 7:30am (Mountain Time) Tuesday morning, to stabilize her neck. The surgeon will be inserting a plate between the C7 and T1 vertebrae. Doctors are optimistic about the prognosis for repairing the fractures. Andrea has multiple injuries, including a broken clavicle, a broken jawbone, two fractured vertebrae, two broken arms, a broken ankle, a broken leg and some internal injuries. On Monday morning, her lungs collapsed, but the doctors were able to re-inflate them. The nurses are encouraged because they note that she is responding and fighting.


At this time, her blood pressure and vitals are holding strong without medication. She responded to being directed to move her arms and legs and has movement in her extremities. She is heavily sedated and it is expected that she will remain that way for the present.


Scott had an MRI on Monday morning. They are still waiting for the results. He had multiple internal injuries and has been in Intensive Care, close to Andrea. He has been conscious since the accident occurred.



I have been overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness and grief for this sweet-looking young couple. Not only are they dealing with the physical pain of their injuries, but also with the deep, searing emotional pain of losing their child...and I felt nudged to share their story here.



Please pray. I am positive that they are utterly and completely dependent upon the prayers and support of others.



Scott and Andrea are part of our family in Christ...and they need us right now.



(to keep updated on this situation, you can check out the following website... http://www.friendschurchsw.org/swardupdate.html)