I had planned the whole trip, already scheduled close to a year ago, to speak at the European worker retreat for our organization--and indeed the retreat was occurring but I was not attending. Instead I was in a hospital bed in Prague, Czech Republic receiving from appendicitis surgery.
I had arrived from Cardiff, Wales in Prague feeling lousy but assuming it was flu from the daughter of our hosts in Wales. A hope for a night of sleep to "sleep it off" was spent tossing and turning with an intense stomach ache--quite some heavy duty Wales Yorkshire pudding not agreeing with me. But the next morning it was still there and my traveling companion took me to see the doctor. Here the events began which show a divine orchestrating hand.
The hotel provided a taxi to take me to the clinic. Had we simply walked to the street as I wanted to and flagged a taxi rather than waiting for the hotel taxi to arrive the normal taxi would have driven away when we arrived at the first hospital which proved unsatisfactory for foreigners since the doctors did not speak English. The hotel taxi driver took us as his responsibility to see I got appropriate care. He drove us to the University hospital where tourists were supposed to go.
The diagnosing doctor later told me she learned her medical English by watching "Grey's Anatomy". She knew medicine and she knew English but not the appropriate English medical terms so her patients easily understood what she was diagnosing.
After tests and a second opinion she surprised me by saying: Mr Kauffman, we are diagnosing acute appendicitis and recommend immediate surgery. I asked could I get on a plane and go home to America? It is your choice but you must sign a waiver that you did not accept our recommendation she replied; that struck some seriousness into me.
She asked me to return 40 minutes later with a decision.
I discussed with my traveling partner. He advised me that air flights left for the USA in the morning and it was now past noon, this meant I would need to wait almost a day until I could even be on a plane to start the 9 hour flight to America.
I called June hoping she would say, Oh come home and be close to us. But she said, Well, OK, get it done, do not take the chance!
I called my medical doctor brother-in-law. He was up early deer hunting and said he felt certain in the USA I would get the same diagnosis and same recommendation for surgery.
I then realized that the prayer my traveling partner had told me he was praying that our counsel and information would all point in the same direction so that thee excision that should be made would be clear had been answered. It all pointed to getting the surgery done in Prague and I was at the best hospital in the country.
OK, I said to the doctor, let's do it.
Two hours later I had been prepped for surgery and was wheeled to the OR, but not before my church CCF had put the request on their pray mail and people were already praying.
I felt vulnerable stripped of all my possessions including my wedding ring laying on the gurney very naked, very alone wondering: if they mixed up my identity would I have trouble proving who I was? One of the last things I remember was a doctor asking me who I was and what I was there for and then I was waking up in a hospital bed in a room which was to be my home for the next 5 days so sore in my side I could not easily move. Pressed into the bed from the trauma of the incision in my side.
Later I learned from the doctor that the surgery was not easy, my appendix was already rupturing and they needed to handle it carefully. Had I foolishly insisted in going back to America so circumstances would be more familiar the appendix would have ruptured long before I got there.
Why did God not intervene with healing the appendix rather than clearly giving directions and wisdom into the decision. It seems there would have been less pieces to coordinate. However, we do not chose how God moves, we pray, but we do not dictate. We exercise faith based on the word the Lord speaks into our situation; He chooses the word.
In short: The sun does not revolve around us we revolve around the Son.
--Glenn Kauffman
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