MARCH 5TH

Please keep Emmanuel in your desperate prayers, at one o'clock Tuesday, March 5th he was shot! On the way to a friend's house in Recreio he had stopped at his bank to make a cash withdrawl - upon leaving the bank he was followed by two guys on a motorbike. As he was pulling close the house he noticed the two men on the bike and a gun tucked into the second guy's jeans, realizing he was about to be assaulted he backed up and swerved to get away. They chased him and then in broad daylight, on a public street shot him through the window of his car with a 9mm gun. Within minutes, friends of ours who live in that neighborhood were with him and the ambulance came and brought him to Miguel Couto, the main public hospital in Rio de Janeiro were they deal with gun-shot victims / trauma patients etc... Although in serious condition Eman is stable. The bullet entered his shoulder and went across his thorax, piercing his left lung and sending a piece of vertabrae into his spinal cord, the bullet itself is lodged somewhere in his back. When he got to the hospital they performed an immediate surgical procedure to begin draining his lung which was haemorrhaging. From their initial scans and xrays, it show a lesion to his spinal cord which means irreversible damage. He cannot feel his legs or feet. Please pray with us for complete healing & recovery for Eman. "All things are possible to him that believeth" we are claiming the promises of God's Word that Eman will come through this without the smell of smoke. My eldest daughter, myself and several friends were at the hospital all afternoon and were able to see him in the evening, although in a lot of discomfort and pain he can talk [slowly] and is "all there" - he was relating to us what happened. It's a miracle he is alive. The motorbike driver was enraged that Eman tried to get away and screamed "mata ele" / "kill him" to his accomplice on the back of the bike. Eman said he could see the hestitation in the second guy's face as he took aim to shoot him and thinks that's why he was shot in the shoulder. The medical staff at the hospital have been extremely kind and accommodating and we have been assured that he is in the best hands to deal with this trauma situation. We cannot tell you how much it means to us know that so many loved ones are praying for Eman and fighting for him in spirit. Thank you! It comforts our hearts just knowing that we are not alone. We will post daily updates and prayer requests for Eman here on this blog. Please share this blog with your prayer groups, spread the word ... "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" It's all so surreal, I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and it's just going to be a bad dream, we're in a state of shock from it all. Love, Julia. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------