Message from Pastor Cao at the Hope Student Center:

Dear fellow brothers and sisters, peace be with you!

Due to the coronavirus situation, everyone cannot go outside, cannot gather with each other, and cannot do many, many things. But for the sake of our own self and our family’s health, we should remain at home and enjoy the wonderful fellowship with family. Although it is not the Mid-Autumn Festival, each family get to gather. For all these, I thank the Lord.

For this same reason, I rarely do any caring visitation at the mountain recently. Yesterday, I received a phone call from the mountain area and was informed about Le. It turned out that his lower part of the body started to swell because he had been paralyzed for some time. His legs started to rot and develop myiasis (maggots). The neighbors discovered his condition because of the horrible odor. The children were simply too young and did not know how to clean their father or help him with a bath. Since Le only can eat but is immobile, he remained in bed even when he needed to use the toilet. Flies were attracted all over and the entire house became very smelly.

Today, I bought a set of clothing along with other supplies, found a worker, and cleaned Le up, and gave him a bath. However, the odor remains because his flesh is already rotten. In order to relieve the children’s burden, I have hired someone in the village to help clean him and pay this hired person daily.

We can only beg for God’s mercy to rescue his body and soul. This is a reminder for all of us that apart from God, we really can do nothing.

In this unusual time, we have some very unusual work to do. Pray for God’s protection.