The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.
The right hand of the Lord is exalted:
The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the Lord. Psalm 118:15-17 (KJV)

The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done. Psalm 118:15-17 (NIV)

On January 22, in our church, we were able to dedicate Raphaël, the 1-year old son of Jiska and Jonathan, in the midst of his family, to our heavenly Father. A happy event! During this service we again reflected about the great miracle our heavenly Papa did for Jiska.

The delivery of their first child, Chloe, had been very difficult. She was finally born with the help of a vacuum pump. After delivery, Chloe had a major bleeding at the height of the skull. As a result, she had spent two weeks on intensive care...

That first birth had therefore not been a good experience, but Jiska and Jonathan believed it was going well this time and felt confident about it. So in good heart they went together to the delivery.

During the contractions, Raphaël kept turning back in breech position. For that reason and because they did not want to force the head of Raphaël, as was the case with the birth of Chloe, it was finally decided to do an emergency caesarean section. On Friday December 11, 2016 at 8 p.m. Raphaël Kedar was born. His name means: God heals powerfully.

Everything went well with Raphaël, but that same evening Jiska had a heavy drop in blood pressure. Somewhere Jiska was bleeding and so she had another operation to find the cause, but the gynecologist found nothing. In the end, Jiska was cut open again five times, during one of these operations her womb was removed but the cause remained undetectable. Eventually, a lot of compresses were stuck in her belly, forming a large pressure bandage, and Jiska received a total of 22 bags of blood. That is eleven liters, about twice the amount of blood a person has. Just before one of the operations, she was also given a very expensive "super coagulation" injection, an idea from Jonathan's father, who is also a doctor. She was unconscious from Friday evening to Tuesday, and all the time Jonathan spoke life into his wife, supported by many people who prayed.

The intensive care doctor told Jonathan that all their efforts remained fruitless and everyone at the hospital was convinced that Jiska would not make it ... A good friend who had supported Jonathan in the hospital during the first days, was told afterwards that "her husband did not realize how serious the situation was and that he had lived in denial." Jonathan, however, was well aware of what was happening, but refused to accept death and, contrary to all circumstances and statements, continued to speak life into his wife.

The first thing the gynecologist said to Jiska was that he was happy to see her and that her husband's prayers had made a difference.

A cause of the bleeding has never been determined, but Jiska was wonderfully allowed to leave the hospital after ten days. It finally took another 6 months for the wound in her belly to heal completely but Jiska is alive and telling us about God's mighty exploits in her life!