Introducing Raja

This is my buddy Raja Das. Raja lives very close to the Bread of Life Academy at Kalapani. His father is employed by the Bread of Life Centre. Raja is ten years old and is in grade 5. I've had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with Raja. He has great English skills and has recently taken over translating for us during Sunday school out at Kalapani. He is always willing to help in anyway that he can. Having Raja around has been especially great for Andrew as they have become close friends.

Two months ago while Raja was playing ball he fell and broke both of the bones in his right forearm. Unfortunately the doctor that he originally saw did not set the bones properly. His arm was x-rayed after 4 weeks and the doctor said he needed to wear the cast for another 2 weeks. When the cast was removed it was obvious to everyone that the arm had not healed properly. There is an obvious bump that you can actually see in the above picture if you're looking for it. We thought that it was important that Raja get a second opinion on his arm. The new doctor that looked at Raja said that he would be fine for now but would run into definite problems in the future if his arm is left in the state that it is in. Tonight Raja is in the hospital awaiting surgery at 6am tomorrow morning. The doctors will be re-breaking Raja's arm and putting in plates and screws.

The surgery is going to cost about $25,000 Rupees, about $600. To give you an idea, the original plaster cast that was put on Raja's arm cost $1500 Rupees. That's only about $35 Canadian but when you take into consideration that Raja's father's monthly salary is $1000 Rupees you can see that there is no way that this family can afford the care needed. If you would be interested in helping with the cost of Raja's surgery get in touch with me and I'll pass along the needed info.

After school today Raysha and I took the kids to go see Raja in the hospital. We played some UNO and had a good visit. He confided in us that he is pretty nervous about the surgery. Please pray that he would experience God's peace and a full recovery.