In July of 1994, I came very near to death while traveling in the wilderness of northwest Tibet. Due to the high altitude (which was about 17,000 feet or 5,000 meters above sea level), my brain was filled with fluid. This is a medical condition called High-Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). It is a medical condition in which the brain swells with fluid because of the physiological effects of traveling to a high altitude. Its symptoms include disorientation, lethargy, and nausea. It occurs when the body fails to acclimatize while ascending to a high altitude. Individuals with the condition must immediately descend to a lower altitude or coma and death can occur. People with such symptoms are usually given supplemental oxygen.
HACE, if untreated, can lead to death within 48 hours, and those who receive treatment often take days or weeks to fully recover. It is a rare condition, occurring in less than one percent of people who ascend to 4,000 m. (13,000 ft.). When I had the fluid in my brain, I literally felt that my brain was like Noah’s Ark on the waters. I prayed very fervently the whole morning for a miraculous healing, but nothing happened. My condition only deteriorated. When evening came, I knew that death would soon engulf me. The only cure was to go down to a lower altitude. But that would take seven days, and yet here I was just 48 hours away from certain death.
A Divine Encounter
With a broken heart I knelt by a brook and prayed, “Lord, I humbly thank You for giving me the privilege to serve You faithfully for 15 years. I also sincerely thank You for allowing me to serve You in Tibet. If my time has now come to die, I very gladly commit my spirit into Your hands.” As soon as I said, “Amen,” an angel appeared before me and said, “You are not going to die. You shall live. For you have to go to Australia to do a work.” (I was to speak at a convention in Sydney in October 1994.) Within half an hour of the angel’s word, all the excess water in my brain disappeared miraculously.
“LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.”
Psalms 30:2
Miraculous Monday: 8th May 2023
Miraculous Monday 039
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