My family is praising God! Both my mother and father contracted COVID-19 but have since recovered. My father was hospitalized with the virus, and there were some scary moments for my family. We didn’t know if he would recover.
I have hesitated to write anything because I realize for many families, they have not had this positive outcome. Some are dealing with the loss of loved ones because of this deadly virus. My heart goes out to them. My prayer is that they would feel the comfort and peace of our Heavenly Father.
But what I share here is to emphasize hope and the power of prayer.
After my father’s recovery, a Christian writer from Sweden contacted me to do a story. David Spaanberger was gracious enough to translate his article in English so I could share it here.
Some details might be lost through translation, but the one thing I want to emphasize in David’s article is that in times of crisis—worldwide crisis—we can’t forget about the importance of the global body of Christ.
In his years of ministry with Teen Challenge, my father traveled all around the world. He gave up so much of his time away from his wife and family to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help establish the ministry of Teen Challenge.
But that sacrifice came back to us as the global body of Christian believers prayed for his healing. We are grateful!
While many of us around the world cannot meet in our churches and feel physically disconnected from our congregations, let’s remember the power of prayer. And in healing or death, our hope is in Jesus Christ.
David Wilkerson’s brother received intercession – survived corona
American preacher Don Wilkerson, brother of world famous David Wilkerson, became fatally ill from the coronavirus, but recovered fast when receiving intercession and anti-malarial medication. – God used various ways and means to bring about my healing, says Wilkerson to The World Today.Now 80-year-old preacher Donald “Don” Wilkerson is the younger brother of the even more well-known but departed preacher David Wilkerson. Together the brothers established the Christian organisation Teen Challenge, that works with drug rehabilitation, evangelisation and discipling, and today is present in over 90 countries, including Sweden.
Don Wilkerson’s daughter Jule Klose has written a book about the beginnings of Teen Challenge and it is through contact with her that The World Today is able to tell about how Don Wilkerson got fatally ill from the coronavirus.
Julie Klose describes how both her 80-year-old dad and her 81-year-old mum started having cold symptoms on 21 March, which was about a week after her dad Don had been away on a board meeting for said Teen Challenge in New York, to where he went by train from northern Virginia.
After a few days of having symptoms, the couple seemed to be feeling better, but after another day or two their symptoms got worse and Julie was getting concerned. – On Sunday 29 March I got a phone call from my mum about my dad having difficulties moving his legs, she recounts.
Don Wilkerson had to go to the emergency room, where it turned out he had a temperature of over 39 degrees Celsius. A COVID-19 test was taken, and he received treatment for dehydration, but as otherwise both his lungs and blood work looked good, he got to go home again the same day.
On Monday morning he was feeling better, but in the evening he again had a high fever and also chills and an intensive soreness in his body. – He could barely eat or drink, and my mum was struggling to care of him. She also had the virus, but her symptoms were not as extreme, the daughter describes.
On Tuesday morning Don was feeling a bit better again, but then came another fever pitch. Fever reducing drugs did not help. The same day the family was also notified that Don had been tested positive for COVID-19.
On Wednesday morning the situation got even more critical. – My mum said my dad was incoherent and was barely responding to her questions. She could not get him to eat or drink, Julie recounts.
Again Don Wilkerson had to go to the emergency room, where it was now established that he had contracted pneumonia. The doctor then introduced a combination treatment of antibiotics and anti-malarial medication hydroxichloroquine. The latter has created controversy, as president Trump has recommended the medication even though it can cause serious side effects and experts argue that evidence to recommend it against the coronavirus is missing.
A request for intercession for Don Wilkerson was also spread to Christians around the world, through Teen Challenge and other organisations.
Julie Klose describes for The World Today how she was aware of her dad already having been used by God for 65 years, and that she had to trust in God’s goodness even if it were to be that time had come for her dad to die. At the same time she dearly wished this would not be the case. – On Wednesday night, while my dad was in the hospital, I had a moment of going into my bedroom and crying out to God: “Please God, don’t take my dad. I am not ready for you to take him”, she recounts.
On Thursday Don Wilkerson woke up at hospital and was already feeling considerably better. He was confirmed free of fever the same day, and two days later, on 3 April, he could go home. – Obviously God has more for my dad to do on earth to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, to help those with addiction to find freedom, and I am rejoicing in that today. My whole family is rejoicing in that today, Julie Klose concludes happily.
She describes how both her parents are now recovering well and have regained their appetite, which they both lost while being ill. – My dad is slowly getting stronger and even enjoying his favourite chocolates. He said: “When I could taste chocolate, I knew I was getting better”, she recounts.
When Julie Klose asks a question from The World Today to her dad, about how he has experienced God’s hand in what he has gone through, Don Wilkerson replies that the word “international”, that previously often felt like hype to him, has taken on an entirely new meaning for him. – People all around the world were sending me messages and prayers while I was in the hospital. You realize the impact of the global body of Christ when something like this happens, he says.
To the Christians of Sweden, Don Wilkerson wants to give a double message. The first one is about how he escaped death. – God used various ways and means and the tools available, even those drugs in treatment, to bring about my healing. I believe the timing to get to the hospital when I did was instrumental in my recovery, he says.
Then he gets back to the significance of the body of Christ at this moment in time. – Don’t forget how important the body of Christ – the international body – is during this crisis. No matter where we live or how we are affected by this, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, our hope is in him, says Don Wilkerson.
By David Spånberger david.spanberger@varldenidag.se
