Dear Friends,

My last 17 days were really very eventful! I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, for your many and faithful prayers for myself and for all of us in India, also for your support in so many ways!

On August 7^th I felt physically very odd – high temperature, cough etc. My friend, a doctor in Trichy, sent me an oximeter at once, together with some medicine and pills, intended to strengthen my immune system. He requested that I should measure the oxygen saturation in my body on a regular basis, because he knew that for some years I have needed medical support for my lung. The oxygen saturation in my body was normal, but I felt increasingly worse. So he advised me to have a Corona quick test – a swab test – and a CT for my lungs. The test result was positive on the next day, but according to the radiologist the lung was "perfect"! On the following day the local papers reported that the laboratory which did my tests, had been closed down by the government due to many faulty test results! Now I was back at the beginning again and did not know what to make of all this.

My doctor and friend advised me to have myself admitted to hospital. As a lay person, one normally trusts all the advice given by a doctor, especially when he is your friend too. So I was admitted to hospital, which was not cheap. I am under the impression that the Corona time is particularly profitable for private hospitals in India. In our city with 1.8 million inhabitants, people are being taken on mass to various locations due to Corona: in stadiums, universities, schools etc.. I on the other hand, had the "luxury" of a private room in this "World Clinic" – it was extremely warm, loud and always open. My door was directly opposite the Pathology Department! Honestly, I must admit that the nearness to Pathology and the funny question as to whether they should dissect my body immediately if I were to die, were not exactly comforting for me. Especially since my wife, my son and all my best friends and prayer supporters are far away in Germany!

The treatment began at once: six days long Remdesivir via infusion. The next test in between was negative, but the consultant treating me said that my lung had been lightly infected, and therefore the treatment should be continued.

After ten days I was realised and ordered to continue with the treatment at my home. For me it was a great blessing to leave this hospital room and to return to my own room at the church. Now I thought I can eat properly, sleep and rest in familiar surroundings. But that was not possible at all! Due to the side effects of the medicines I could hardly swallow. It was barely possible to eat or drink. I was so tired that I could hardly get out of bed.

In the midst of this sickness, on August 11th, something happened which I have still not fully recovered from. Dorothy, a young lady from MoseMinistries suddenly disappeared on this morning without a trace. She had been in love with a young many for some months. But due to the many court and official interferences over the last five years, these young ladies found it really hard to take openly with people close to them, or to ask for advice. So it came to pass on this day that Dorothy, who was very close to me personally, suddenly was gone. Many conspiracy theories did the rounds in the city, and the worse one was that – according to the police – I had hidden Dorothy somewhere, as during the whole court case against MoseMinistries, she had been a very important witness. In the midst of my period of physical weakness, these slanderous accusations were also made. Allegedly the police were searching for Dorothy, but in reality, Dorothy had already travelled to Maharahstra with a boyfriend! In the meantime she is now "married", but to a man, who according to Indian law is not yet of a legal age...

And as if all that was not enough, on August 21st something else happened. My quarantine was officially over. I was on a short car journey with two female staff members from our church, who wanted to travel with me for safety's sake. After we had driven roughly ten kilometres, a truck pushed us off the road, and in an effort to avoid the truck, our VW swerved side wards and went over barrier- landing upside down in a few seconds. Please don't ask me how something like this can happen. I have been driving for 49 years! But also in this situation God was good to us. There was no car travelling behind us, which could have put us in greater danger. The airbags and electronics functioned perfectly (solid German engineering!), and above all the car did not slide down on the other side of the barrier, which would have meant certain death – for beyond this barrier there was a sheer drop of 20 metres down to the train tracks below! By God's grace and with the help of several people, we got out of the car alive and two of us almost uninjured. A female staff member had an injury on her left cheek and she will be operated on, on August 25^th 2020.

What should I say? Do I have answers? No. Only one thing: God is good and He is always good! The last few weeks have been extremely challenging and not easy to explain or understand. I have neither human nor spiritual answers to offer. I can only do one thing: to simply surrender and fall into the strong hand of God. "[You] God of eternity are my refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms." (Deuteronomy 33:27)

Thank you for your patience and for taking the time to read this far. It is not always easy to find the right words to describe the loneliness, the emotional shocks and dramatic events over the last few weeks. After the accident a man at the side of the road said to me: "It was dear God himself and the technology from VW that saved your life!" He spoke those words and then disappeared.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and all your support!

Your
Gideon Jacob