October 20, 2024
George Smith’s COVID-19 test came back positive. The diagnosis began a months-long battle of prayer and physical challenges for IMB missionary George nd his wife, Geraldine, in Uganda.
George contracted the virus in January 2021 while attending a training event in a small Ugandan village. A week after he returned from the training, he received a call from friends at the training letting him know that they had COVID. Since George had a small cough, he decided to get tested just to be safe.
Though positive for COVID, his symptoms were not severe. However, two weeks after the diagnosis George’s condition began to worsen.
“He began to get weak, and he couldn’t move or have any energy,” said Geraldine. “It got to the point that one night he got so sick, and his oxygen levels were so low we knew we had to go straight to the doctor’s the next morning.”
As soon as the doctor saw George, he sent him to the hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, via ambulance. For the next seven days George’s oxygen levels were stabilized, and he seemed to be on the mend. However, George had a very bad asthma attack after those seven days and doctors were forced to intubate him.
George spent the next four and a half months in the hospital in Nairobi. The entire time he was in hospital, George was not responsive. George was put on dialysis and life support. As George’s organs began to shut down and his kidneys failed, his neurology reports showed less and less activity, Geraldine had several conversations with the doctors about whether or not she would like to keep George on life support.
George and Geraldine are now in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where George continues to recover, and is showing daily progress. After many weeks in the hospital and then a rehabilitation facility, George is now home. He goes to physical therapy three times a week and continues strength and balance-building exercises each day at home with Geraldine’s assistance. He no longer needs a wheelchair or walker, using only a cane for support when walking short distances.
“He’s very determined!” says Geraldine, who adds that he won’t let them forget to do his therapy each day. “He really wants to be back where he was before he first got sick.”
Geraldine shares that one of the biggest praises is that George’s kidneys are functioning on their own. In fact, he’s been off dialysis for two months, which is another clear answer to prayer. His greatest concern now is the muscle neuropathy that resulted from the months he was bedridden. Geraldine says they fight discouragement, though, by remembering how God has continually been with them.
“God has done some amazing work. He healed those kidneys. We believe that He will do the same with this neuropathy,” she adds.
Another praise is that they are back to church, able to make the short walk from their home to the church building to worship in person. When Geraldine was providing this update, George was at the church meeting with leaders about new outreach opportunities in the community.
“He is still doing the Lord’s work, that’s for sure!” Geraldine says. She shares that he frequently tells medical staff and physical therapists about Jesus and gives Him all the glory for the healing. When someone mentions how lucky George is, he quickly replies, “This has nothing to do with luck. I don’t believe in luck. I believe in Jesus and what He does.”
When Geraldine considers how close George was to death, she says they can only call it a miracle.
“God did this. We see that God intended more time. We’re so grateful for those who have prayed and who continue to pray.”
“I shared with the doctors that the God that I served allowed me to have the hope that He could still save George,” said Geraldine. “I wanted to keep George on the life support because I knew if God wanted to take George, he already would have. I saw the life support as a way to give George everything he needed to survive, but I knew it was ultimately up to God.”
Missionary colleagues, national believers, friends and family earnestly prayed during those long months. In early April, a group of new believers in Northern Africa organized a day of fasting and prayer for George’s healing and for George to wake up. Word of this day of prayer was passed along to other believers around the world and many joined in prayer and fasting. The very next day after this day of fasting and prayer, George woke up.
“When he woke up, he had no idea where he was or what happened to him,” said Geraldine. “But when I told him all that had happened and how many people had prayed for his healing he was so moved.”
George’s condition slowly improved through the months of April and May. He was taken off of dialysis and his infection rate continued to decline. At the end of May, George and Geraldine traveled on a medevac plane to the U.S. so George could receive therapy and continue healing at a hospital in New Orleans.
George and Geraldine have been sharing their story of God’s faithfulness and how the power of prayer saved George’s life.
“By science, George should not be alive,” said Geraldine. “His healing is a miracle. God healed him by answering the prayers of people around the world.”
