Immediately after the blood and organs were taken from the corpse of Luke, in order that his wishes of being an organ donor might be fulfilled, they were put in a place to preserve them from any decay or deterioration. While they waited for the call from a hospital or medical facility for anyone who was on the waiting list and was a match to receive one of his organs, there was an event unfolding that would have relevance to the prayer that Luke had made about his blood and organs. Unbeknown to anyone, but the Lord, a young man named Edward Fuller had been a part of a gang who were known for drug trafficking, violence, and even murder. Edward had been raised by his grandmother who was a godly woman and a Christian. She had brought him up attending church each Sunday. He had, regrettably, been an environmental or cultural Christian and had never truly accepted Christ into his heart as his Lord and Savior. His grandmother had gone to be with the Lord about one year ago and he had been lured into the streets. Edward had completely forsaken the teachings of his godly grandmother and what he had learned from his Sunday school teacher and youth pastor, respectively. There was some anger and resentment in him toward both God and the church whom he blindly blamed for the passing of the most precious person in his life.
In this beguiled state, Edward Fuller was very vulnerable to the tactics that gangs used to attract new members. After he had been initiated and fulfilled the requirements of being a member (which was to be a part of the hit squad assigned to assassinate a member of a rival gang), he was now a bona fide and full-fledged member with a kill to his name. This was of great importance in the warped estimation of other gang members. However, this distinction of membership came with a great price. Edward was now a marked man. He was on the hit list by the gang whose member he had helped to kill.
The day came when the seed that he had sown through violence, drug dealing, and murder would come knocking at his door. Unbeknown to him, as he and one of his gang buddies were cruising in his car and stopped at a traffic light, a car belonging to the rival gang (whose member had been murdered by Edward and a few of his gangster buddies) pulled up beside them. Before he and his buddy could pull out of harm’s way, a volley of bullets from semi-automatic firearms came through the passenger side killing Edward’s buddy immediately and seriously wounding him in the process. He was rushed to the hospital by the EMS personnel who worked feverishly with all of their abilities and skills to keep him alive. One of the bullets had severed an artery in his torso on the right side. Although the paramedics worked intensely to stop Edward from losing more blood, in route to the closest hospital, he went into convulsions and stopped breathing for about 10 seconds. At that time, they thought that they had lost him due to the loss of so much blood. Then something miraculous happened right before their eyes. Edward regained consciousness and the bleeding stopped as though the severed artery had been cauterized. When they finally arrived at the hospital, he was immediately rushed into the surgery ward. The surgeon and his team wasted no time in their attempt to locate where the bleeding was coming from. Though it had stopped for some mysterious or perhaps miraculous reason, if they were to save his life, it was essential that they locate where the bleeding was stemming from. When they finally located the artery that had been severed, they were completely astounded at what they discovered. The blood from the severed artery had coagulated into a solidified mask. This congealing was enough to stop Edward from dying from a loss of blood. Everyone who worked with the surgical team were mystified at what they saw and knew that a “higher power” had miraculously intervened on his behalf. Someone on the team was heard saying, “Someone up there loves this young man.”
Once they repaired the severed artery, they gave him some blood plasma to replace the massive amount of blood that he had lost. It took some days for Edward to come off the ventilator and from being sustained intravenously. However, in the meantime, while he drifted in and out of consciousness, he would hear the voice of his grandmother instructing and pleading with him to stop his rebellious ways and accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. She had always told him that though going to church was a good and commendable thing, it did not mean that one was truly saved. Her famous words to Edward were, “People can attend church without being a true Christian, but all true Christians believe in belonging to and regularly attending a Bible believing and Christ-centered church.” A few days after Edward had gotten strong enough and his vitals were all registering normal, an elderly gentleman, who had made visiting people in the hospital and nursing homes a part of his mission in life, entered Edward’s room, which was no longer located in the intensive care ward. When he entered, he greeted Edward and asked how his day was going. After a few minutes of casual talk, he asked him was he born again through believing in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Edward paused for a while before giving him an answer. He quickly recalled the words of his dear grandmother that had been cemented in his memory and said to the gentleman, “No, Sir, I am not born again.” At those words, the elderly man asked him very politely, “Would you be willing to accept Jesus Christ into your heart right now?” When Edward, who had already been convicted and prepared by the Holy Spirit, responded, “I would,” he led him in a simple prayer and Edward was immediately born again.
Everyone who knew of how his grandmother had brought him up in church and always prayed for him to be truly saved one day rejoiced at the good news of what had taken place. Perhaps no one knew, except the Lord, that the saving of Edward Fuller was an answer to the prayers of two people: his grandmother and a man called Luke whose blood was a factor and essential element in saving his life.
Join me next week for Chapter Three of the Last Prayer.
