Andy Brucato suffers a Stroke

Some of you already have received the news, but for those who have not, Andy had a massive stroke yesterday morning, Feb.4. I was away with Ester on a trip for YFC in Palermo at the time. We were there to help launch a new work with teens in that very needy city and to support a new Italian young man who will be our second fulltime worker for YFC. We spoke about the spiritual battle that is raging for the souls of teens. When we flew back to Pisa (3 hours away from Bologna) we received a number of urgent calls asking if we knew where Andy was. He had missed two appointments that day and when some of the elders went to the house with the keys they found the door locked on the inside. I gave them permission to call the fire department to break down the door. They found him on the floor in the bathroom. When we arrived in Bologna we went to the ER and were told that he had had a massive stroke.

He is presently in a special stroke unit, one of the best in the city. He is paralyzed on the left side, but he is coherent and can communicate with difficulty. I am thankful that he is still alive and, although the CAT scan shows significant brain damage, his mind is clear.

The doctors say he may remain stable or he may get worse. We won't know for another day or two. I am just glad to be able to be here with him in his time of need.

This morning in my devotions I read Luke 4, the passage about Jesus' return to Nazareth. He reads from Isaiah 61 and I am holding on to that passage, in particular the verse that speaks of the Messiah's coming to give us "a mantle of praise in place of a faint spirit". In Italian (I do my devotions in Italian) the translation is even better, it says a mantle of praise in place of a broken(defeated) spirit. I choose to "cloak" myself in praise rather than allow myself to be broken by this sorrow. Thank you for helping me through your prayers. I will keep you updated.