How the Believing Prayers of an Egyptian-Born mother with cancer changed the life of Jessica

How the Believing Prayers of an Egyptian-Born mother with cancer changed the life of Jessica

She was the daughter of an American mother, and almost died from complications due to drug abuse

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST News Service

ORANGE COUNTY, CA (ANS – August 7, 2017) – To many, the life of Bonnie Brown, a former hippie from Southern California, was incredibly successful, but a closer look would reveal that she was going through a nightmare. Her story can be found in a book called “Giigle”.

But then came the silver lining -- she went to work for Google in Silicon Valley as a masseuse and was partly paid part in stock options and when the company went public on August 19, 2004, she became a multi-millionaire overnight.

Shortly afterwards, she began a private Foundation, through which she has helped to fund Christian ministries. Even with this good fortune, Bonnie was not immune to suffering. One of her daughters, Jessica, was battling heroin addiction and causing her much heartbreak.

But then came another blow when Jessica went into a coma after contracting MRSA, and that’s where a caring Egyptian-born mother, Mona Estefanos, herself battling cancer, and the wife of Samuel Estefanos, founder of Alkarma TV, an Arabic Christian Channel that is sharing the Good News to the Arabic-speaking world, came onto the scene.

Bonnie had helped to support this unique channel based in Southern California, and she explained what had occurred.

“Mona called me and asked if we could get together,” said Bonnie. “She had just returned from Egypt and wanted to give me an update on her life. We missed each other at the meeting place, and I got cold and hungry and left. But then she called me and said that we ‘HAD to connect’ and she wanted to come to my house. I gave her the address and she came over right away.

“When she walked in she had a gift in her hand and handed me the gift bag and put her hand on my head and said, ‘God has told me to come to you and bring you this gift in your daughter's place. She will not be at your birthday, but she will recover; she will speak for God; and she will come to you.’ Mona had never met Jessica, but knew of her struggles with addiction and she said that she had been praying for her for a year. I thought, ‘Well, that is weird.’ I had no idea where Jessica was and I hadn't talked to her in almost a year and never expected her to come to my birthday. I smiled at Mona and said thanks and then we caught up on her life.”

Four days later was Bonnie’s 60th birthday and some of her family had a party for her. Jessica was not there.

“Then two days later, on Monday, September 28, 2015, I got a phone call from Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California,” said Bonnie. “They said Jessica was in the Neuro Surgical ICU and had just had surgery on her neck. I went to the hospital and saw her. She was awake and hooked up to numerous machines. She had tears in her eyes.

“I gowned up to enter the room because she was in isolation with MRSA [Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, an infection caused by a type of staph bacteria that's become resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections] throughout her body. She wore a neck brace and had a tube down her throat. She couldn't speak and I learned that her bones were infected with MSRA and had been removed from her spine and she also had other abscesses throughout her body. They did not give her much hope to survive.

“I was scheduled to leave town the next morning for a week. I held her hand and smiled and told her she would be alright. I prayed for her and left and went on my trip with all faith that God would restore her. He doesn't play jokes on us. He had sent Mona to tell me all of that because He intended to intervene in Jessica's life. He did.”

Bonnie went on to say that Jessica fell into a coma for the whole time she was gone.

“I was away from the doctors and family and friends who were all waiting for her to die,” she said. “I received faith from God to entrust her into His hands and did not listen to the voices that told me she was going to die. Mona even went to the ICU [Intensive Care Unit] to pray for her, but then the staff made her leave, so she went around to the back of the building, stood by Jessica's window and prayed for three hours until she felt the enemy release my daughter and felt God's peace.

“Jessica had been in the hospital since September 26, my birthday. She was admitted when a maid found her in a hotel room and called an ambulance. She probably would have died on my birthday, but God intervened and told Mona to tell me and He has fulfilled His words. She has continued to heal and now is studying the Bible. She speaks to those that visit her about the Lord. The neuro surgeon that treated her neck said it was a miracle that she lived.”

Bonnie then said, “Jessica knows that God saved her and she now wants to serve Him. We are all very grateful. Many people around the world were praying for her and her testimony has already gone to very many places.”

She concluded by asking for prayer for Mona Estefanos, who she explained is “suffering through her second bout of cancer. She is on chemo right now and in a lot of pain.”

Update Sept 2017.

Bonnie Brown has now supplied an update on the situation, saying, “Two years after Jessica narrowly escaped death, she is living on her own, working full time, attending college and bought a car. She still struggles with addiction every day. Over the last two years she has had great periods of victory and other times she has fallen prey to the addiction. She never gives up. She celebrated her fortieth birthday recently and we were all grateful to God that she is still with us.

“Mona has fought a terrible battle with cancer for three years. She has been through many rounds of chemo, surgery and alternative health protocols. The doctors gave her no hope a year ago. Her tumor marker reached up to 5500 and they told her to call hospice. She never gives up either. She fights and fights to live. She praises God and prays for others all the time.

“She spent three months eating only raw food and juicing. This greatly improved her situation. Her tumor marker has come down to 195. She believes God has more for her to accomplish here before He takes her home and she is an amazing inspiration to those around her. Please join me in prayer for these two women as they swim upstream fighting their individual battles and stand out to give others courage.”

So for Bonnie Brown, and Jessica, the prayers of Mona brought about a real miracle in both of their lives, and now Bonnie is praying for a miracle for Mona, that she too will be healed. Will you join her?

I have just interviewed Mona and Bonnie for my “Front Page Radio” show, which will be broadcast on September 24 at 2:00 PM on KWVE (www.kwve.com), but you can hear it now at http://frontpageradio.net/frontpageradiofiles/MonaEstefanosBonnieBrownFPR20170924mono.mp3.

Photo captions: 1) Bonnie Brown’s daughter, Jessica, in the hospital. 2) Mona visiting Jessica in the hospital. 3) Jessica on the road to recovery. 4) Bonnie and Mona at the KWVE studios after Dan had interviewed them for his “Front Page Radio” show. 5) Jessica at her 40^th birthday party. 6) Mona, Dan and Bonnie at KWVE.

About the writer: Dan Wooding, 76, is an award-winning winning author, broadcaster and journalist who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, and is now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for more than 54 years. Dan is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He is also the author of numerous books and has two US-based TV programs -- and a weekly radio show. Dan’s most recent honor was a top humanitarian award at a film festival in Beverly Hills, California, for his long-standing reporting on persecuted Christians around the world. It was presented to him by his son, Peter Wooding.

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