Justin Wren beats Typhoid Fever and Malaria in Central Africa

Justin Wren left the comfort of the USA last month, and headed for the Congo. He will spend the next year trying to free 1,000 Mbuti Pygmy slaves. His Fight for the Forgotten project aims to barter their freedom, move them onto already-purchased land, and teach them self-sustainable skills.

Wren’s story is being being chronicled by SI MMA writer and New York Times bestselling author Loretta Hunt. Howard Books, the Christian imprint of Simon & Schuster, has bought the book, which will be titled Fight for the Forgotten.

Wren knew from the start that the effort would be perilous, and it has proven to be. He has overcome Typhoid Fever, Malaria, and diarhea. These are the three greatest killers of the MButi people, who suffer from perhaps the shortest lifespan on Earth.

Wren chronicled his condition, via Facebook.

Nov 25th:

I have a bad case of Typhoid Fever according to blood test results… I could use some prayers! I have never had such a crazy roller coaster ride in health, one minute I’m uncontrollably shaking, the next minute I’m BURNING up and sweating, and at all times every joint is THROBBING. The power is out in Congo and I’ve been given treatment/shots by cell phone flashlights so the doc could see. It’s quite an experience… However, I praise God for giving me PEACE during this all! Truly. He is with me. It’s just giving me another opportunity to understand and experience the DAILY suffering of my Pygmy family, and I pray I can use this experience to give them even more of a voice. I get to share in their weakness… PRAISE GOD!

1 Corinthians 9:22-23

22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

Nov 26th:

URGENT UPDATE! Malaria, vomiting & “the otherside” are added to my list with typhoid. Tender Warriors, please keep the prayers coming! My temp is going between 95.8 to 103.6 and we are battling with good meds & MIGHTY prayers. Once again, I have to take a moment to PRAISE God Some might wonder, “Why!?!?” In my human/fleshly side I might want to ask the same question… But my heart & spirit says, “God sent me, Jesus covers me, & The Holy Spirit is with me.” What more could I ask for? One man with God is always the majority, God lacks nothing, Jesus plus nothing equals EVERYTHING. Ironically, I count this “triple threat” (malaria, typhoid, & diarrhea) as a triple blessing. You see, these 3 sicknesses are individually, the top three killers of my Pygmy family. No wonder they have BOTH: The worlds worst child mortality rate AND the shortest life expectancy. I get to experience them all in one single shot, and, I have MEDICINE & PRAYERS. When God asked me to “Defend the weak, LOVE the unloved, & be a Voice to the voiceless” He didn’t promise me all sunshine and rainbows… In fact He asked me to FIGHT for the forgotten. The ones who 99.99% of this world don’t care about, or who hate, despise, & enslave them. The life of a Pygmy slave, my family, is the hardest of any people group. Mine wont be peaches&cream 100% of the time. A fight comes with battle wounds, a fight is a struggle. God promised me that He’d be WITH me, guiding me, loving me. Jesus promised that His heart is with the least of these… He also said when we love them, we love HIM! The USA is so blind to this suffering. The vast majority of the USA isn’t suffering from these sicknesses, but DO suffer from apathy, indifference, & sometimes callousness. I pray that the suffering of my Pygmy family can open blind eyes & soften hearts further. I pray TRUE CHRISTIANS can find practical, radical, life-SAVING, lasting solutions instead of the temporary, quick-fix, band-aid cover ups that give us warm tingly’s.

Nov. 27th:

Not out of the woods yet, my esophagus and throat is raw from vomiting so much. My fever fluctuated for the fourth (almost fifth) day in a row up to 103.8 and all the way down to 94.1and is nnow back to 102.8. I’m on my fifth IV and 3 docs and 3 nurses are rotating 24 hr watch, plus my team has been by my side the whole time. BLESSED for that. Please continue the prayers… GREAT things are to come! Uesu ni bwana (Jesus is the Lord in swahili)! What am I Thankful for? Being in Congo, my BEAUTIFUL bride to be Emily, my friends and family back home, my Pygmy family here, my amazing team of Congolese mighty men, and my God who loves, loves, LOVES the hell outta anyone, at anytime, in any circumstance… If we let him. He loved the hell outta me and the mess away from me 3 years, 7 months, and 21 days ago. Thank you God for loving this very imperfect person and definite work in progress!

Nov. 28th:

Update from my emergency room in Kampala, Uganda… How did I get out of Congo? An American pilot decided he’d work on his Thanksgiving day off with his family to fly me to the capital of Uganda for better treatment. It was just him and I in the plane and an ambulance was waiting on the runway for me.

I have the second to worst level of Malaria there is, 60-70% of my bloodstream has parasites. I’m receiving many IV’s and now I’m getting German and American made meds in Uganda compared to Chinese and India meds… I state that because the Ugandan doc says that the others could be imitation meds and that’s why my malaria had spread.

Thanks for ALL the support. I’ve been fighting these things since Friday-Saturday, they say I may continue treatment here for up to 6 more days.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Many blessings! I’m on my way to a full recovery Any other continued prayers I will GREATLY appreciate.

Nov 29

PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD!!! After the toughest one week BATTLE of my life medically, I am officially healed of Malaria AND Typhoid Fever! 26-30 pounds lost, close to 30 times vomiting, having urine the color of a pot of COFFEE, the room spinning for a week, cotton mouthed for a week, getting a minimum of 15 IV’s, and HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of prayers from so many people on two sides of the world… I’m making a full recovery! God is so good! There are four levels of malaria… 1-4. Level 1 is pill treatment, Level 2 is hospitalized and injections, Level 3 is hospitalized and monitored 24/7 and treated VERY aggressively, level 4 is a coma to death. I was level 3… With typhoid fever (at least in Congo and was treated heavily there for it). Anyways… I just can’t express how happy, joyful, and BLESSED I am!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

For more information, please check out fightfortheforgotten.com/

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