Pastor recovering from COVID-19 says ‘I cried out to God’
A Virginia pastor who became sick during a ministry trip to North Carolina in mid-March and tested positive for the new coronavirus shared the experience he had with severe and horrific symptoms of the COVID-19 disease and also with God as he cried out to Him for “a chance.”
Pastor Kenny Baldwin of Crossroads Baptist Church in Fairfax County was preaching in North Carolina when he started feeling unwell and went to urgent care, according to WUSA90.
He tested negative for the flu and strep but his fever shot up to 105 degrees with chills and aches. Soon, he felt something in his chest and tested positive for pneumonia. He was sent back home with medication and instruction.
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However, when his condition got worse, he got back to the hospital and was admitted and kept in isolation at Inova Fairfax Hospital, he told ABC13News.
“The doctor basically said with this disease you're going to get worse fast or you're going to hold on and eventually get better, and we don't know which one it will be,” he was quoted as saying. “I was begging, God, please just give me a chance. Please get me through this.”
He said all he had was the Lord. “I saw God and experienced Him in a way like never before and He reminded me that His promises are true and that His word stands and that He never leaves or forsakes us.”
People around the world prayed for him. The pastor was given hydroxychloroquine, which is prescribed to treat and prevent malaria. It’s the same medication that President Donald Trump called a miracle drug, although more testing is awaited. “I have nothing but praises for that drug,” Baldwin said.
On March 19, the United States Food & Drug Administration announced that they were investigating the usage of the drug chloroquine to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases. “Studies are underway to determine the efficacy in using chloroquine to treat COVID-19,” explained the FDA. “While there are no FDA-approved therapeutics or drugs to treat, cure or prevent COVID-19, there are several FDA-approved treatments that may help ease the symptoms from a supportive care perspective.”
Baldwin said he supports the call for everyone to stay at home and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The church is not the building, he said, “it’s the people so we are still the church no matter what.”
He continued, “I think the challenge for all of us is to understand that our relationship with God is not contingent on physical gatherings and being in a structure. Our relationship with God is a spiritual relationship and our faith is growing. We are being built through this and need to trust Him, and value life and the people who matter.”
Baldwin is currently recovering at home and is hoping to be well enough to preach on Easter.
As of early Sunday, there were more than 1.2 million confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus around the world and 64,774 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.
In the United States, the number of cases stood at 312,146 with 8,499 deaths.
A doctor leading the Samaritan's Purse coronavirus response at a field hospital in Central Park warned earlier this week that “it’s serious.”
“This is not something to think this is the end of the world, but it is not something that’s also to dismiss,” Dr. K. Elliott Tenpenny told The Christian Post at the site of the field hospital. “It’s serious. It’s a serious disease. It’s not the end of the world. We’re going to make it through this, but it is serious and anyone that says differently I don’t believe they’re speaking truthfully.”
President Donald Trump warned that this week or next week "will probably be the toughest week." "There will be a lot of death, unfortunately. But a lot less death than if this (precautions) wasn’t done."
