They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain . . .

For Behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth;

And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

No more shall an infant from there live but a few days . .

They shall not labor in vain,

Nor bring forth children for trouble;

For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD,

And their offspring with them.

Isaiah 65

This is Jokim, on his way home today. When he first came in weighing 3.7 kg (as a 9 month old, in the most severe category of <60% wt/length), I could not bear to photograph him, it was like exposing a dead body. He was skeletal and covered with sores. For three weeks he held onto life by a thread, and his mother held on to him. We gave milk, and started him on TB treatment. Then suddenly about ten days ago he turned a corner. He was hungry, he drank, he smiled, he grew. The transformation was astounding. Jokim is for me a first-fruit sign of the promises of the new earth, where tears are wiped away. And this Christmas season we still sorrow over the infants who die too young, who hunger, who struggle, but we take heart in this glimpse of God's healing power.