She says the trial made her ‘trust in the Lord more vividly than ever.’

Faith and family are among the motivators that helped mother-of-two Vanessa Matsunaga recover from the coronavirus disease. She was recently hospitalized after she underwent emergency appendix removal surgery.

In an Instagram post last Sunday, the Brazilian-Japanese model said she held onto her faith that she would be cured. “Every time I felt I was going to start to develop symptoms, I called my pastora who prayed and made me feel better,” she says. “God revealed to her that He is my doctor, my medicine, and my shield—and that he was healing me and no weapon formed against me and my family would ever prosper. This gave me confidence, resilience, and hope.” 

True enough, none of Vanessa’s family members developed symptoms throughout the ordeal and since then, she had tested negative from Covid-19. “Praise God! We are grateful to all the doctors, frontliners, family, and friends who were there with us. You know who you all are,” she says.

A few days after being sent home from the hospital due to her surgery, Vanessa received her PCR (polymerase chain reaction)results, and to her surprise, she tested positive. “The moment was scary because everything seemed unclear. Our biggest worry was that we might have exposed the kids and the rest of the household to the virus,” she says. “Thankfully, everyone tested negative so we sent them to a safer place. It was just Jun and I that were left at home, and we stayed in different rooms just in case he’d turned out to be negative, which later on we found out he did.”

Indeed, hope and love have proven to be of great comfort to her, especially in times of uncertainty. “This trial has shaped us and made me trust in the Lord more vividly than ever,” says Vanessa. “We are completely grateful for everything that our family is doing for the kids as well as their efforts that made the situation bearable.”