February 5, 2006

  • January 25, 2006


    Days are rolling into weeks….I am starting to lose track of what we did when. Things are getting busier and busier. As of end of clinic today, we have seen 697 patients in the clinic so far this month….I have no idea how many HIV patients we’ve taken to Livingstone this month or how many to Zimba. All I can tell you is that the vehicle is packed on both Thursdays to Livingstone for ART treatment for the HIV patients and Fridays for our trips to Zimba with admissions for TB and surgeries. Tomorrow, we have 10 HIV patients to take to Livingstone and this coming Friday; we will start with patients for the eye clinic in preparation for the eye surgeons coming February 6.  


    from America. I think there are 7 eye patients scheduled to go. Things have been so busy at the clinic on Fridays that the last two weeks Sal has sent me on my own to Zimba with the patients. Because I had only driven that once on the tar-mac (paved road), I begged JoAnne to go with me the first week and drive. She agreed to come with me but made me drive one way. The second week I just got behind the wheel! It even poured down rain most of the way there…but I kept on going. What road there is has become polluted with potholes with all of the rain….some I might add of very substantial size! It’s quite challenging to say the least.


    We have hired another worker…that makes four staff members and Sal and I have put them on a rotating schedule of six hour overlapping shifts. We’re starting to pray if it’s time for a Clinical Officer or Driver or both. We do have people interested….so we shall see. We don’t want to run ahead of God nor do we want to lag behind. I am reminded of the Scripture in Psalms….Psalm 139: 5-6 says: "You have hedged me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me." Being hedged behind we cannot stop or quit (or run back home J) because we are being herded forward. Being hedged before, we cannot accelerate or push ahead, we can only move forward at the pace the Lord sets for us. We can’t work up momentum and we can’t quit. Then we are under the mighty hand of God, which means we can’t turn to the right or left either. We are without options. Some may consider this as highly constricting, but David calls it "high knowledge that he can’t attain." I view it as the loving embrace of His arms keeping me in the center of His will…His provision…His protection. The Lord is right here with us…thank you God.


    We met with a Headman, Assistant Headman and Village Council requesting permission to have our first outreach in their village. Remember Susan…our first HIV patient? Well, she has sort of become our poster child and is a walking testimony. God told Sal that her village was to be our first outreach. We scheduled it for Saturday February 11th when a work team from North Carolina will be here. They have been in


    e-mail contact with us and although we have never met them, we both felt that we were to plan the outreach when they would be here. They told us in the e-mail that they "just wanted to serve" and they felt they were to do that with us somehow. We feel the vision for the outreach is to show "unusual kindness" through fellowship, feeding, medical care/healing, and prayer…..demonstrating the love of Jesus. The Headmen and Council gave us their permission and told us it would be a privilege to have us come. Sal told them that the privilege was ours. After plans and promises had been made we discovered their territory included 9 villages!!!!! We thought of one small village but this is going to be a total of nine. We were a little shocked and there was a fleeting thought of "Can we handle this?" But our God knows what He’s doing…..so we are going to trust in Him. We had a confirmation as soon as we returned home from that meeting….we received word that our free medication order from King Benevolent Fund had been delivered in Maryland just in time to come with Pastor Jerry and the work team. I’ll keep you posted as the plans unfold.


    Last Sunday, we went to Zimba to visit our 4 patients. Jacqueline, our high risk HIV positive pregnant woman had just given birth to a baby boy during the night. Mom had received her AVR cocktail and the baby was due to get his medicine later in the evening. We would return tomorrow to take them home. Our two TB patients, Elena and Headman, were on their TB meds and breathing easier. Big smiles covered their faces when they saw us. Liz, the HIV positive TB patient who had the 4 liters of pus drained off her lung was not in her bed. On Friday when I had stopped in to see her by myself, the surgeon was removing a chest tube that he had inserted. He looked at me, shook his head and said her lung is not inflating and with her HIV status he did not give her any hope. I immediately laid hands on her and prayed with her. Well not seeing her in the bed today….my heart sunk!!! I asked "Where’s Lizzy?" One of the other patients said, "Oh, she went to the market!" Now the market is an open outdoor shopping area behind the eye clinic. It is quite a walk ….maybe about 6 blocks if I were to give you an idea. Now Friday Lizzy looked very near death….frail, very skinny, in pain, difficulty breathing….the whole nine yards. I told Sal "We have to find her. I can’t believe she walked there." As we entered the market area looking for her, we saw someone walking toward us with a big smile on her face. When she reached us, she greeted us each with a big hug!!! Her breathing was easy, not labored, her face looked healthy and she told us she felt good. I’m telling you that we were witnessing another miracle!!! She wanted to know when she could start on the HIV medicines!!!! This woman has a renewed hope!!!!


    Our God is amazing!!!


    Well we were flying so high when we were leaving the grounds that Sal failed to see through some high grass that was covering a ditch for an open sewer line. The next thing you know the vehicle is in the ditch leaning on its right side, both tires in the hole.


    About an hour later with about 20 Zambians lifting the vehicle (men and women) and another vehicle with chains, we were on the road again. We drove back from Zimba and decided to continue on into Livingstone for diesel and dinner. Everything was going smoothly until we were leaving the restaurant and on a very dark stretch of road we got a flat tire. We had no torch (flashlight) and too small a jack…so we called a missionary friend in town that came to help with his jack…but that one broke too! So we called another missionary friend in town with a bigger jack and he came out to help. It was close to 10pm and the Steeler game was showing here on ESPN at 10pm. Can anyone picture Sal???? Can you imagine his mood after all that transpired this day???? I’m going to leave you right there with whatever mental picture you have knowing there is probably a smile on your face. J Thankfully, this jack worked, the tire was changed and we arrived back at the farm at 10:30pm having only missed the first 30 minutes of the Steeler game. Just another one of those normal days in Africa!!!! …………………..


    And thankfully the Steelers won!!!!!