November 14, 2006
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Another Medical Outreach…October 28, 2006
I haven’t been writing as many updates this time probably because both Sal and I have been wearing other hats around the farm along with medical. That being the case, a lot of medical care has been covered by Jha and the staff while we are doing other things.
The only exciting thing in the last few weeks has been the training to officially be an ART Center for the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients. We have had a few deaths in the clinic (HIV patients) and multiple births as well as some treatment success stories. In the last week, we have had patients come to us after being in Choma Hospital and Kalomo Hospital respectively. After days of admission when they were sent home no better, they came to Sons of Thunder. Both patients were HIV and the one from Kalomo has TB. Carol, the first patient after four days of treatment with us and starting ARV’s was sent home in a much improved state than when she arrived. The second patient is with us now and )have hope that the same will be the result with her.
Well, do you all remember Nelson…he was the man written about in August…the one with the emergency transport to Livingstone Hospital in the back of the lorry bagging him the whole way. He survived for four weeks after discharge from the hospital and Sal made some house calls to his village which was an hour away by vehicle. Nelson died but not until after he was saved! Remember him now? Well today we did a medical outreach to Matengu which was his village. After Nelson passed, the headman of the village came to the clinic to ask us if we would come right before rainy season to provide medical care to his people. Already telling God we would do whatever He put in front of us, Sal said yes and scheduled Saturday the 28th of October as the date. This morning we packed up all three vehicles with food, supplies and a team of 9 medical staff including Joan from Zimba, Jha, Anna, Janet, Bridget, Vundukai, Christopher, Sal and myself. Not only did we have 9 staff, but we had 18 volunteers to be part of the Ministry Team from the farm (including 2 from Global Samaritan). We had no idea how many people were coming until this morning and we were pleasantly surprised. As all 27 of us gathered around the circle, I realized there was no work team….this was to be an outreach of mainly Zambian leaders and ministers helping Zambians. As I looked around at the faces gathered, I felt I heard God say that these people have been in prayer groups and Bible studies in their villages over the last few weeks and they were as prepared as any work team to share Jesus. Jake had cancelled classes in the Bible school to allow them practical time to put what they had learned to use. There were pastors, praise team members, Sunday school leaders….all with Bibles in hand. Julius, our new Medical Clinic Chaplain led us in prayer and after a few words of encouragement from Sal and I we loaded into the vehicles. We however were short one member….Jake. He stayed back on partial bedrest. You see, he played in the Independence Day football tournament and ended up with phlebitis in his right leg. Warm compresses, aspirin therapy and rest have been the order of the last few days and we determined it would be prudent for him to stay home this time. So Christopher drove the Land Rover, Sal the Lorry and Jessie tackled the Land Cruiser. She has been driving for a few weeks now and felt confident to drive today. We made a stop at our first turn and to my surprise one of our HIV patients was there…she had found out in class on Friday that we were going to Matengu and asked Sal if she could join us…Praise the Lord! Well it was an hour drive deep in the bush and just as we were almost the whole way there, Jess hit a stump and it literally tore the front tire off the axle and struts. So we left the Cruiser there with Christopher and a team of four to solve the problem of getting it back to the farm. Sal suggested getting Marvin to drive the tractor out to transport it back in tow. The rest of us continued on not to be deterred from God’s plan. When we arrived, they opened in prayer and welcomed us with a song, a greeting, a skit (which they call sketch) and then asked us if we had anything to share. I shared the Word and Sal and I both gave the plan and direction for the day.
Medically, we had a registration sign in, a station with temp, weights and chief complaints, three medical stations with Jha, Sal and Joan seeing patients, and a separate room for Vundukai to counsel and test for HIV as directed. Lonny, one of our school; teachers took the children ages preschool to third grade to the school playground where he sang and danced with them and played football (soccer) and net ball. Orbit and his team of five including Mukapeli, (our HIV patient tagalong J ) cooked nshima, cabbage, and kapinta. Misheck and the worship team led in praise and worship for a good part of the day. The pastors and Bible school students went in teams of two and prayed for people. They were pleased to report not just prayers for healing but salvations, deliverances and even people asking questions and pouring over scriptures from the Bible. I was the coordinator….putting order to things again! That seems to be a lot of my role here in many different areas. I did get to have a teaching session with the mothers of infants about charms and their significance and why we cut them off their babies. Well, at the end of a very tiring but rewarding day, almost 300 people were seen medically and fed…children and adults alike were ministered to and shown the love of Jesus. And guess what I found out….When Nelson came to see us, he was the headman of the village…we never knew that. His brother Benson is now the headman and the one who invited us to come. Nelson’s wife gave both Sal and I a big hug when she saw us and another big hug when we were leaving.
OH, I haven’t mentioned the Land Cruiser have I? Well you see, we didn’t see Christopher or the other four or the Land Rover for that matter all day. As we headed out, we prayed that they had success getting the Land Cruiser back to the farm but we weren’t sure whether we would see it where we left it or not. About 10 minutes into the trip home, we saw the Land Rover heading toward us…filled with all the men we had left behind. They had big smiles on their faces and thumbs up!!! Sal jumped out to talk with them and found that they had gotten Marvin and the tractor …had brought it to where the Land cruiser was and somehow got the Land Cruiser out and back to the farm!!!! God is good. We were very proud of them and all the ministry team that went with us….they represented Sons of Thunder and Jesus as well as any work team could have done. Thank you God for an awesome day! When we left, we made a first aid box to leave at the school as well as one of the footballs!!!!! The lorry ride home was filled with singing and cokes were passed around when we got home!!
Sharing of the Word
Praise and Worship
Singing Unto the Lord
Prayers for Salvation, Healing and Deliverance
Medical Care Given for about 300 - Sal worked with Anna
Joan from Zimba and Mariam
Jha and Janet
Children's Ministry with Lonny
Food for 300....
Saying Goodbye is never easy
Singing all the way back to the Farm!!!!!
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