April 21, 2007

  • It’s time for an update!!  You know I haven’t been writing much…well that’s because my role here has significantly changed from just medical.  Yes I still do some, but I have been stationed primarily in the guest house.  There have been a lot of organizational structure changes as we have been transitioning personnel here.  A lot of time has been devoted to putting things in order…a lot of cleaning out and a lot of teaching has been occurring.  I have been involved in all of that for not only the farm, but the clinic, and the school.  Some of the people who have been entrusted with more responsibility have fallen at times requiring counsel and added teaching to help them back up.  We live in a sinful world and none of us are righteous…no not one. So needless to say I have not been in the clinic much catching glimpses of God’s healing hand and therefore did not have stories to share.

     

    But I have to tell you about three cases recently, two of which came to the guest house first.……

     

    The first one is MacDonald…he is a married man with two children and also HIV.  He came to us suffering from osteosarcoma of the tibia/fibula (cancer of the bones in the lower legs as a result of HIV.  He was unable to walk without dragging his leg, and was in quite a lot of pain.  I remember him sitting on the floor in tears as he told us of this treatment in Lusaka that was totally unaffordable to him.  After laying hands and praying for him and giving him a Bible, we gave him the funds needed for the treatment along with transport money for the trip to Lusaka.  MacDonald came back months later to show us his legs after treatment at the Italian Hospital where they “sucked the cancer cells out of his leg” as he told it.  He had no more pain and could walk.  Unfortunately on his way to us, he confronted a school girl on her way home from school.  She ran away physically unharmed, but her father was now at the clinic demanding some kind of justice.  So we loaded them all up in the car and took them to the police station where charges were filed and we left MacDonald.  We went to his house to inform his wife so she could bail him out of jail.  The next time we saw MacDonald was months later …this time telling us that he tried to get into catering but they wouldn’t accept him because of his HIV.  He desperately wanted to provide for his family but he was unable to do hard labor due to his legs.  So he had an idea of a telephone business…setting up a portable phone stand for use in town and selling talk time.  He just needed a little assistance to buy the phone to get started.  We again provided monetary assistance to get him started and we hadn’t heard from him until last week.  He brought a man from town that his heart went out to…a man who drags himself around town with his hands, legs dragging behind him because due to a motor vehicle accident, he can’t stand or walk.  His wheelchair had broken and he desperately needed another one…but again he could not afford to replace the one that broke.  MacDonald brought him to Sons of Thunder because we had helped him…now he was trying to help someone else.  That really touched me…the love and kindness we had shown him was spilling over and he took his eyes off himself long enough to see another in need.  He was “paying it forward.”  Yes…of course we helped this man, enabling him to go to Lusaka and buy another wheelchair. But the victory was in MacDonald…changing one life at a time.

     

    The second story is little Andrew…a three year old boy who’s mom brought him in with a high fever resulting in a convulsion.  Liver and spleen were enlarged….thought of course was malaria but we had run out of tests.  His hemoglobin was 3.1.  He was pretty lethargic…and not verbally responsive.  We started an IV, gave him IM medication for his fever, the malaria and a medication to protect his brain.  Then we admitted him.  By the next day, he was incontinent of urine with visible blood noted.  Urinalysis confirmed what our eyes already saw.  He was jaundiced and his hemoglobin was 2.1. Only response was to pain and even that was dulled.  We told mom we needed to transport him to Livingstone General Hospital because he needed a blood transfusion.  She looked back at us and said …”I just can’t….you remember my mother.”  Well when she told us who her mother was, we remembered that we had taken her in for a transfusion also and they just let her lay in bed for three days without treatment and she died.  Looking into these mother’s eyes, she knew how serious her child was and yet she felt his best chance at survival was here at Sons of Thunder.  I went and got the mother a Bible, and then laid hands and prayed on her son again.  I witnessed of the greatness of Jesus as our Healer…the One we put our hope in.  After that I didn’t get back to see Andrew until yesterday…about four days later.  I found him on his way out the door, drinking a drink and smiling about being discharged.  He was healed!!  Sal said his hemoglobin was 3.1 again and he was discharged on iron.   His jaundice was gone…no more blood in the urine…no more fever ....eating without difficulty….liver and spleen were returning to normal size…all body functions working.  Mom had such a big smile on her face as she said “You see why I couldn’t go to General.”  Sal told me that every day he made rounds he found her reading the Word to Andrew and she attended church on the farm on Sunday.  Everyone knows who healed Andrew!!!!  Jesus is an awesome God!

     

    The last story is the culmination of what we hope to accomplish here. It’s about a man named Felix. Felix is a thirty something year old man, single with no family alive in the area.  He is also disabled…he has only half a foot and crippled hands and legs.  He does manage to get around, but not easily.  When we first met Felix, he had an old brace made for his leg and he had a “tropical” shoe (flip-flop) tied to his foot with dirty rags.  He could hardly manage, but had taken public transport here and then walked in somehow from the tarmac.  He was using the side of his foot to walk on.  He needed a custom made shoe from Ndola, but it was financially unaffordable for him.  After laying hands and praying on him, we gave him a Bible and told him about Jesus as Healer.  We did give him the funds to go to Ndola and have the shoes made.  He would have to stay there until they were done so money was provided for that as well.  Months later Felix came back with temporary shoes and a new brace….the shoes were not yet quite right.  He came back this time however to ask us to help him build a house, because he was without any shelter from the rain.  I’m not quite sure where he was living, but he had a small bit of land they were going to give him in a village area in Livingstone.  Yes…of course we gave him funds to help him get a house (which is really a grass hut remember).  Just two days ago Felix came back….he was clean, dressed very nice, with a brand new pair of shoes that were looking good and working well.  He had his brace on for his leg and one for his arm to help with walking.  He has his house now, is living in Maramba in town.  and CARE international is helping him with food. Now he came to see us because he wants to work, to be independent and provide for himself.  They will give him a stand in the Maramba Market for a nominal monthly rental fee.  When I asked him what he wanted to do, he told me he had a certificate for electronics and he wanted to fix radios and televisions.  The only problem is, he needed funding for some tools.  Yes…we gave him the funds, but while he was waiting for Sal to finish at the clinic in order to hitch a ride back to town, we sat down in the foyer of the guest house to talk.  He thanked me for everything including his Bible which he told me he reads every day.  That opening led us to talk about Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life.  Felix told me he thought he was saved because he doesn’t drink or smoke anymore and he goes to the Penecostal Church in town.  He was led by a friend to a church in Ndola once where he told me, “they believe in the Koran and Mohammed, but I ran away from that.”  When I asked him if he ever asked Jesus into his heart to be Lord of his life, he told me he went to his Pastor to pray for him but he was out of town. I told him he didn’t need anyone to pray for him…it was a gift he needed to receive himself through faith.  As I started to share the Gospel message about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I saw a snake crawling towards us from the corner of the room by the front door.  Now I know there have been snakes found in the house before….but not since I’ve been here!!!!!  Here I was with this disabled man who couldn’t run from the snake and who couldn’t defend me.  I bravely got up and got a club that we have nearby and was going to handle the situation.  (How far I have come!!!)…..but God was gracious to me and Jake was heading to the front door from the outside.  I hollered for him to stop until the snake had cleared the doorway.  Then I opened the door, handed him the club and he came to the rescue.  It was a spitting cobra…Two of the houseworkers, Terry and Doubt also heard the commotion and came to assist.  Doubt carried the dead snake out on a stick.  Isn’t it funny that just as I was sharing the Gospel, a snake would come out from nowhere….hmmm.   Well I was more affected than I thought, so I told Jake where we were and he proceeded to share with Felix about how to be saved….Felix prayed right in the foyer stating that he believed in Jesus and asking him into his heart to be Lord of his life.  Afterwards, you should have seen his countenance…it was as if a load had been lifted and his smile brightened the room.  Jake and I again prayed for him for healing and a continued growth in God’s word.

     

    Sons of Thunder Medical Ministries gave him his shoes…his braces….his house….and now a start on a business venture, but today Felix walked down that driveway with the most important gift of all…eternal life.  That’s what it’s all about….that’s why we’re all here.