Today I came home from the hospital at noon. I just couldn’t keep working. From practicing everyday with the choir, spending the night at Zara’s house for Christmas (staying up late, waking up early), to working at the hospital everyday 6 days a week. I was just exhausted. I have had many experiences these last few days that I feel are God’s divine appointments. I have talked to many people who have told me they can open their heart up to me. I feel like God is beginning to reveal why I am here. I came to this hospital thinking that I could be an influence to the patients only (by God’s grace I will be as well), but I don’t think God brought me here for other reasons. Not for those who are necessarily “weak”…physically, but those who are week mentally and spiritually.
Since I have been here, there have been times when I have been weak physically, mentally, and spiritually. When I first arrive, as I might have told you before, I was adamant about staying away from Malaria. Even my family will tell you that I prayed God would protect me. I thought it was going to be this great miracle! “Elissa went to Africa in the most malaria-infested country and came back without a single mosquito bite!” hooray!! The Lord humbles me all the time, and this was one of the times. I know some of you might think this is a ridiculous thought but, since the Lord as humbled me from that experience, and I have had malaria twice, I am now able to relate to the patients who walk into the hospital… almost every single one of them! I know that these diseases are dangerous, and I am still motivated to keep as healthy as possible, but if God brought me here, there is a reason why he puts me through these situations. I am living my life for Jesus Christ! What more do I need? Like it says in 2 Cor 12:10 “Therefore I am CONTENT with weakness, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong!” Now when persecution comes along, does this verse become invalid? NO! Quite the opposite actually… it is made alive in me! The words have sunk deep into my soul and every morning when I wake up, I relate to these words. I have been physically ill since I’ve been in Africa, but why would God bring me here to this place if he didn’t have a purpose for me? I’m weak, but God is made strong. I go through persecution knowing that God has gone through more. If I am living this life for Him, then there is nothing that I need to fear, for he is my provider.
Mentally, each day can become challenging. The only thing I wanted to do today was come home and shut my door to the world and be alone. Thankfully I got a few hours to myself (much needed). After I practiced with the choir and came home again, I just wanted to go to sleep. It was about 6 o clock. I laid down for a little bit, and realized I hadn’t eaten. Just a little bit ago, I got up and went to the kitchen. I was afraid to turn on my light for fear someone would see that I was home☺. After turning on the light, I stood there for a few moments, listening for anyone outside. Finally, I relaxed… “Eliza!!!” I was startled by Pierre’s voice outside. I had forgotten that Pierre comes to my house every night and sleeps outside to watch over me. Since Pierre has been here, Caitlin and I have taken up the job of feeding him every night. We would always ask him when he came in, “when was the last time you ate?” he would tell us it was that morning. Caitlin never liked his answer and would stuff his face most every night. Now that she is gone, it is my responsibility to remember him and his needs. She even put a sign up that says, “feed Pierre”. I see it everyday ☺! I realized after hearing his voice outside, that I have an obligation. An obligation to be mentally alert for those who are in need. I feel that God will give me strength in this situation as well. “Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in HUMILITY, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.” Phil 2:3,4. Because of the fact that I was so mentally exhausted, I didn’t want to feed Pierre, but God spoke to me tonight about true humility. Being a servant even when you are totally and completely mentally exhausted yourself. He gives you strength to go a little bit further when you feel like you are going to crash… and a little bit further, and a little bit further. I have realized that nothing in my life has not been overcome. Always… when I feel like I can’t go on anymore, my heavenly father steps in once again.
My spirituality has been faltering. I can hear you saying… “How can that be when you are serving the Lord in Africa? You have to lean on the Lord for everything in those kinds of places. That is what the experience is all about?” Well, to be quite honest with you, I haven’t had personal devotions for a while. The Lord has allowed me to slip away from the most important thing in my life so that I could try and see if I can be strong without him. Not only that, but I have tried to be spiritual without him. I honestly think that is why I am so exhausted today. I have tried to be a spiritual leader without seeking help from the spiritual leader himself! Tonight when I opened my Bible, I broke down in tears because my eyes were opened to my weaknesses. I have tried to be so strong without my source of strength. I can just picture God up in heaven saying to me, “Elissa, you do this every time…and you always come back in my arms exhausted because you tried be strong on your own… just let me carry you and stop worrying about what you can do, but let me worry about what I can do.” I usually picture a smile on His face when he says this, a little side note. He never fails me, I always fail him, but he is gracious and kind, and will let me fall so I can get back up and say, “God is my stronghold, a present help in time of trouble.”
Lately, like I was saying before, God has lead me to people who are really in need of a friend. I have gotten to pray, cry, and laugh with those who have been struggling. God has been using me (in my weakness) to reach out to these people. Three people have said they can open up their heart to me because they feel comfortable. That is not because I have done anything, but God who has allowed me to be a spiritual mentor. I feel he can use me to bring peace and tranquility to the hospital and those who come in and out each day. I pray that I will be an instrument of peace in what seems like a place full of disaster. I just need to remember these words when I am helping those in need “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow. So neither the one who plants counts for anything, nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth.” 1 Cor 3:6,7. I am just one person working with other people, but God is in this story. He has his hand on the hospital, and he will continue to grow all of us together spiritually.
This is what is on my mind tonight. I have many things to talk about in later blogs, but I want this entry to be one that when you read it, you will think of the hospital and the experiences that I have had here. I have lost sleep over these thoughts I’ve shared with you tonight. Continue to PRAY WITHOUT CEASING! God has been and is going to do amazing things here and I firmly believe that when we pray, our prayers are not unanswered. God bless us.
Some songs that we are singing in the Choir for the concert this weekend:
Chant en France:
Qu’it sont beaux sur les montagnes
Les pieds de ceui qui anonee
La paix la bonne nouvelle qui publie le salut.
Chant en Mafa:
Ndo madzahi tele veske nga tsukonri
A sam yesu Bi a sa van pambi na
A sa van pambi na
A san van woufe ndav
Chant en Fulfulde (I think):
Oh ta mbarou djoke sam baba
Nafinta ma yetsu ha yesu
Bone ma hukou donte ma fu ha
Yesu oh walete ronduggo nde
An baba a mouya le
Bana yesus an dada a mouya le
Ps. we are singing about 10-15 songs in total.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
All About The Hospital
I know that each blog I write, I share little experiences from both parts of my life here in Africa. My hospital life, and my non-hospital life. Since I don’t have a lot of time everyday to write about both, I usually just give everyone a sneak peak. In this entry, I want to share what has been going on in the hospital, and also what the Lord has been doing through the hospital workers.
I don’t know the medical terms for many things, but I will try to fill you in on the good stuff. Since we have had the Doctors here, we don’t have to send patients an hour away to get help when they can’t deliver the baby without a C-section. One woman came into the hospital that was pregnant. After examining her, the doctor concluded that her intestines were twisted, and they had to do surgery on her. They took her into surgery and after the C-section, they tried to work on her intestine. I wasn’t there because I was traveling to Maroua but from what I hear her intestine turned dark red. They finished without doing anything to the intestine. She is still in the hospital now. Ganava, the main nurse for maternity doesn’t think she will live. I’m hoping there is a miracle.
Speaking about C-sections, a side note, the doctors who are from the congo have never even delivered a baby yet so I am hoping and praying that they learn quick. It is a bitter/sweet feeling. Knowing they they haven’t delivered any babies means that I can teach them the things that I have been learning about deliveries. The only thing is that if any complications arise, I hope they know what to do in the situation.
Remember when I told you about the man who had Dengue Fever? Well, he was in so much shock that he passed away the next day. I remember talking to Kalda about his case and asked him why he died. Kalda told me that the family refused to treat him. I sometimes wonder why people bring their family members into the hospital when they don’t want to treat the disease. Dr. James told me one day after having a frustrating conversation with a women who was refusing treatment. He said “What do they expect us to do when they bring people to the hospital. Dance around them and chant, throwing dirt into the air and expect them to be healed?” I understand his point, but I am also American. The way people deal with problems here is very different. The Muslim women especially do not make decisions unless the man is around to make them.
I went to the hospital one day at night. I wanted to look in the ER for anyone who needed help. It seemed like Bouwa was holding everything together pretty well. A woman came in who was 9 months pregnant. She looked very agitated and tired. She was going to be admitted. I took her blood pressure and it was 150/90. In America that might not be deadly, but here no one has high blood pressure like that. I concluded that she had preclampsia. I went home to tell James about it so we all went to go help with a c-section. We were there for probably about an hour before she finally refused to be operated on. She said she needed to wait until her husband came to give the answer. We were all confused at how calm she was in this time of Emergency. When the husband finally did come to tell us what he wanted, he refused the operation as well. He said that the babies were too small to be born…she was 9 months pregnant. I don’t know what happened to her, but hopefully she got operated on soon after she left our hospital because she was in danger of death.
When I first arrived here at the hospital, there was a man who was diagnosed with TB. The hospital workers said that he had been there for quite awhile before my arrival. I checked him after I knew it wasn’t contagious anymore. He was so weak a frail. Not only that, but he was in pain and looked horrible. Slowly but surely we have been treating him. Everyday I have been seeing him come to worship in the mornings. Through the worships and nurses talking to him at his bedside these last few months, he has decided to give his life to Jesus! He got baptized last weekend. Avava was talking to me about it the other day and told me that he discovered something very important! He said, “I never knew that the hospital workers could be evangelists just like pastors! I am excited because now I know we have even more power because God is working through us!” I am forgetting his name at the moment, which is horrible because he knows my name but he looks 10 times better than he did when he first came here and he was healed☺
When there is someone in the hospital who needs a transfusion, we get a person with the same blood type in the same day. There is none of this “storing” stuff going on. I love doing transfusions! When I come into the lab and there is someone sitting in the chair where we do transfusion, I get excited. Clara, the lab tech, always knows to get out of the way when there are transfusions patients and I am around. She understands how badly I want poke someone with a huge needle☺ every time someone comes into a lab for a transfusion, I talk them through the process. It is not the nicest way to tell them what is happening, but I try to make it amusing. I usually say in French, “Little poke right now (for HIV test)… Big poke later!:)” While I’m transfusing them, I ask them if they are tired. If they say no, I tell them “later!”…Lol I know it’s horrible, but it makes them laugh. I also tell those who are afraid not to look, or I just push their head to the side. It helps☺
I have never seen worse cases of Hepatitis and Cirrhosis here. The people who come in are like balloons! Their stomachs are filled with fluid! We took care of a guy the other day who came in with the biggest stomach I have ever seen. We have been treating him, and thankfully it has been helping. He is doing much better than he was before.
The nurses and doctors have been doing a great job lately. I have been proud to say I work at the Koza Hospital. I know that we don’t have many supplies, but it is surprising how many things you can do with just a simple needle in this place. I’m amazed at how efficient they are with the products we are given. God continues to save lives and allow lives to be taken away. He has been at work in the lives of the patients and the workers here. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to heal those who come into the hospital each day. Thanks for listening! Until next time…
I don’t know the medical terms for many things, but I will try to fill you in on the good stuff. Since we have had the Doctors here, we don’t have to send patients an hour away to get help when they can’t deliver the baby without a C-section. One woman came into the hospital that was pregnant. After examining her, the doctor concluded that her intestines were twisted, and they had to do surgery on her. They took her into surgery and after the C-section, they tried to work on her intestine. I wasn’t there because I was traveling to Maroua but from what I hear her intestine turned dark red. They finished without doing anything to the intestine. She is still in the hospital now. Ganava, the main nurse for maternity doesn’t think she will live. I’m hoping there is a miracle.
Speaking about C-sections, a side note, the doctors who are from the congo have never even delivered a baby yet so I am hoping and praying that they learn quick. It is a bitter/sweet feeling. Knowing they they haven’t delivered any babies means that I can teach them the things that I have been learning about deliveries. The only thing is that if any complications arise, I hope they know what to do in the situation.
Remember when I told you about the man who had Dengue Fever? Well, he was in so much shock that he passed away the next day. I remember talking to Kalda about his case and asked him why he died. Kalda told me that the family refused to treat him. I sometimes wonder why people bring their family members into the hospital when they don’t want to treat the disease. Dr. James told me one day after having a frustrating conversation with a women who was refusing treatment. He said “What do they expect us to do when they bring people to the hospital. Dance around them and chant, throwing dirt into the air and expect them to be healed?” I understand his point, but I am also American. The way people deal with problems here is very different. The Muslim women especially do not make decisions unless the man is around to make them.
I went to the hospital one day at night. I wanted to look in the ER for anyone who needed help. It seemed like Bouwa was holding everything together pretty well. A woman came in who was 9 months pregnant. She looked very agitated and tired. She was going to be admitted. I took her blood pressure and it was 150/90. In America that might not be deadly, but here no one has high blood pressure like that. I concluded that she had preclampsia. I went home to tell James about it so we all went to go help with a c-section. We were there for probably about an hour before she finally refused to be operated on. She said she needed to wait until her husband came to give the answer. We were all confused at how calm she was in this time of Emergency. When the husband finally did come to tell us what he wanted, he refused the operation as well. He said that the babies were too small to be born…she was 9 months pregnant. I don’t know what happened to her, but hopefully she got operated on soon after she left our hospital because she was in danger of death.
When I first arrived here at the hospital, there was a man who was diagnosed with TB. The hospital workers said that he had been there for quite awhile before my arrival. I checked him after I knew it wasn’t contagious anymore. He was so weak a frail. Not only that, but he was in pain and looked horrible. Slowly but surely we have been treating him. Everyday I have been seeing him come to worship in the mornings. Through the worships and nurses talking to him at his bedside these last few months, he has decided to give his life to Jesus! He got baptized last weekend. Avava was talking to me about it the other day and told me that he discovered something very important! He said, “I never knew that the hospital workers could be evangelists just like pastors! I am excited because now I know we have even more power because God is working through us!” I am forgetting his name at the moment, which is horrible because he knows my name but he looks 10 times better than he did when he first came here and he was healed☺
When there is someone in the hospital who needs a transfusion, we get a person with the same blood type in the same day. There is none of this “storing” stuff going on. I love doing transfusions! When I come into the lab and there is someone sitting in the chair where we do transfusion, I get excited. Clara, the lab tech, always knows to get out of the way when there are transfusions patients and I am around. She understands how badly I want poke someone with a huge needle☺ every time someone comes into a lab for a transfusion, I talk them through the process. It is not the nicest way to tell them what is happening, but I try to make it amusing. I usually say in French, “Little poke right now (for HIV test)… Big poke later!:)” While I’m transfusing them, I ask them if they are tired. If they say no, I tell them “later!”…Lol I know it’s horrible, but it makes them laugh. I also tell those who are afraid not to look, or I just push their head to the side. It helps☺
I have never seen worse cases of Hepatitis and Cirrhosis here. The people who come in are like balloons! Their stomachs are filled with fluid! We took care of a guy the other day who came in with the biggest stomach I have ever seen. We have been treating him, and thankfully it has been helping. He is doing much better than he was before.
The nurses and doctors have been doing a great job lately. I have been proud to say I work at the Koza Hospital. I know that we don’t have many supplies, but it is surprising how many things you can do with just a simple needle in this place. I’m amazed at how efficient they are with the products we are given. God continues to save lives and allow lives to be taken away. He has been at work in the lives of the patients and the workers here. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to heal those who come into the hospital each day. Thanks for listening! Until next time…
Je Suis Content
I have spent the last hour trying to look for my recent blogs because its been so long since I’ve posted, I’ve forgotten where I have left off. If I repeat something, that’ll just be a reminder for you that it was just that important to me☺ A few weeks ago I was asked to do vespers for the church. Papa Sidi asked me on Monday so I could prepare for it Friday night. That whole week prior my stomach hurt because I was always aware of the fact that I was going to speak Friday night and being nervous makes me sick sometimes. I was sitting talking to one of my good friends in the hospital one day. When I noticed he wasn’t his usual happy self. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that he was a little upset because someone talked about him behind his back and he found out about it. We started getting into a conversation about living by example and it hit me… that was exactly what I needed to preach about! I thanked him for making me realize my sermon title. I feel like the hospital really needs to understand their potential in helping others if they merely live by example and stop blaming others for the problems that happen in our lives. Friday night finally came and I was ready. I wore a traditional African outfit so it would be even more epic when people came in. I felt a little out of place, but I am feeling more and more African everyday. When I got up to the pulpit to preach, before I said anything, someone interrupted and said they wanted the sermon to be translated in French AND mafa. … good thing Dr. James was there. I didn’t realize when I got up to the pulpit that my sermon was probably a little too short so I improvised at the end☺ God blessed and I think I got my point across well. Basically it was that we are the light of the world, God wants to use us to glorify him… what better way to do that then to live by example, showing how Christ has died for us and how our lives are forever changed as a result! So don’t blame and ridicule, but live by example.
There are many languages spoken here. Mafa, Fulfulde, Houssa, and French. Many other dialects as well. The hospital workers think its funny when they come up to me speaking another language and I don’t understand them… well I have started to learn a little Mafa now so I can communicate a LITTLE bit with everyone. I connect much better with the patients that way. Almost everyone who comes into the hospital speaks Mafa so I get my share of practice.
The other day a man came into the hospital at night. Cailtin and I happen to be there when he walked into the emergency room. He was badly bleeding from his nose… in fact his nose was almost completely off his face. He was in a bad moto accident. We had our camera on hand, thank goodness, so Cailtin took some gnarly pictures. He was happy to pose for us as well. It was like he wasn’t even in any pain… these Africans know how be strong! He was also missing an arm (not from the accident) so we took pictures with it too. He was laughing and joking with us, sticking his arm nub in our faces... it was amusing.
So I think I have successfully broken all there is to break in our bathroom. When I first arrived here, one day I was in the shower. A mosquito was flying around, and I immediately was alert and was sure it wouldn’t come close to me without me killing it. It landed on the wall and I tried to kill it immediately… I ended up hitting the mirror on the wall as well and it fell off the wall shattering on the floor…Accident number one. The second thing I broke was the light. I was trying to fix it and didn’t realize that I hadn’t turned the light switch off (the are opposite here). I put my finger close to the socket and it electrified me. Obviously anything that was in my hand was going to fall, and sure enough the light shattered as well… I promise I won’t break anything more since there is nothing more to break.
I have been here for 3 months now and I have just recently gotten over my second malaria episode. I honestly thought that I was just exhausted from work because I had worked hard the whole two weeks that Dr. James was here. Avava came to my house Saturday night and told me to get a malaria test. I was pretty sure I didn’t have malaria so I said babyishly, “No way, it hurts me when they poke my finger☺”. Dr. James started telling me that he doesn’t remember how many times missionaries have denied having malaria and the tests results proved them wrong. I was sure about this one… but he said I was in denial. Sure enough, the next day I went to the hospital, I was forced to have a malaria test, and it was 10,300. High. It was a blessing and a curse because I finally got to have a little time in the morning to rest, but I also didn’t want to be chained to the bed all day. I am feeling great now! I also took a Typhoid test and it came up positive as well. I never treated it, so I don’t think that I ever had it in the first place.
Something really exciting happened last weekend. The night before Sabbath I saw people cleaning out the baptistery. Since I live right next to the church, it’s hard for me to go to the hospital without saying hi to everyone that is in my path (I can’t run away☺ lol). They were preparing for people to get baptized (obviously)! Sabbath came along, and the church was completely packed! I sang with the choir group and played guitar. After church everyone went outside to see the baptisms. It was a wonderful Sabbath. We danced and sang for a long time! 80 people were baptized! I pray for those who got baptized to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Caitlin and I did the 12 days of Christmas to our friend Clara. We failed the first time we tried because she came out with a flashlight and saw us running away. We acted stupid and never told her it was us, even though it was extremely obvious. No one would do the 12 days of Christmas here because Seventh-day Adventist DON’T CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS… I know, shocking. Also, no one would give her a cake like we did. Super American! The last day, we knocked on her door, opening the door, we sang to her “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” Love it. She thanked us over and over… We had so much fun in the process
It has been pretty crazy this last week. Since it was Caitlin’s last week, we were inspired to do all the things we said we would do before she left. Sleep outside under the stars, sleep at Zara’s house, climb a mountain, Meet Avava’s fiancé, and ride a donkey. We successfully accomplished those things in one week. One night we brought my little mosquito net outside and slept under the stars…epic. The second night, we slept at Zara’s house. Surprisingly we were more comfortable at Zara’s house then we were sleeping outside our own house. They treat American’s like royalty! I slept right next to Zara and I felt so protected! That Sabbath we went with Bahana to a mountain. It was an amazing experience except for the fact that we almost died! Bahana is a crazy motorcycle driver. We almost ran into a bike rider once, and another time we hit a pothole that he didn’t see and I almost bounced right off… praise God I was holding on tight. We worked so hard to get up to the top of the mountain that the view looked even more amazing. We took 300 pictures that day. When we went to Maroua we met Avava’s fiancé. She is my age! She is still technically in high school, but it is a different system here. We visit her at her school. She is perfect for Avava. While we were waiting for Avava to say goodbye to his love, Cailtin and I were sitting in the car. We had talked earlier that it wasn’t possible to ride a donkey unless there was one randomly in Maroua. Sure enough, a few minutes later a man on a donkey came riding up. I knew he didn’t speak English, but I asked him if I could ride it, looking ridiculous as I motioned “riding a donkey” to him. Finally we got the chance, in the meantime gathering quite a crowd. I bet everybody was whispering to each other in French “Nanzara...” (White person—don’t know how to spell it).
There are just a few fun facts/things that I want to mention before I leave because there is just so much that I can’t write it all out in one blog at this point. I talked to the pastor the other day when we were coming back from Maroua. I asked him how many churches he pastured. He said 32!!! I am already proud of my Father for keeping up one church! 32 is a little much don’t you think?
I was doing rounds with the doctor the other day. He brought me to this one patient and after talking for more than five minutes; he nonchalantly told me that the patient had TB and was admitted yesterday (doesn’t he know that it is contagious?). I quickly tried to explain to him my fear of TB and then left the room immediately. They don’t necessarily take precautions for those kinds of things.
Today when I woke up, I realized that Avava had bought me some apples from the market in Maroua. It was my first apple I have had since I’ve been in Africa… truly heavenly.
The baby that I wash everyday left because he is a healthy child now. I pray he will continue to be well taken care of. I have had so much to do every night since Caitlin has left so I went to bed at 2 am last night. I am trying to keep my eyes open during the day. I am planning on spending Christmas in Koza. It was not my first option, but I think I’m going to be able to give gifts to people who are not as fortunate as me. I just received three huge packages. One from my mother and the other two from Joanna Miracle! Thank you thank you so much church for all of your support! I continue to keep you in my prayers, always giving thanks to God.
The choir is practicing every day until January 1 for a big concert. It is killing me, but I am the guitar player and one of the main leaders. Also, the church is having a week of prayer. This means when our choir starts practice at 3:30 I don’t get to go home until around 7:30 pm… God keep me patient. I’m tired
During worship at the church tonight I was flipping through my notebook. I found a poem I wrote before coming to Africa. I remember writing one day in summer school when the teacher was boring me. I had so many thoughts going through my head about coming here, so I just picked up my pen and wrote what I was thinking, and this is what came out. It’s called “My Stream on Consciousness”
Ps. Arielle, Cecil’s baby boy is about a year old now. He successfully said my name the other day. Audrey is Zara’s little child. He is about 4 years old and he is learning English from me. Now when I come to the house I ask him “Audrey, how are you?”. He slowly says “I…a..am..ffiin…ee. Thank…you”. He knows it though☺
There are many languages spoken here. Mafa, Fulfulde, Houssa, and French. Many other dialects as well. The hospital workers think its funny when they come up to me speaking another language and I don’t understand them… well I have started to learn a little Mafa now so I can communicate a LITTLE bit with everyone. I connect much better with the patients that way. Almost everyone who comes into the hospital speaks Mafa so I get my share of practice.
The other day a man came into the hospital at night. Cailtin and I happen to be there when he walked into the emergency room. He was badly bleeding from his nose… in fact his nose was almost completely off his face. He was in a bad moto accident. We had our camera on hand, thank goodness, so Cailtin took some gnarly pictures. He was happy to pose for us as well. It was like he wasn’t even in any pain… these Africans know how be strong! He was also missing an arm (not from the accident) so we took pictures with it too. He was laughing and joking with us, sticking his arm nub in our faces... it was amusing.
So I think I have successfully broken all there is to break in our bathroom. When I first arrived here, one day I was in the shower. A mosquito was flying around, and I immediately was alert and was sure it wouldn’t come close to me without me killing it. It landed on the wall and I tried to kill it immediately… I ended up hitting the mirror on the wall as well and it fell off the wall shattering on the floor…Accident number one. The second thing I broke was the light. I was trying to fix it and didn’t realize that I hadn’t turned the light switch off (the are opposite here). I put my finger close to the socket and it electrified me. Obviously anything that was in my hand was going to fall, and sure enough the light shattered as well… I promise I won’t break anything more since there is nothing more to break.
I have been here for 3 months now and I have just recently gotten over my second malaria episode. I honestly thought that I was just exhausted from work because I had worked hard the whole two weeks that Dr. James was here. Avava came to my house Saturday night and told me to get a malaria test. I was pretty sure I didn’t have malaria so I said babyishly, “No way, it hurts me when they poke my finger☺”. Dr. James started telling me that he doesn’t remember how many times missionaries have denied having malaria and the tests results proved them wrong. I was sure about this one… but he said I was in denial. Sure enough, the next day I went to the hospital, I was forced to have a malaria test, and it was 10,300. High. It was a blessing and a curse because I finally got to have a little time in the morning to rest, but I also didn’t want to be chained to the bed all day. I am feeling great now! I also took a Typhoid test and it came up positive as well. I never treated it, so I don’t think that I ever had it in the first place.
Something really exciting happened last weekend. The night before Sabbath I saw people cleaning out the baptistery. Since I live right next to the church, it’s hard for me to go to the hospital without saying hi to everyone that is in my path (I can’t run away☺ lol). They were preparing for people to get baptized (obviously)! Sabbath came along, and the church was completely packed! I sang with the choir group and played guitar. After church everyone went outside to see the baptisms. It was a wonderful Sabbath. We danced and sang for a long time! 80 people were baptized! I pray for those who got baptized to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Caitlin and I did the 12 days of Christmas to our friend Clara. We failed the first time we tried because she came out with a flashlight and saw us running away. We acted stupid and never told her it was us, even though it was extremely obvious. No one would do the 12 days of Christmas here because Seventh-day Adventist DON’T CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS… I know, shocking. Also, no one would give her a cake like we did. Super American! The last day, we knocked on her door, opening the door, we sang to her “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” Love it. She thanked us over and over… We had so much fun in the process
It has been pretty crazy this last week. Since it was Caitlin’s last week, we were inspired to do all the things we said we would do before she left. Sleep outside under the stars, sleep at Zara’s house, climb a mountain, Meet Avava’s fiancé, and ride a donkey. We successfully accomplished those things in one week. One night we brought my little mosquito net outside and slept under the stars…epic. The second night, we slept at Zara’s house. Surprisingly we were more comfortable at Zara’s house then we were sleeping outside our own house. They treat American’s like royalty! I slept right next to Zara and I felt so protected! That Sabbath we went with Bahana to a mountain. It was an amazing experience except for the fact that we almost died! Bahana is a crazy motorcycle driver. We almost ran into a bike rider once, and another time we hit a pothole that he didn’t see and I almost bounced right off… praise God I was holding on tight. We worked so hard to get up to the top of the mountain that the view looked even more amazing. We took 300 pictures that day. When we went to Maroua we met Avava’s fiancé. She is my age! She is still technically in high school, but it is a different system here. We visit her at her school. She is perfect for Avava. While we were waiting for Avava to say goodbye to his love, Cailtin and I were sitting in the car. We had talked earlier that it wasn’t possible to ride a donkey unless there was one randomly in Maroua. Sure enough, a few minutes later a man on a donkey came riding up. I knew he didn’t speak English, but I asked him if I could ride it, looking ridiculous as I motioned “riding a donkey” to him. Finally we got the chance, in the meantime gathering quite a crowd. I bet everybody was whispering to each other in French “Nanzara...” (White person—don’t know how to spell it).
There are just a few fun facts/things that I want to mention before I leave because there is just so much that I can’t write it all out in one blog at this point. I talked to the pastor the other day when we were coming back from Maroua. I asked him how many churches he pastured. He said 32!!! I am already proud of my Father for keeping up one church! 32 is a little much don’t you think?
I was doing rounds with the doctor the other day. He brought me to this one patient and after talking for more than five minutes; he nonchalantly told me that the patient had TB and was admitted yesterday (doesn’t he know that it is contagious?). I quickly tried to explain to him my fear of TB and then left the room immediately. They don’t necessarily take precautions for those kinds of things.
Today when I woke up, I realized that Avava had bought me some apples from the market in Maroua. It was my first apple I have had since I’ve been in Africa… truly heavenly.
The baby that I wash everyday left because he is a healthy child now. I pray he will continue to be well taken care of. I have had so much to do every night since Caitlin has left so I went to bed at 2 am last night. I am trying to keep my eyes open during the day. I am planning on spending Christmas in Koza. It was not my first option, but I think I’m going to be able to give gifts to people who are not as fortunate as me. I just received three huge packages. One from my mother and the other two from Joanna Miracle! Thank you thank you so much church for all of your support! I continue to keep you in my prayers, always giving thanks to God.
The choir is practicing every day until January 1 for a big concert. It is killing me, but I am the guitar player and one of the main leaders. Also, the church is having a week of prayer. This means when our choir starts practice at 3:30 I don’t get to go home until around 7:30 pm… God keep me patient. I’m tired
During worship at the church tonight I was flipping through my notebook. I found a poem I wrote before coming to Africa. I remember writing one day in summer school when the teacher was boring me. I had so many thoughts going through my head about coming here, so I just picked up my pen and wrote what I was thinking, and this is what came out. It’s called “My Stream on Consciousness”
Take me to a place in need
Where I will grow spiritually
Giving you each day and hour
Please fill me with your power
I pray that I would be to them
Like you when you made your decent
I’m only human; I make mistakes
Holy Spirit consume me to change my ways
So I turn to you today
Refine and mold me like clay
Prepare me for this journey somehow
Only you can carry me through now
I approach your throne of grace
With boldness I am in this place
Be with me and show me mercy
As I help to lead the thirsty
God has answered my prayer. He has given me mercy grace and power!Where I will grow spiritually
Giving you each day and hour
Please fill me with your power
I pray that I would be to them
Like you when you made your decent
I’m only human; I make mistakes
Holy Spirit consume me to change my ways
So I turn to you today
Refine and mold me like clay
Prepare me for this journey somehow
Only you can carry me through now
I approach your throne of grace
With boldness I am in this place
Be with me and show me mercy
As I help to lead the thirsty
Ps. Arielle, Cecil’s baby boy is about a year old now. He successfully said my name the other day. Audrey is Zara’s little child. He is about 4 years old and he is learning English from me. Now when I come to the house I ask him “Audrey, how are you?”. He slowly says “I…a..am..ffiin…ee. Thank…you”. He knows it though☺
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Just When I Thought It Couln't Get Any Busier
The exact same day that the main nurse left to work for the government, three doctors came to help in the hospital. I love when God provides like that! There are two from the Congo and one (An American) that has been in Tchad for 7 years now. He is a surgeon so all of the surgeries that we were being postponed came back. It has been a hectic two weeks. I have not gotten the sleep I’ve wanted, but I have had experiences to fill it. It has been a little hilarious talking to the Congo doctors. They are not married so you can imagine how they would act toward Caitlin and I, single as well! They also don’t know very much English as well. The first day I met Dr. Roger, he started talking about learning English. I was expecting him to ask me to set a day apart to teach him English. I was just about to say, “Yeah, I can help you. When Do you want to meet?” Instead, he asked me to marry him! He asked me like it was just a favor that he wanted. Don’t worry America, I’m not going to marry someone just so they can learn English!:) I think I’m smarter than that. It seems that the other Doctor has a little crush on Caitlin as well. Now that Caitlin has malaria, the other doctor asks about her all the time. I just tell him that she is sick and can’t come to work. He looks so depressed. The other day I had to say it… “Tu ‘iam Caitlin!” (You love Caitlin!). Anyway… lots of fun.
One day when we were in surgery, Caitlin was trying to learn as much as she could about the man coming into surgery. She asked the question “Is this man circumcised?” The reply didn’t come back from the surgeon but Dr. Solomon, the man who likes Caitlin. Now remember… he doesn’t speak English very well. He turned to her and said “Do you like that?” I think it has been 4 or 5 days since that happened and I still have bursts of laughter. I’m not sure he knew what he was saying.
Lets get down to some medical business now. As I said before, it has been extremely busy in the last two weeks. I have done more in these two weeks than I have this whole month I think. We have done many surgeries. I have helped with many surgeries. 2 appendicitis, prostate, 2 hernias, hysterectomy, bisectomy, removing cysts, and more. I was ecstatic to see these surgeries. The general doctors from the congo are not surgeons, so helping James has been a learning experience. He tolerates them☺ there are times when they are not doing their job right, and James gets frustrated, understandable. It has been crazy watching the surgeries because our instruments are so dull! They try to cut a suture and they have to try two times to cut it. We need supplies! We are getting by though. I am the person who helps Ganava during surgery. Both him and I are the people who aren’t sterile. We run around getting things that the doctor needs. Our job is to prepare the patient for surgery, putting a blood pressure cough around the patients arm as well as oxygen. Then after giving the IV and starting the fluids, we prepare the medications such as getting the Epinepherine, Saline, and the blood bags. During surgery we are the ones who keep the patient alive. If her blood pressure goes down, we add more fluids, if she looses oxygen, we open her airway. Its pretty nice because we get to see and be apart of the surgery without worrying about touching anything that’s not sterile. We also give the surgeon sutures and irrigation when he needs it. When the patient is done with surgery, we clean up! (That’s always the most fun!!!...).
I have learned a lot about surgery lately. One day for some reason, one of the congo doctors didn’t show up. He asked if I wanted to scrub in. What do you think I said??? OF COURSE! I got ready and got to help with an appendicitis surgery. I held the tongs in place and helped with suctioning out the excess blood and liquid. This woman had typhoid so from the moment we operated on her; there was typhoid fluid everywhere! At the end of the surgery when James was suturing up the opening, he handed me the sutures and said, “Go for it!” I had never sutured anything in my entire life, and now I was about to suture someone’s abdomen! I took those sutures with confidence and sutured away… James was talking me through it of course. I know he reads this blog so, thanks for that experience James, it was exciting☺.
Last Friday I accepted an invitation to preach at the church for vespers. Preparing took up a lot of my mind. I was very absent-minded most of the time because I wanted to share with this village the importance of keeping God in focus! Of course, when Friday night came, my stomach started hurting because I was nervous. I prayed that God would calm my nerves. I had peace throughout the whole sermon! You might think that I preached in French… sorry, I’m not that good yet☺ I didn’t know that when I got up to the podium that the church wanted translations from English to French, and from French to Mafa. James was gracious enough to come and help. He is the only one who knows English perfectly. Thank God he was here! So, my sermon was translated into two different languages. It went really well, and God blessed! What made it even better is that I finally had a traditional outfit made for me! I wore it just for that night! I am for sure African now!
I’m not lying about being African now. I know that I get cold in America, but getting cold in Africa… that is just wussie style! Well, I do wear sweaters at night, meanwhile thinking, “How am I going to survive in America!”
I didn’t have a lot of sleep this weekend. After I preached, my father called asking me to get on the Internet in the morning. That is easy to say but very hard to do here. I spend almost the whole night trying to get on the Internet after borrowing a friends computer stick. It was midnight by the time I went to sleep and I had to wake up at 4:45 am to talk to my church family! The Internet failed and all my hard all night long work went down the drain, but it was worth it because I got to talk to my church! I wish I could have seen everyone☹ Dr. James offered me an opportunity to fly back with him and work at the hospital he is working at in Tchad. He told me about some missionaries there and I know one of them! Emily Wilkins!!! I was planning on going for Christmas to see them, but I heard, unfortunately, that Emily as well as a couple others opened up a pressure cooker and got pretty badly burned. Please pray for them as they head back to America soon. I would have loved to see them, but now I don’t think it is possible.
Well, this is the latest of what my life has been like here in Africa. I’m waiting impatiently to see my mother and Diane soon! I wish I could see everyone. Have a happy holiday season and keep Caitlin and I in your prayers as we continue to follow in God’s leading here in Koza. I am amazed at how many people he has brought me to. I now sometimes speak a little Mafa to the patients because that is the only language they know. It is incredible to know that I can communicate and be compassionate with patients that I don’t even know two words of what I’m saying. They just love me for the simple fact that I am caring for them. Well, I’m thinking of home during this season, but its really tough to keep in mind that it is Christmas time when it is so hot during the day. Caitlin and I pasted a Christmas tree on our wall with construction paper. It even has little paper ornaments!
Ps. The child who I helped deliver and whose mother almost died of blood loss (the one I gave my blood to)… He has pustules all over his body and my job is to clean him three times a day. I call him Bill☺ I am trying to teach the family how to take care of him. I’m afraid that he is going to die because all of her children have died after a few days… He is a miracle child!
One day when we were in surgery, Caitlin was trying to learn as much as she could about the man coming into surgery. She asked the question “Is this man circumcised?” The reply didn’t come back from the surgeon but Dr. Solomon, the man who likes Caitlin. Now remember… he doesn’t speak English very well. He turned to her and said “Do you like that?” I think it has been 4 or 5 days since that happened and I still have bursts of laughter. I’m not sure he knew what he was saying.
Lets get down to some medical business now. As I said before, it has been extremely busy in the last two weeks. I have done more in these two weeks than I have this whole month I think. We have done many surgeries. I have helped with many surgeries. 2 appendicitis, prostate, 2 hernias, hysterectomy, bisectomy, removing cysts, and more. I was ecstatic to see these surgeries. The general doctors from the congo are not surgeons, so helping James has been a learning experience. He tolerates them☺ there are times when they are not doing their job right, and James gets frustrated, understandable. It has been crazy watching the surgeries because our instruments are so dull! They try to cut a suture and they have to try two times to cut it. We need supplies! We are getting by though. I am the person who helps Ganava during surgery. Both him and I are the people who aren’t sterile. We run around getting things that the doctor needs. Our job is to prepare the patient for surgery, putting a blood pressure cough around the patients arm as well as oxygen. Then after giving the IV and starting the fluids, we prepare the medications such as getting the Epinepherine, Saline, and the blood bags. During surgery we are the ones who keep the patient alive. If her blood pressure goes down, we add more fluids, if she looses oxygen, we open her airway. Its pretty nice because we get to see and be apart of the surgery without worrying about touching anything that’s not sterile. We also give the surgeon sutures and irrigation when he needs it. When the patient is done with surgery, we clean up! (That’s always the most fun!!!...).
I have learned a lot about surgery lately. One day for some reason, one of the congo doctors didn’t show up. He asked if I wanted to scrub in. What do you think I said??? OF COURSE! I got ready and got to help with an appendicitis surgery. I held the tongs in place and helped with suctioning out the excess blood and liquid. This woman had typhoid so from the moment we operated on her; there was typhoid fluid everywhere! At the end of the surgery when James was suturing up the opening, he handed me the sutures and said, “Go for it!” I had never sutured anything in my entire life, and now I was about to suture someone’s abdomen! I took those sutures with confidence and sutured away… James was talking me through it of course. I know he reads this blog so, thanks for that experience James, it was exciting☺.
Last Friday I accepted an invitation to preach at the church for vespers. Preparing took up a lot of my mind. I was very absent-minded most of the time because I wanted to share with this village the importance of keeping God in focus! Of course, when Friday night came, my stomach started hurting because I was nervous. I prayed that God would calm my nerves. I had peace throughout the whole sermon! You might think that I preached in French… sorry, I’m not that good yet☺ I didn’t know that when I got up to the podium that the church wanted translations from English to French, and from French to Mafa. James was gracious enough to come and help. He is the only one who knows English perfectly. Thank God he was here! So, my sermon was translated into two different languages. It went really well, and God blessed! What made it even better is that I finally had a traditional outfit made for me! I wore it just for that night! I am for sure African now!
I’m not lying about being African now. I know that I get cold in America, but getting cold in Africa… that is just wussie style! Well, I do wear sweaters at night, meanwhile thinking, “How am I going to survive in America!”
I didn’t have a lot of sleep this weekend. After I preached, my father called asking me to get on the Internet in the morning. That is easy to say but very hard to do here. I spend almost the whole night trying to get on the Internet after borrowing a friends computer stick. It was midnight by the time I went to sleep and I had to wake up at 4:45 am to talk to my church family! The Internet failed and all my hard all night long work went down the drain, but it was worth it because I got to talk to my church! I wish I could have seen everyone☹ Dr. James offered me an opportunity to fly back with him and work at the hospital he is working at in Tchad. He told me about some missionaries there and I know one of them! Emily Wilkins!!! I was planning on going for Christmas to see them, but I heard, unfortunately, that Emily as well as a couple others opened up a pressure cooker and got pretty badly burned. Please pray for them as they head back to America soon. I would have loved to see them, but now I don’t think it is possible.
Well, this is the latest of what my life has been like here in Africa. I’m waiting impatiently to see my mother and Diane soon! I wish I could see everyone. Have a happy holiday season and keep Caitlin and I in your prayers as we continue to follow in God’s leading here in Koza. I am amazed at how many people he has brought me to. I now sometimes speak a little Mafa to the patients because that is the only language they know. It is incredible to know that I can communicate and be compassionate with patients that I don’t even know two words of what I’m saying. They just love me for the simple fact that I am caring for them. Well, I’m thinking of home during this season, but its really tough to keep in mind that it is Christmas time when it is so hot during the day. Caitlin and I pasted a Christmas tree on our wall with construction paper. It even has little paper ornaments!
Ps. The child who I helped deliver and whose mother almost died of blood loss (the one I gave my blood to)… He has pustules all over his body and my job is to clean him three times a day. I call him Bill☺ I am trying to teach the family how to take care of him. I’m afraid that he is going to die because all of her children have died after a few days… He is a miracle child!
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