God has his ways of blessing you when you are least expecting and teaching you through little things that you dont think matter at the time. I have been shown so much of God's grace and glory in the one month ive been here. The one place that has blessed me most has been a small orphange in Changwe, run by my good friend Jasper and his wife Zion. I had visited this orphanage last year when i came, but only for a short time. This trip we went out for 4 nights, slept in mud hutts, on the ground around a campfire.. it was an amazing experience. Two of those days were filled with clinic work where people from villages all around came to seek medical attention. Some people had walked for over two hours to be seen.
The first day began at 8 am and ran until after dark. We saw so many people, each with their own story.
There were times during that day, with everything being so busy and a little hectic.. i would stop and realize i was sitting in the middle of a mud hutt surrounded by miles of nothing but tall grass and a few small villages. That the people i was coming in contact with saw me, not only as a stranger who was coming into their lives from some other country, attempting to smile and communicate as best i could .. But they saw me as a hope.
To them i was someone with answers, with knowledge and the equipment they needed to gain health and strength back into their lives.
The medical knowledge i have is not much, But i've learned through this trip and the people i worked with along the way that its Not so much about medical, doctors, or medicine. Yes they help, yes they are needed and much appreciated.
But we cant allow the fact that we came in with meds and a registered nurse become the focus of our time here. There were many people who didnt need medicine, but just to be heard and to relieve to someone what they experience and go through day to day.
The work we did in Changwe was amazing, we saw so many people, met so many needs, and made great relationships.
I have so many stories i could tell, but due to space and not wanting to go on and on i will share only one. The most needed medical attention we saw during our trip was a gentleman brought to us the second morning, carried in the back of a wooden trailer pulled by cattle.
This man (Peter) had a severe burn on his left leg covering from thigh to knee that had happened two weeks prior to us getting there. It was too much to move him so we assisted him by standing around the trailer, heat beating down on everyone. A few people were tending to the burn while the rest of us helped gather water and towels to keep him cool and holding his hand while he cried in pain.
He had been living like this for two weeks and sleeping on a dirt floor unable to move, No way of traveling the distance it would take to get the medical help he needed.
After an hour of treating his wound, praying over his body and helping ease the pain..realizing his wound was more than we could handle we loaded him into the one vehicle we had and assisted him to the nearest hospital where we made sure he was admitted and cared for.
It has been almost 2 weeks since then, and Peter is doing much better now. released from the hospital after 1 week and now back home in recovery.
Praise GOD!
