The Lord is good! We did rounds this morning before church and saw some very sick people…but we saw so many more who were well enough to discharge! Also, my patient with the perforated intestine went to surgery a little while ago…I am praying that the surgery goes well and that he has a speedy recovery!
While on rounds, this elderly woman with high blood pressure was ready for discharge. We found a good combination of medications for her and she was safe to go home. She wanted to stay in the hospital though because we take good care of her…I told her that she could come back and see me in clinic in a week and she was ok with that. It felt so good to see the fruit of that relationship even though the only words that we could speak of one another’s language was “hello” and “thank you” which we said at the beginning and at the end of our chatting each day. I look forward to seeing her back in clinic!
We stopped in the middle of rounds to go to church…which was a 1 mile walk away in the hot sun and dusty road…my nice black shoes are now nicely covered in a layer of red dust…but that is ok. We were 30 minutes late for church…but they were still singing hymns in Mamprusi…I don’t know Mamprusi at all really, so I just made up some words like “God is mighty.” Over and over. It was great! People were dancing and praising God. The village chief stood up and thanked the church for helping with the recent burial of his daughter. Mothers were taking care of other children. It was incredible to see the communal perspective here.
I also enjoyed the message, which was in both English and Mamprusi. It was about Luke 9:57-62 where Jesus is talking about following Him…and that you cannot bury the dead, say good bye to your household, or look back to your previous life. The preacher told us that we must all be ready to share Christ and that we must be a Christian and growing in our relationship with Christ before we can truly serve Him as Jesus commands. It was definitely a good reminder to make sure Christ is the center of our lives!
After church, I ate lunch with the other volunteers, then went back to the hospital. There is a woman who is very sick, almost comatose, and we do not know what is wrong with her. She is on lots of antibiotics and we have limited tests available. I’m praying that she gets better regardless of the cause of her illness.
I have to go, one of the missionary kids here wants me to hunt birds with a slingshot. We will see how this goes lol!
Thanks so much for praying! Words cannot describe how much it means to me. I can definitely feel God’s presence daily as I do things I never thought possible…and as people are healed in ways that are unimaginable. Please continue to pray for wisdom while treating complicated diseases with limited resources, good rest (I’m still recovering from jet lag), and for my team to be well (another member has a GI bug now). Please pray that it stops with her and that she feels better quickly! I am praying that each of you too can see and experience God in ways like never before. He is there…I promise…we just have to be still enough to hear and see Him work.
Kristen