OK, sorry about not keeping up very well with the blog! I missed yesterday. We are shifting gears a little bit this week. We are all finding our footing and breaking off working in different departments of the clinic. In the meanwhile we are still responsible for doing some of the lectures, prayers, devotionals while here, so Becca and Sherri have been hard at work today with health talk for the staff meeting friday, Jeff and Ty wrapped up Celebrate Recovery training today... go CR!!! I personally have to say to here leaders of the area talking about ways to reach the people of Jos through CR touches my heart, some of the guys are even talking about a mens conference already. Awesome. We are still scheduled to work with another local school as well, and some things around the clinic.
Personally I went on home visits today with Becca and Sherri. We followed up on 2 patients from last week. They were both doing better. In total we visited with 5. Think about it... you know you have AIDS, the local government run hospital discharged you because they do not want to treat you, some of your family no longer cares for you, you have nothing to eat on most days, you sleep on a thin mattress on the floor next to a rotting garbage can, your room has no ventilation, the sewer runs 2 feet from your front door, and flows into the river out back which you drink out of, bathe in, and wash your clothes in. And God is so merciful that the design of the body he created actually has the resiliency to still respond to the emergency meds they give these people. Most rebound, when proper nutrition, and healthy habits are applied to their lives.
What sticks out is Lydias voice... BROKEN, SCRATCHY, WEAK, HUMBLE voice barely having enough strength to talk, saying Thank you, over and over again as she lay on the ground extending her hand to touch us after we prayed for her. Thank you for what??? Praying for her??? Thats the least I can do!!! Thats all I knew to do!!! Yet she was so Thankful. She wasnt thankful because we were americans, christians, white, or because we prayed for her, I think she was thankful because we were just there. We came. We cared. We were present.
The problem is, I can promise you its not enough... LYDIA NEEDS A VOICE, AND TODAY GOD HAS MADE US THAT VOICE. WE WILL NEVER FORGET THE LYDIAS OF JOS.