Sarah

It was April 2009 that a team from North Carolina made their way to GSF to work, doing five intensive days of medical clinics with our surrounding villages. One of the nurses examined a lady in her late 20s to find out she had a very advanced case of breast cancer. She was in need of immediate medical help so she was referred to one of the hospitals in Kampala that could treat a case like this one. Her name is Sarah and up until that point she had not been able to seek medical help because of not having financial resources to do so. After visiting the hospital and confirming that GSF would take care of the finances of her treatment through our Mercy Ministry Fund she was scheduled to begin chemo & radiation treatments almost immediately. According to the doctors her cancer was a very aggressive type and chances of complete healing were small. Sarah and her husband and their 5 children, all under the age of 8, live in a small grass hut and sustain themselves with what they grow in their garden and are able to sell. To our surprise, the day of Sarah's appointment to be taken to the hospital came and she did not show.

Months later she did show up, but at this time she did not come alone but had a little bundle in her arms. Sarah had not known she came to the clinic that was pregnant despite her and her husband's efforts to avoid that. But God had other plans and her and her husband accepted the baby as a miracle from God. The baby girl only weighed around 4 pounds and she was going to need special care and nurture.

We took the baby in and gave her the name Amelia. Sarah was admitted in the hospital and went through her chemo and radiation treatments. With very little hope from the doctors she continued to fight this battle and always praised God for His goodness to her. She then had a mastectomy and the doctors admired her strength to persevere and determination to get well. The day of her surgery she was walking around the hospital. We were blessed to be able to help Sarah get the needed treatment and give hope to her and her family of being reunited again.

Early this year, Sarah came to GSF after the surgery and recovery to thank us for everything that we had done for her and her family. As we reminded her that the one she needed to be thankful to and give all the glory to was the Lord, she confessed that she did not know the Lord in the personal way we have been talking to her about and that she desired to know Him in that way. We were blessed with the honor to pray with Sarah to invite Jesus into her life and praised Him for not only bringing physical but also spiritual healing to her life.  Sarah did well for several months and was able to be reunited with her family and even come many times to see Amelia. 

This week, we got word that Sarah was not feeling well and had gone to the doctor for a check-up.  Unfortunately, the doctor told her that her cancer had spread and there was nothing else he could do.  He suggested that she go home and be as comfortable as possible.  Her husband came Wednesday morning to find out if we could help him go to Kampala to get Sarah and bring her home.  Claudia and others were trying to find a driver to take him when he got a phone call from Kampala.  Sarah had already died at the hospital in Kampala.  Claudia and Adam did the difficult task of taking him to Kampala to pick up his beloved.  Today, is the burial for Sarah, a wife and mother of 6 and a child of the KING.  Praise God with us for Sarah's salvation and for the year and a half God gave her after her initial diagnosis.  Pray with us for Sam, her husband's salvation.  There are also many questions left unanswered as to the future for this family.  Pray for God's glorious plan to be done and His name to be glorified.

-Much of this blog post was taken from our GSF newsletter in Feb 2010 written by fellow missionary, Claudia Arango