Monday, 2:15 A.M. - Thunder and lightning were flashing outside and the winds were beginning to howl as a storm blew in. Then came a knock on our bedroom door, waking us out of our sleep. Caralina said that Auntie Gertrude (one of the substitute house moms) was at her window calling for us.
Hopping out of bed, we discovered that one of the girls in her house, 7-year-old Chloe, was having an asthma attack and none of her inhalers were helping her. Chloe has asthma regularly and we have a slew of inhalers and a nebulizer for treatment. As I was putting on a pair of sweatpants to dash next door, the skies opened up in a downpour, so Amy grabbed a poncho for me too.
Arriving at the house, Chloe sounded horrible - reminding me of a similar asthma attack I had as a child. We gave her two puffs of the first inhaler, tried steaming water for her to breathe and gave a couple puffs on another inhaler with different meds in it. Nothing helped and she was miserable - coughing and straining to breathe so much.
Our fellow missionary, Claudia, was there as well and we decided that Chloe needed to get to the hospital. Claudia's car was having trouble - even after driving down to House 2A, it wouldn't start. It was about this time that the power went out, leaving the campus in total darkness from the storm. My car battery had gone dead a couple days earlier requiring us to push-start to go anywhere. Having parked on an incline, I was able to push-start my car alone, so we loaded Chloe in with Gertrude and headed off to Buikwe hospital, about 10 minutes away. Arriving around 3:45 a.m. the nurses quickly (though with little compassion, having been wakened from their own slumber) put in a pic line and administered four doses of medications. Chloe's breathing started calming immediately and then it returned to normal. They put her in a bed in the adult ward, since the children's ward was full. They had to move a non-patient out of the bed in order to make room for Chloe, just keeping her for observation.
The hospital guard came in about that time, asking me to go turn off my car. Knowing it wouldn't start again without pushing, I had locked the door and left it running in the parking lot! It was better than trying to find people to help push-start the thing through a muddy parking lot at 4:30 in the morning.
5:30 a.m. - Trekking back to GSF, I was grateful that the road wasn't too muddy after the rain and I climbed in bed for a little sleep before the roosters started crowing.
Chloe returned to GSF today and she is much better. Praise the Lord, who graciously guides us through every adventure here!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Tiny Rose
There are times when we experience things here and can't write about it right away simply because it takes the time to think about it and allow ourselves to internalize it. Honestly, I am still processing a situation that came to our attention on Monday but I feel I must write about it to actually process it more. We had a seven year old little girl come to the orphanage on Monday weighing less than 20 lbs. Rose was getting very little if any nourishment, stimulation or exercise. Her legs are crossed and her arms are very stiff. The story is that she was a typical baby and toddler until at 2 years old she got sick. She didn't get proper treatment so she became much of what she is now. Her mother ran off and her grandmother who shows affection for her has been caring for her. However, her grandmother's health is failing; therefore, so has Rose's condition. We are still trying to find out more about Rose and her story so we know best how to help her but as she is getting fed and exercised throughout the day she is getting stronger. On Monday and Tuesday, she was non-responsive and had a very blank look and a faint cry. By Wednesday, she was responding to sounds and voices and has continued to look and respond better everyday. My heart aches and emotionally it has been hard but God has her in a great place now where she will be loved, fed and nurtured. Please pray for tiny Rose as she blossoms into what God has for her. This picture was taken on Wednesday...
The picture below is of Rose on Friday with several new things to help her improve.
The physical therapist who comes every week told me we should try to get a special pillow made for her to help her sit up. When I showed him a picture of a boppy pillow, he said "exactly!" I took the picture and some fabric to our tailor at the orphanage and he made this for her within a day. One of the nurses from the team who was here, suggested we keep shoes on her and put gauze in her hands to help them open up.
The picture below is of Rose on Friday with several new things to help her improve.
The physical therapist who comes every week told me we should try to get a special pillow made for her to help her sit up. When I showed him a picture of a boppy pillow, he said "exactly!" I took the picture and some fabric to our tailor at the orphanage and he made this for her within a day. One of the nurses from the team who was here, suggested we keep shoes on her and put gauze in her hands to help them open up.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Greensboro Medical Team Makes Impact at GSF
The Christ Community Church Team from Greensboro, NC saw over 800 patients and had more than 70 make decisions for Christ. We also brought in two new special needs kids who were in desperate situations as a result. There were many people sent to the hospital for tests and even surgeries at the expense of the team. This outreach may have literally saved the lives of a couple of them. We are rejoicing over all that God has done through this team and He has expanded the ministry of GSF at the same time. Praise the Lord!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Heaven had a party
Rejoice with us and the angels in Heaven! This sweet girl, Patricia, gave her heart to Jesus on Sunday. For about 6 months, she has been telling us that she is not a Christian so we have been praying for God to work in her heart. After hearing a Sunday school lesson based on John 3 and the comparison of the Israelites looking to the serpent that was lifted up and the Son of man being lifted up, she decided she wanted to look to Jesus. Praise God with us and ask God to help us as we disciple her. Pray with us for other children who are searching also. Mark and I are both planning on speaking with several even today who are wanting to know more.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Before and After
When we came for our exploratory visit in September of 2007, a little boy, named Solomon, was brought to the orphanage. He was 14 months old and weighed less than 12 lbs. We took the first picture the day that Solomon arrived at GSF. The second picture was taken a few days ago. He is a sweet little boy who gives sheepish grins and is always ready to be picked up and loved. Praise God that Solomon is a thriving little boy!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
We prayed for a miracle
On January 25 we wrote about baby Catherine who had multiple heart defects, including a hole in her 2-month-old heart. There was no hope given for surgery to be done here in Uganda. We prayed for a miracle and, we have to believe, a miraculous healing was received.
Catherine's mother gave her life to Christ - what greater miracle is there than the gift of salvation?! Soon after, our Directors had a group of doctors in North Carolina willing to donate their services to perform the necessary surgery in the USA. GSF called upon Samaritan's Purse (Children's Heart Project) and the US Embassy for help with logistics. The roadblock: no hospital was found that would accept the charitable case which would potentially incur over a million dollars in hospital costs alone.
We continued to pray for a miracle and, we have to believe, that it was miraculous for baby Catherine and her mother to keep coming to church every week. Many people in Uganda and the USA were praying.
We prayed for a miracle and, we have to believe, it was received at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 8 when baby Catherine, having spent 2 days in critical condition in a local hospital, went to be with the Lord. Her heart is forever healed and she is in the arms of Jesus.
Please keep praying for baby Catherine's family, for her mother to hold fast to her new faith in Christ and for a local community (being grateful for all that GSF tried to do) to be drawn to Jesus all the more. Thank you for praying with us.
Catherine's mother gave her life to Christ - what greater miracle is there than the gift of salvation?! Soon after, our Directors had a group of doctors in North Carolina willing to donate their services to perform the necessary surgery in the USA. GSF called upon Samaritan's Purse (Children's Heart Project) and the US Embassy for help with logistics. The roadblock: no hospital was found that would accept the charitable case which would potentially incur over a million dollars in hospital costs alone.
We continued to pray for a miracle and, we have to believe, that it was miraculous for baby Catherine and her mother to keep coming to church every week. Many people in Uganda and the USA were praying.
We prayed for a miracle and, we have to believe, it was received at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 8 when baby Catherine, having spent 2 days in critical condition in a local hospital, went to be with the Lord. Her heart is forever healed and she is in the arms of Jesus.
Please keep praying for baby Catherine's family, for her mother to hold fast to her new faith in Christ and for a local community (being grateful for all that GSF tried to do) to be drawn to Jesus all the more. Thank you for praying with us.
I don't ever want to drive a taxi in Kampala
Last week Titus and I (Mark) went to Kampala to renew my passport at the Embassy. I also needed a new battery for our car, so I asked one of our mechanics where we could find one in the city. After stopping at the embassy, we headed toward the part of town where we might find the auto store.
Our challenges began when we came upon a stoplight where the police were not allowing vehicles to move from our direction. I eventually turned off the car, as many others had done while we waited for 15 minutes. I'm sure they had a good reason to hold us up, but we never saw what it was.
The auto store was on a one way street where we had never been. So we had to navigate through a market area to reach the far end of the street, not knowing exactly where on that street the store was located. En route, we ended up winding through narrow streets, avoiding masses of people, bicycles, parked cars and even a huge pool of muddy water that would have swallowed us whole had we not been in a 4WD! I have never seen so many people in one place in this country.
Titus was being great, but the congestion was wearing on us and it became increasingly difficult to figure out where we were on the map. Abandoning all hope of finding the street, much less the auto store, we turned our efforts towards finding a way of escape from this part of the city. We were obviously in the central market and taxi park area. Choices ranged between sitting in traffic vs. driving away from the direction we wanted to go. Which object will move first - the disabled man in a wheelchair bike or the huge bus sitting inches to his left? Would we prefer a faster route of escape behind the truck belching black exhaust, or the "cleaner air" behind the immobile fruit cart?
Twisting this way, then that way, we ended up at a complete standstill behind some taxi vans. Taxis usually have ways of navigating around anything, so I had followed the flow of traffic with them. After sending a text message to Amy asking her to pray that we would be released from this black hole in central Kampala, a man walked up and told us that we were sitting in the line to enter the main taxi park in the middle of the city - that is why we weren't moving. The lane of traffic on our right was moving only slightly faster than we who were totally parked, but another man began directing us to move to that lane. We had to go forward and back by inches, literally, because the traffic was so tight all around us. Finally we got a nose into the other lane and they stopped a bus (a miraculous feat by itself) to let us ease into the right lane.
After creeping along with less and less leeway between the vans on our left and the sidewalk posts on our right (in fact, we left the bus behind because he was too wide to make it through) we finally broke into the open road beyond the taxi park. No sooner had we managed this, then I looked up and... Lo and behold, there was the auto store we were looking for!! I pulled into an open parking space on the street and we went in an got our battery. Success!
Only by the grace of God. I say it again, "Only by the grace of God."
Our challenges began when we came upon a stoplight where the police were not allowing vehicles to move from our direction. I eventually turned off the car, as many others had done while we waited for 15 minutes. I'm sure they had a good reason to hold us up, but we never saw what it was.
The auto store was on a one way street where we had never been. So we had to navigate through a market area to reach the far end of the street, not knowing exactly where on that street the store was located. En route, we ended up winding through narrow streets, avoiding masses of people, bicycles, parked cars and even a huge pool of muddy water that would have swallowed us whole had we not been in a 4WD! I have never seen so many people in one place in this country.
Titus was being great, but the congestion was wearing on us and it became increasingly difficult to figure out where we were on the map. Abandoning all hope of finding the street, much less the auto store, we turned our efforts towards finding a way of escape from this part of the city. We were obviously in the central market and taxi park area. Choices ranged between sitting in traffic vs. driving away from the direction we wanted to go. Which object will move first - the disabled man in a wheelchair bike or the huge bus sitting inches to his left? Would we prefer a faster route of escape behind the truck belching black exhaust, or the "cleaner air" behind the immobile fruit cart?
Twisting this way, then that way, we ended up at a complete standstill behind some taxi vans. Taxis usually have ways of navigating around anything, so I had followed the flow of traffic with them. After sending a text message to Amy asking her to pray that we would be released from this black hole in central Kampala, a man walked up and told us that we were sitting in the line to enter the main taxi park in the middle of the city - that is why we weren't moving. The lane of traffic on our right was moving only slightly faster than we who were totally parked, but another man began directing us to move to that lane. We had to go forward and back by inches, literally, because the traffic was so tight all around us. Finally we got a nose into the other lane and they stopped a bus (a miraculous feat by itself) to let us ease into the right lane.
After creeping along with less and less leeway between the vans on our left and the sidewalk posts on our right (in fact, we left the bus behind because he was too wide to make it through) we finally broke into the open road beyond the taxi park. No sooner had we managed this, then I looked up and... Lo and behold, there was the auto store we were looking for!! I pulled into an open parking space on the street and we went in an got our battery. Success!
Only by the grace of God. I say it again, "Only by the grace of God."
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