Rambling Post

It’s been a busy few days Kibogora.  

Three days ago, a mama came to the hospital in labor, and delivered twins.  One was completely healthy, but the other was born with spina bidida and other problems. Either his fontanel didn’t close correctly, or he has hydrocephalus.  In a world where people can barely afford to support healthy children, having one with a life changing disability is extremely challenging. 

I wonder how I would handle such a challenge?  The mom is devastated. During one visit, I awkwardly brought her a plastic stretchy bracelet that said “COURAGE” on it, and a little stuffed animal for the baby.  I felt utterly foolish offering such worthless gifts in an effort to be some encouragement to her.  What good does a Beanie Baby do when you’ve just found out your child will be severely handicapped his whole life, or that he may not live at all? 

The parents are now trying to decide whether to have surgery on the child - the chances aren't good at all for the surgery - 70% of the time, the surgery doesn't even have a good outcome when done in a hospital in the States.  

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit." ~ Psalm 34:18

I hope in the midst of her stay at Kibogora, this mom will experience the comforting presence of Christ. 

********

Later that morning, 

we hosted the hospital's once every two months “oldies” meeting from 9 am to noon.  This is a worship service and social services event for the senior citizens in the area.  

Our oldest guest - 96 years young! 

Some ladies and gentlemen walk 4 and 5 hours to make this meeting.  This means they start walking about 4 a.m.!  The minimum age?  80 years old.  Our oldest guest was 96.  To get in, the people have to show their national i.d. cards, so we can fairly admit them according to age.  About 100 people were admitted, and about 200-300 were left outside, disappointed.  We sang some songs for them, they reciprocated by singing - and dancing - for us, and then Maconna, the chaplain, preached a short message.

Chaplain/Pastor Wocona, with Dave and Naomi,
an adorable newlywed couple who are serving here
 for 3 months as volunteer missionaries
from England.  

Some of the bags of beans given to the
"oldies" group members.

  Afterwards, there was tea and bread for everyone, and as they were dismissed, each guest was given 1 kilo of rice, 1 kilo of beans, 1 kilo of salt and a bar of soap.  Not exactly a full basket of groceries – but I guess something is much better than nothing.  They were thankful. 

Ruthie decorating a young patient's crutches.  

Sometimes, when people are so very thankful for so little, it makes me feel terrible.  How can one be so thankful when he has nothing?  (And when I say nothing, I mean it.)  How can you be so joyful when you walked since 4 a.m. over rocky roads, on your 80 year old bare feet, to get here and be given 1 kilo of rice and beans and salt?  These are people who walk hunched over, using a walking stick (in the USA they’d have those nice walkers with tennis balls on the bottom), and many of them can hardly see.  They’re OLD.  I’m talking really old, not just what our kids think is old (they think we are ancient!).

I find my old answers for the world just don’t fit anymore.  I don’t understand WHY there is so much poverty in most of the world, with seemingly no way out.    I really have no answers. 

Just before the “oldies” meeting, a friend of mine from around here asked me to take him to see Muganga Tim.  The day before, two of his fingers were caught in a wood working machine and twisted badly.  He was lucky they weren’t chopped off! The day before, he had seen Tim, who had sent him for an X-ray, where they determined he had broken those two fingers.   But before he could return to work, the protocol was that he get a signed note from the doctor (Tim, in this case), take it to the hospital secretary, pay his bill and have it stamped “paid”.  Tim was in surgery, and this man really needed to get his signature.  So, we walked over together and waited for him to have a break between cases.  We were able to find Tim pretty quickly, and headed with our signed paper to the secretary.  All of this part of the proceedings was new to me.  The lady told how much he owed in Kinyarwandan, so of course I didn’t understand.  He told her he hadn’t realized it would be that much, and asked for a few minutes, so he could go and borrow some extra money from his friend who works in one of the nearby dukas (stores).  

When he left, I asked the lady how much he owed on his bill.  She told me his total bill was 300.  

“300 what?”  I asked.  “Dollars?” 

She looked at me like I was the dumbest Muzungu (foreigner/white person) she’d ever seen, and said, “No, 300 Rwandan francs.”

I was dumbfounded.  300 francs?  That equals exactly 50 cents in US Dollars – the exact same amount I pay for a Coke here.  Quickly, I paid his bill and had it all ready and stamped when he got back.  The man was so shocked when he realized the bill was paid in full, and he could go return the money he had borrowed.  He must have told me "murikoze" (thank you) at least 10 times.   Again, the guilt and astonishment I felt as he kept thanking me for something that was truly “nothing” for me to do, just made me cringe. 

I keep trying to comfort myself at times like this by remembering Jesus words, “Even a cup of cold water given in my name……”.   

People write us all the time and say they admire us for being here, but I can tell you, it is our privilege to be here.  It is a wonderful thing to be somewhere where the smallest thing you do is a gift, and can improve someone’s life.  It is almost like going strawberry picking in Medina at Adam’s Apples or in Fredericksburg, when the season first starts.  There are berries everywhere!  You don’t even need to look – just reach out and pick.  That’s how it feels here.  There are needs everywhere you look, and anything and everything you do is appreciated and helpful. 

This afternoon, a baby was born here who is 710 grams.  710 grams?  That's a tiny baby.  I don't have a picture, but here is a picture of what 710 grams looks like from my kitchen pantry:  

This is how big 710 grams is......

Update written this morning:  The 710 gram baby girl died during the night.  :(  So sad, and yet ..... she is HOME.  She is in the arms of Jesus ~ so why is it so sad that she didn't make it?  We're all missing home more than usual the last couple days - how good, I suppose, that this precious baby girl is really, finally, HOME.  

*******

We do miss our earthly home, especially this past week, when we've been a tad under the weather with a little cold/virus thing.  We miss our quaint town, where the green Guadalupe river runs through the center, with ducks swimming in its waters who always happily gobble up any pieces of stale bread visitors want to throw their way, where the boys in our neighborhood tramp all around the hills of the golf course, catching lizards and riding bikes, where we can see each day's glorious sunrises and sunsets from our backyard and front porch, and where almost every single night, we can see the Milky Way and about a million other stars, where we can walk in our 
H-E-B grocery store and load up a whole cart with H-E-B Buddy Brand White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese (Sam's input there!), purchase a delicious cup of coffee from the snack bar section near the deli, buy a beautiful bouquet of flowers or brightly colored balloons for someone at Peterson Hospital, or sample the gourmet meal of the day at the kitchen station while visiting with a friend - or two or three - that we bump into while shopping, and catch up on the local news or how her children are doing.  I miss our church services and sermons that I can understand, and I miss hearing our choir sing a beautiful anthem each week and hearing Sabrina play the piano or organ.  We all miss meeting Gaga and Papa at our favorite restaurant (Rails) and enjoying something scrumptious - topped with a chocolate volcano dessert - every single time we go.  Most of all, I miss Hannah, who is an ocean and more away from us, and Stephen, who is a couple African countries away, more than I can even express with words.  

I'd better not go on, or I will just feel more homesick than we already are.  Yet, when I am walking down the rough, rocky, dirt roads of Kibogora, seeing all the smiling faces and saying "Maramutsa" (good morning) or "Amakuru" (How are you?) or answering another with "MaramutsaHO" (good morning to you, too) or "Nimeza, Namwe?" (I'm well, and how are you?) - I think:  How can I whimper to myself of all I miss?  I've had such a good life for 47 years - I've had all I ever needed or wanted.  Is it so much to give up my wants and what I miss for such a short time, that these people can have a small part of the medical care that I have always taken for granted for myself and for my children?  Is it too much to give up a Mocha Frappe and looking at the star filled sky for a year (it is very hazy here, so we don't see many stars here, even though we are in the country) so I can share what I know of the One who knows them each by name, and values and loves them eternally, just as He loves me? 

I used to feel frustrated at and marvel that the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 could have made such a foolish choice to walk away from Jesus and His offer to leave what he had and follow Him.  Now I know, and feel sorry for him.  He made the wrong choice, but I can see how the comfort and enjoyment of this world's luxuries and gifts can hinder a person from being able to trust that God's ways are truly richer and fuller still than anything this world can offer.  It is one thing to sing one of my favorite songs about this very topic (lyrics written below); it is another to really live it.  I am finding myself surprisingly challenged - and humbled that it is a challenge for me to live out what I've proclaimed for many years.    

Love of this life and all its trappings can easily be a blinder to the better, brighter, deeper and more joyful gifts of following Jesus and His Way.  I pray that God will remove my blinders, remove that love and trust in the mundane, temporal, earthly things that I *think* (wrongly) will give me life, help me to walk away from all I mistakenly yearn for, and replace that with a stronger yearning for Him Alone, and for His Way, which is the only place anyone finds real life.  

I'd rather have Jesus

Rhea F. Miller, 1922

1. I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
   I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
   I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
   I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand
   • Refrain:
     Than to be the king of a vast domain
     And be held in sin’s dread sway;
     I’d rather have Jesus than anything
     This world affords today.
2. I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
   I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
   I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame;
   I’d rather be true to His holy name
3. He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
   He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb;
   He’s all that my hungering spirit needs;
   I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead

In the Palm of His Hand

by: The Allison Kraus & Cox Family

If I could have the world and all it owns
A thousand kingdoms, a thousand thrones
If all the earth were mine to hold
With wealth my only goal

I'd spend my gold on selfish things
Without the love that Your life brings
Just a little bit more is all I'd need
'Til life was torn from me

I'd rather be in the palm of Your hand
Though rich or poor I may be
Faith can see right through the circumstance
Sees the forest in spite of the trees
Your grace provides for me

If I should walk the streets no place to sleep

No faith in promises You keep

I'd have no way to buy my bread

With a bottle for my bed

But if I trust the One who died for me

Who shed His blood to set me free
If I live my life to trust in You
Your grace will see me through

I'd rather be in the palm of Your hand
Though rich or poor I may be
Faith can see right through the circumstance
Sees the forest in spite of the trees

Your grace provides for me.

Jesus answered, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life."    - John 14:6

How many of us really believe that?  

(disclaimer: Sorry some of the lines didn't line up correctly in this post!  I tried to fix them, but they wouldn't cooperate!)