Top Ten Encounters: Week 9

1)      Karen arrived! One of my best friends from school joined me on Sunday. She will be here for the next three weeks with me. We get to tour Paris together on our way home. I have never been so happy to see her bright smiling face!

2)      Stargazing. As we stood looking at the stars one night the power clicked off and Karen and I were amazed at how many stars appeared in the utter darkness. I have never seen so many stars in my life. There ain’t no night sky like an Africa night sky!

3)      Chasing the sunset. Karen and I were out walking one night and when we turned to return home we faced a gorgeous sunset. We enjoyed watching the colors play over the horizon and once again marveled at the beauty of creation!

4)      Saw my first patients! Two little girls were brought to the compound for us to do follow up on the malnutrition treatment they had been given by the last med team in early June. The first little girl had gained weight and was looking healthy as far as malnutrition goes. However, large open sores covered all over her body besides her head. Karen and I grabbed a medical book I found with the supplies and managed to confidently diagnose the little girl with staph infection. We were able to give her some creams to help until the team gets here next week. It was so crazy that although we have very limited medical knowledge we were the ones who could help her most right now. Few people here would take their children into the hospital for staph infection because it is so prevelant it is just a normal part of life. So dangerous! But just normal.

Our second patient was a little 2 yr old girl who looked so so sick. She had a fever of 105! We also recognized the same sores on her legs and arms meaning she had staph as well. We gave her some tyelnol to help with the fever and sent her to the hospital. We heard word that she was treated for malaria, malnutrition, staph, and several other things I cannot remember. It was so scary because if we hadn’t told her family to bring her to us she may not have been taken to the hospital at all. She had been sick like that for days before we saw her. Those little eyes filled with fever just about made me cry. It puts even fuel in the fire in me to become a physician and one day help these children.

5)      Cleaned glasses. Lions club donated a couple of suitcases of eyeglasses to shattering darkness a few years ago and Karen and I have spent hours cleaning them and getting them ready to hand out next week when the team comes. There are hundreds of them! Please pray we find people with matching percriptions so everyone who needs a pair will get one!

6)      Sunrise. Very early Tuesday morning I woke up and felt God nudging me to go outside. I peeked out the window and saw the beginnings of a gorgeous sunrise. I grabbed my Bible and had  a wonderful time reading and watching the sunrise it seems God created especially for me that morning.

 

7)      Sleeping in. Karen and I slept in until 9am on Wednesday! It is offically the latest I have slept in the entire summer. I must say I’m looking foward to a few lazy mornings at home before school starts again.

8)      Demon possesion. During a prayer meeting we watched as a woman exited the back of the church. She lifted her palms face up to the sky like she was praying. Suddenly it looked as though somone pushed her straight down and she fell to her butt. Immediately she layed down and began thrashing around. Several church members held her down so she wouldn’t hurt herself. I was sitting near the back of the church where she was and at one point she looked right in my direction and let out the most eerie shriek I have ever heard. Her eyes no longer looked like a humans and her face was completely contorted. I have always believed that people can become demon possed but after seeing it today I have zero doubt. Science can’t explain what I saw today. But the Bible does.

9)      Largest tree ever! This week we visited a church leader who was in the hospital and prayed for her. Right outside of the hospital is the LARGEST tree I have ever seen! I wish I knew what kind. I will upload pictures of it later. Once again I marvel at God’s awesome creation.

10)    The love of Jesus. This week in so many ways God has revealed His love for me and for everyone on earth. It is odd for me to say this was one of my top ten encounters because I have known it since I was three and reminded of it every day. But my Jesus has practically been shouting it at me this week and being reminded of His great love and how it defines who I am truly changes me.  I hope that you encounter His love this week too!