A helpless situation...

 Monday afternoon I went with two caregivers to visit a mother and daughter and give them BGR buckets.  As soon as we got to the house I recognized the young girl from a previous visit last July(see blog story on July 20th, 2012 if interested).  I remembered this young girl because even a year ago I felt so bad for her and the family situation.  This young girl had a stroke and is now paralyzed on the right side and can no longer talk.  This also make it hard on her to care for her 3 children and do simple tasks like cook and clean. On top of all these problems she is HIV positive.  She has a beautiful smile even though things seem grim.

  The caregiver picked her up and carried her into the house so we could give her a BGR bucket.  As we entered the small house it was very dark so it took my eyes a bit of time to adjust.  I turned to talk to the caregiver and noticed a very frail woman lying on the bed.  It was Regina the young girls mother who has been taking care of  this girl and her kids since the stroke.  Now, she lay in the bed, HIV positive, dehydrated, obviously hungry, and non responsive.  Who was cooking for this family?  Who was caring for them?  The answer I discovered was that this caregiver would come from time to time to help them and bring a little food if she had it but that was it.  There was no other family.  The neighbors didn't help either.  "Why Lord?" I asked myself.  How can you know someone who is suffering like this and do nothing?  They told me the neighbors don't have much either so they are not able to help.  This is their reality!  

 Regina and her caregiver

 

Itai explained the things in the bucket to the daughter while I brought out the other things from the other bucket for Regina.  I held them out for her to see but there was no response.  She just layed there staring out into space.  I felt so helpless!  What could I do?  When we finished giving the BGR buckets I asked if I could pray for them.  I got on my knees between the mother and daughter and held their hands and prayed for them.  Regina's hand was so cold and lifeless when I held it and I even thought she may have died but when I started to pray she closed her eyes. 

 

We walked outside and I immediately started tearing up.  What could we do?  I felt so helpless.   Realistically, I knew I couldn't go there every day and feed them but I knew I had to do something.  I gave the caregiver enough money to feed them for a week.  As we were leaving I couldn't help but think about these two women.  Even into the night I couldn't get them out of mind and I just continued to pray.  I had the hardest time trying to go to sleep because all I kept seeing in my mind was the look on Regina's face and the feel of her cold hand.  

The next morning the caregiver called and told me that she had bad news.  Regina had passed away during the night. 

 
What will happen to this young mother who has no one to care for her now?  What will happen to her children?  Will you please pray for her now?  

Answered Prayer

 Last Thursday I took one of our volunteers, Jeannie, out in the compound to visit a patient and give them a BGR bucket.  Esther and Itai, who are caregivers in this compound, went with  us.

Above: Jeannie, Esther, and Itai

 Amai Banda pays 80 kwacha/month to rent this room which is only about 5 ft by 8 ft.  She stays here with her sister who tries to take care of Amai Banda but she has to go for work each day leaving her behind to fend for herself.  Amai Banda is HIV positive and has not yet started her ARV's.  She has to go to a clinic first and do some testing before she can start.  She was complaining of headache, body/joint aches, and hunger when we went to visit her. We gave her the BGR bucket and explained the things in the bucket.  Since she can't walk she can't get up to fix food for herself during the day.

 She seemed to be a bit dehydrated so I showed her how to use the carmax for her lips.

 She was happy to receive these things even though she didn't smile.  

After giving her the bucket I shared my testimony and the gospel with her.  I found out that she was a Jehovah's Witness.  When I asked her if she wanted to receive Christ she said she just felt so bad could I please come back another time and finish talking.  So we prayed for her and left.  

Yesterday, I was able to go back and take some mealie meal and Kapenta for her.  She was still lying in the same bed as before but this time she had the nice new sheet on top of her which was in the bucket.  That made me smile!  However, she was still in a lot of discomfort just like she was last Thursday.  I was worried she would not want to continue our conversation.  When I brought it up again she said she was willing to talk some more.  I shared the gospel again and talked about how this decision was not to be taken lightly and that it was the most important decision she would ever make.  I asked if she would like to pray and ask Jesus into her heart and she said yes!  It was such a sweet few minutes as she prayed and asked God to forgive her of her sins!  Please continue to pray for Amai Banda.  She will not feel better until she gets on ARV's.  She can't walk, so getting to the clinic will be a problem unless you have a friend with a truck. :) Hoping I can be a blessing to her later this week by taking her to the clinic.

Prayer Request

Thursday afternoon I went out to visit a woman who is HIV positive and has not yet begun taking ARV's.  We took a BGR bucket to her and shared Christ.  We found out she is a Jehovah's Witness.  When I asked her if she had ever repented of her sins and received Christ she said she had not.  She wanted to do that but said she felt so bad and asked if we could come back another time.  The patient is in the background of the above picture.  You can see how she is sitting as she tried to hold her head up because of the pain she was in and just not feeling well.  I'll be going Monday afternoon again. Please pray this woman will feel well enough to talk again and that she will pray to receive Christ.  I'll post pictures later and update you after I have been.

A visit to a local orphanage

 We also visited Breath of Heaven orphanage which two of our friends are helping with.

 playground

 Tilapia Farm

 The orphanage has 45 kids right now but will soon be getting more.  Today they were having relay races.

 

 Michael raced too!

 Jeannie with a few of the kids.

 Houses that the kids live in.

 Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying the playground.

Please pray for these kids to come to know Jesus at an early age.  Pray that those who are running the orphanage will show the love of Christ as they live each day with these kids. 

Feeding over 500!

 Jeannie stayed behind in Lusaka with us while the rest of the team went to Livingston.  Thursday morning we went to Needs Care School in Ng'ombe compound and helped serve the kids their porridge.  This community school provides porridge for over 500 kids each day.  For some it is the only meal they will receive all day.  You'll also see kids only eating a bit and then saving the rest to take home to share with their family. 

Jeannie

 There were two big pots of porridge.  Jeannie is adding a whole bag of sugar in it.

 We took turns stirring.  It is very tiresome to stir such a big pot!

 Some of the kids watching and waiting.

 Hannah

 The kids from one grade form a line.  After they get their food another class comes out to get theirs.

 They get one full cup of porridge.

 I have helped with this in the past and noticed that some of the kids ate with rulers or pencils.  This time they all had plastic spoons which they collect and wash for the next time.  

 Also, at the school there are two ladies busy making uniforms for the students.  This woman can make a sweater so fast!

This one is making the shirts.

 While we were taking a tour of the school and clinic Hannah was being followed around by several kids.  She stopped to play a game with them.

 Jeannie and my friend Esther

 Cleaning the pots take some time!

 It was such a joy to take Jeannie out for two days!

Receipts are in!

Praise God! The end of May closes the books on the 2012-13 Lottie Moon receipts. Our total of $149,276,303.72 is a $2.44m increase over last year, making this the third largest offering in our history. We are profoundly grateful for this 1.67% increase in giving. We keep getting closer to our $175m goal each year.  Thank you so much for all who gave sacrificially to this offering!  Please continue giving this year in your churches so that more missionaries can be appointed to serve among the unreached and unengaged peoples of Africa.

Watch your tongue!

The bible says we should be careful with our words.  Life and death are in the power of the tongue.    In the book of James he warns us that the tongue is something that is hard to control and when it gets out of control it can be as destructive as fire(James 3:5-6).  

Let's pray about how we use our tongue today!