A few of you might have heard …………….. Little J is now officially an African. Last week proved to be a very testing and trying time, as she had what we thought was malaria. We think we have come out stronger and wiser for the experience, but would not want to go there again!!!!!
Little J had symptoms of malaria which lasted for seven days. It lasted this long because she refused to take the medication – even after holding her down and pouring it in with a syringe. She has proved to be a headstrong and determined patient and we have gone through some very, very long nights. We have told her being headstrong and determined are good traits, but not at this age when she cannot be reasoned with. She eventually went through (or was bathed by) a whole bottle (100mls) of Calpol, 2 regimes of anti-malarial (for treatment) and countless number of paracetamol tablets. She is now battling an upper respiratory tract infection, which we are sure will pass without ill effect (she is being ‘bathed’ with antibiotics). It was a very different experience, but one which we have learnt many lessons, of which we will try to share:
- God is in control at all times, especially when it seems so unlikely
- Family ties need to be maintained at all cost – they are the ones you may need to call in the middle of the night for reassurance, advise and prayer!!!!!!!
- Never, ever think the devil is in control. Superstitious people may say or suggest this, but the God we serve is larger and stronger than all the superstitions.
- Hold on to the promises of God esp. when exhausted from the battle and the night seems longer than normal.
- Live a moment at a time – trying to think of the next task/ challenge ( which may never come) will only prove to wear you down more
- Parenthood is the most challenging but rewarding profession that one can undertake. Parents need to be proud of our status and embrace it with an open heart – God is there with us every step of the way. We are special people!!!!!!
We became stronger as a family through this trial, and now I understand what the Bible says about trials leading to perseverance and perseverance to character, and character
hope etc.( Romans 5 v 3,4). Only trials can make us stronger in Christ.
We have tested our degree of integration in the Nixon community. So many people have prayed for us on so many different occasions and on a particular day, the whole school population that attended the chapel service that morning walked to our house to pray for Little J and us. It was touching and moving. We felt a part of a large family, and we will never ever have to wonder what they think of us. We are no longer outsiders.
We have also tested the health provision here. We were blessed and pleased to have the choice and advise of 3 doctors (all Sierra Leoneans but with different specialities – one a GP based in England working with us for a short period). They were accessible even late at night and we realised we are in a relatively better position than if we were in London – no GP would have left his house to visit a sick (feverish) child. We would have had to wait until morning to make an appointment, or bundled her up and rush to the A&E in the cold night. We counted our blessings even more when we were reminded that one can get sick anywhere, but it seems Nixon is the place to be when malaria strikes!
Now we are well (a bit tired and also battling the symptoms of ? flu). We are slowly getting back in the routine of things. We are reminded this can happen again – and we will have to start to use our mosquito repellents more often. The consolation is that if it strikes again, the symptoms should not be so intense, as the body would have the memory to fight. We are hoping this will not be for a very, very long time.
Prayer warriors, please help us to thank God for Little J’s health. Now she needs to start eating better to increase in strength. Pray for the blood of Jesus to cover us all wherever we are. Pray for our doctors and nurses to continue to use discretion and wisdom in their daily consultations. Pray also for us to have discretion, wisdom and strength to continue the mission journey.
We miss you all, but know that God is with us all. We are connected because of His blood and we feel we have ‘… the peace of God which passes all understanding….’ (Phil. 4 vs. 7)
With God’s richest blessings,
Michael, Joanna and Little J
Monday 25 February 2008
Monday 18 February 2008
Another Milestone – We are Mobile
No, not that irritant that makes one accessible to everyone irrespective of location or time of day. Instead, I mean our outreach mobile clinic, which is now operational. Praise God!!!
The beginning of February marked another chapter in the ‘life’ of Nixon Hospital. The hospital re-started its outreach programme to surrounding areas after a 17-year break. Nixon Hospital previously used to run a number of outposts before the civil war. It was a vital service to the communities that the hospital served at the time. It was another way of making the hospital’s services available to a greater percentage of the population. In a country where road and communication networks are very rudimentary, access to health care can be very difficult and mobile services are usually one of the best options for reaching the public.
Also, another doctor has joined us albeit for a 6-month period, but this has increased the number of doctors to 3. In a country where the flow of medical personnel is ‘out’ rather than ‘in’ this is a welcome addition. The new doctor, who is a native of this country, has taken to the task like ‘duck to water’ even though he has been based abroad in the UK for the past 27 years where he practised most of his medicine. We are really grateful to God for the additional resource and help that he has brought to the hospital. This is because his presence makes running the mobile clinic less taxing on our present doctors.
The clinics are running presently in only two villages and our plan is to extend that to about 10 more by the end of the year depending upon availability of both financial and human resources. Our prayer is that God would open the windows of heaven and provide us with financial resources to enable us achieve this objective. Prayer warriors, please kindly make this a prayer point.
We have also had a bit of bad news. The handle on the only well that provides the hospital with good drinking water was damaged due to overuse. We are therefore without drinking water within the hospital campus but praise God there are other sources in town. It is however imperative that it gets repaired as soon as possible since the surrounding community depends on the well for good drinking water. Our major problem is finding the financial resources to repair the handle. Again, we are trusting the Lord for His provision because repairing the well would mean diverting badly needed resources that otherwise would have been used for looking after the patients. Our hope and trust is in the Lord. Please pray for us as we have sent off an email to an international organisations asking for financial help to repair the well.
As we go about our daily activities at Nixon, we are challenged every day to live as Christ would and to make decisions which can be both emotionally and professionally taxing. How do you deal with difficult and sometimes life threatening medical conditions when the patients have no ability to pay the medical bill, albeit a very small fee? Nevertheless, in all of this God has shown us His faithfulness when we have trusted Him to provide for us in such difficult times. As a mission hospital, our number one priority would be to show compassion and understanding and this sometimes means undertaking medical interventions even when we know that the patients may never be able to repay their medical bills. Saving lives through affordable and accessible medical care is our main objective and we thank God that despite some difficult cases we have not turned any patient away because of their inability to pay their bill.
For us as a family our lives are beginning to take on a regular pattern. We the adults leave for morning devotion at 7.30 am with the nursing students at the hospital chapel. Of late Little J has been waking up early – about 7 am and insists on going to chapel with us. Maybe this is just her way of spending as much time with us before we leave for our respective places of work – Michael to the office & Joey to the classroom. In respect of our daily routine, we are grateful to our house helpers who help us with Little J and with the house keeping, thereby enabling us to focus on our jobs here at the hospital. We consider this yet another blessing from God to have found very dedicated and trusty people to take care of our daughter and our home.
Little J is really flourishing and have made good friends here with some of the children on the campus. We have still not being able to find a teacher to help her with her development so mummy helps her with her alphabets and colour identification. She has recently taken a great deal of interest in trying to identify various colours. Presently the phrase ‘what colour this?’ is a constant one in our home.
Just to end I recall a recent devotional piece I read about how the efforts of one college student changed the lives of a whole family. This is because he showed compassion to one man which led to him and his family accepting Christ. This started a chain-reaction, which led to a change in the lives of a whole generation who dedicated their lives to Christ. The bible verse that talks about not despising the beginning of small things comes to mind. Our prayer is that God would find our work worthy to be used to touch the lives of others.
The beginning of February marked another chapter in the ‘life’ of Nixon Hospital. The hospital re-started its outreach programme to surrounding areas after a 17-year break. Nixon Hospital previously used to run a number of outposts before the civil war. It was a vital service to the communities that the hospital served at the time. It was another way of making the hospital’s services available to a greater percentage of the population. In a country where road and communication networks are very rudimentary, access to health care can be very difficult and mobile services are usually one of the best options for reaching the public.
Also, another doctor has joined us albeit for a 6-month period, but this has increased the number of doctors to 3. In a country where the flow of medical personnel is ‘out’ rather than ‘in’ this is a welcome addition. The new doctor, who is a native of this country, has taken to the task like ‘duck to water’ even though he has been based abroad in the UK for the past 27 years where he practised most of his medicine. We are really grateful to God for the additional resource and help that he has brought to the hospital. This is because his presence makes running the mobile clinic less taxing on our present doctors.
The clinics are running presently in only two villages and our plan is to extend that to about 10 more by the end of the year depending upon availability of both financial and human resources. Our prayer is that God would open the windows of heaven and provide us with financial resources to enable us achieve this objective. Prayer warriors, please kindly make this a prayer point.
We have also had a bit of bad news. The handle on the only well that provides the hospital with good drinking water was damaged due to overuse. We are therefore without drinking water within the hospital campus but praise God there are other sources in town. It is however imperative that it gets repaired as soon as possible since the surrounding community depends on the well for good drinking water. Our major problem is finding the financial resources to repair the handle. Again, we are trusting the Lord for His provision because repairing the well would mean diverting badly needed resources that otherwise would have been used for looking after the patients. Our hope and trust is in the Lord. Please pray for us as we have sent off an email to an international organisations asking for financial help to repair the well.
As we go about our daily activities at Nixon, we are challenged every day to live as Christ would and to make decisions which can be both emotionally and professionally taxing. How do you deal with difficult and sometimes life threatening medical conditions when the patients have no ability to pay the medical bill, albeit a very small fee? Nevertheless, in all of this God has shown us His faithfulness when we have trusted Him to provide for us in such difficult times. As a mission hospital, our number one priority would be to show compassion and understanding and this sometimes means undertaking medical interventions even when we know that the patients may never be able to repay their medical bills. Saving lives through affordable and accessible medical care is our main objective and we thank God that despite some difficult cases we have not turned any patient away because of their inability to pay their bill.
For us as a family our lives are beginning to take on a regular pattern. We the adults leave for morning devotion at 7.30 am with the nursing students at the hospital chapel. Of late Little J has been waking up early – about 7 am and insists on going to chapel with us. Maybe this is just her way of spending as much time with us before we leave for our respective places of work – Michael to the office & Joey to the classroom. In respect of our daily routine, we are grateful to our house helpers who help us with Little J and with the house keeping, thereby enabling us to focus on our jobs here at the hospital. We consider this yet another blessing from God to have found very dedicated and trusty people to take care of our daughter and our home.
Little J is really flourishing and have made good friends here with some of the children on the campus. We have still not being able to find a teacher to help her with her development so mummy helps her with her alphabets and colour identification. She has recently taken a great deal of interest in trying to identify various colours. Presently the phrase ‘what colour this?’ is a constant one in our home.
Just to end I recall a recent devotional piece I read about how the efforts of one college student changed the lives of a whole family. This is because he showed compassion to one man which led to him and his family accepting Christ. This started a chain-reaction, which led to a change in the lives of a whole generation who dedicated their lives to Christ. The bible verse that talks about not despising the beginning of small things comes to mind. Our prayer is that God would find our work worthy to be used to touch the lives of others.
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