Vivid sights: beggars in markets, cripples crawling in the dust using flip-flops on the hands to move along, orphans, checkpoints with soldiers, 4 month old twins the size of newborns. Dust. Children in rags, stores with just a few items. The picture above? yeah, skulls with bullet holes including skulls of children. Many memorials observed like this around the villages. Can you imagine?
Food: cooked bananas, maize and pineapple, sugar cane.
smells: latrines, smoke in the air and the taste of smoke in the water.
different: no running water, some nights no electricity. Nurses make $10 a month.
Our work was immunizing children. Frustrations: using same syringe and just changing needle, running out of gas so no work, conflict with Africans way of doing things. Hard part was inflicting pain on the little ones with the needle. One day after completion we reloaded the syringes with water and sprayed the children. We passed out stickers and balloons. Let the children smile.
One memory lingers all these decades later. 20 children in a circle listening to me tell them a Bible story (memory foggy here but probably David) with Thomas giving translation. Thomas completed the time with prayer and telling me all the children wanted Jesus in their heart.
Danger: taking a walk and 2 soldiers stopped to talk to us and pulled out a grenade. Despite the language barrier knew something was off with these guys and happy to move past them.
One work day required a 2 hour drive and then a trip in an ancient wooden boat to cross the swamp. Oh yes, someone had to paddle but everyone had to keep bailing the water out because the boats leaked. After a 4 mile hike arrived. After immunizing the children had a feast of ma-toke and fresh fish from Victoria Lake.
Outcome: definitely received more then we gave. Out team immunized 4,500 children. Obedience. God is in Africa. God loves children!
God suffers with his little children.
Father, we pray for our hearts to be open to what you are doing.
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