Blood work and bad food

I woke up today and took Samba to get blood work. It sounds simple enough and we had gone to a clinic yesterday that said come back in the morning at 8 before she has anything to eat or drink to get blood work done. We arrive, wait in line to pay and then as we are walking over to the lab a patient says that they ran out of syringes and may not have any tomorrow either. Right, how does a lab run out of syringes? So I decide to go to the downtown hospital and the taxi drops us off in front of the lab building and we go in and grab a number, #351, and they are in the low 300s. After waiting for an hour or so, our number comes up and I go to give them the information and the lady tells me I need to pay first. Oh. I should have known that there was some other building like at the other clinic but it just was not that clear to me. She says I can go and pay and then come right back. I go to the other building and find out that the blood work will cost almost four times as much as the previous clinic and I don't have that amount with me and their credit machine does not work. I go get Samba and we end up going to a private clinic right near my house, that my team leader had mentioned to me when were waiting in line. They are a little cheaper and let me go home to get the money while Samba waits.

In the afternoon, Rhadijah, my neighbor girl below me comes up to help me water my garden and stays the afternoon to keep Samba company. She helps Samba communicate with me and explains things like she doesn't like how I cook eggs, etc. I'm finding it challenging knowing what to find for her to eat and have decided tonight to give up on trying to make things for her. A friend is coming tomorrow morning and is going to prepare food with Samba that she likes and let me know what to buy. It's a challenge taking care of someone from a different culture, who is not able to fully communicate with you. She is very sweet but I don't feel like I know how to love her and take care of her as I would like to. She likes writing, copying paragraphs out of books so I wrote out Psalm 23 for her to copy in French and then showed her other passages in the Bible. She wants to learn more about the Bible and I need to spend more time helping her learn. I realize I am used to people who have a basic grasp of the Bible and the stories. What does it mean to show someone the Bible and explain it to them for the first time? I feel ill prepared. Maybe tomorrow we will look at Genesis and creation.

I'm tired and want my freedom back, just to work without taking care of someone else. I thought she might be able to stay with family for the weekend, but they will be out of town. I know she is suppose to be with me. I need God's grace to get me through.

Samba

Today marks the third day in a row that I have gone to the doctor. No, I am not sick, I am perfectly healthy. Last month I was introduced to Sambatew in one of the villages I work in and learned her story and saw the open sores on her left leg. They have been there for three years and have become serious enough that she can longer go to school (She is 17 and stopped going after 5th grade). The doctor this morning told me that she has lost her circulation in left leg. Her x-rays show that the infection has reached her bone. She has been staying with me the past few days and I have learned just how independent I am and how it's hard looking after someone. It's been a humbling experience for me and I pray that God would give the wisdom and love to serve Him through this time. I would appreciate your prayers for Samba to heal from her infection and for her life to be complete in Christ. She does not know much at all about the Bible, but is very open and I think would like to know more.

Asking questions

When my return bus arrived this morning in the village it was packed full of people with only standing room left. The driver said they would get off at the main road several kilometers away so climb in. We drove down the road and every time the bus driver saw another person he waved for them to get in too. I really did not think there was room when I got in considering there was already a couple of people standing on the stairs going into the bus. I was given a makeshift seat next to the driver, but really there was no room, even the aisles had an extra seat built in and with all the kids on laps there could have been a hundred people at least over fifty. I tried not to think what would happen if there was an accident. One of our stops was at a market and one man got off dangling a lamb by its neck, and then I noticed other men dragging tied up sheep from the roof of the bus --- market day for the shepherds. Never boring going back to the city...

I went to the mission/national church leaders meeting on Thursday and then went with one of the pastor's to visit his two church plants. It was encouraging and disheartening. The pastor has been working with these churches for four years and three years ago started savings and loan groups with each of the churches which have been running successfully. The fund is for the development of the church but they said it is still too small for them to use it in any significant ways. They divide it up and then loan it to each member to generate interest. Two years ago, both of the churches had a joint week long business training seminar to examine potential income generating activities, but have still yet to receive any finances for projects. They opened an account at a credit mutual but after saving money for a few months were told there was no money for them to have a loan, so they withdrew their funds. The pastor explained to me that the church has suffered greatly because they have been promised a well or other funding but nothing has come about. For the one village the closest well is one and half kilometers away and they can spend hours just to fetch water.

I visited the second church in the evening and saw the progress of their church building being constructed and talked to church members. At the end of our visit after they shared with me all of their needs and desires for their church group, the deacon shared with the pastor that the masons working on the building needed food to have energy to finish up the church. They have nothing left to eat and the food from their harvest was finished in December. If they could have money for rice and oil for ten days then they could finish the work of the church.

Tonight my heart is heavy with their suffering, I question what is the best way to help. Would it just be better for the advancement and development of the churches, if I leave them the rest of my support money and return home? I'm not sure, and I have more to learn about all the churches before I can come to a conclusion. Until I know, I will continue asking questions and pray that God would make it clear.