Whatever you do for me…
Earlier this week, we were interviewing a social worker at the hospital, Aloys, about the community program he helps to organize and run. We are working together along with others to assess if the community program is continuing to meet the needs of the beneficiaries who are enrolled. I asked him how client needs are prioritized and met. He explained a few different ways including clients being given a chance to decide and to express their needs by their priority. And then he said, “We have a saying here, ‘Whatever you do for me, without me, you do against me.’” And I thought how relevant this saying was to our work in global health and our work as missionaries. God has given us opportunities again and again to partner, to compromise, to be patient, to learn, and we are always humbled to be called, along with others, into His work here.
What we are thankful for:
The internal medicine department is planning to move into the now repaired and refurbished old surgical building on Monday. With the construction of the new surgical building, the internal medicine building was torn down, and those patients were displaced to a wing of the pediatric building. Beds and patients have been cramped, and we are so thankful that they will get to move. Internal medicine and pediatric patients will both have much more space without sharing a building anymore. God amazed us by materializing the money, literally overnight, for repairs to be made through the generosity of friends and partners in Alabama at Christian Medical Ministry of South Alabama and University of South Alabama.
Work has started on a playground at the mission compound. We had a design drafted by an engineer who volunteered at Kibogora earlier this year. Once we received the proposed design, we were reviewing it with the mission manager, Betty, and she asked us, “Where are we going to get the money.” We shrugged. Two days later, we found out that there were extra funds from the internal medicine project that our friends in Alabama were designating for the playground. We hope this playground will be a space for children of mission staff, volunteers, and visitors to just be kids.
Neither of the hospital x-ray machines were working after the electrical fire due to a surge of electricity. This caused huge delays in patient care and was inconvenient for staff and patients. Both are working again thanks to coordination between the hospital and Free Methodist World Missions.
What we are praying for:
The local Free Methodist church is making a change to their service schedule this Sunday. They will be adding an early morning English service on top of their two services in Kinyarwanda. They will also be renewing their children’s ministry, which was inactive for the last few years after the building they had been holding it in was torn down. We are praying changes will go smoothly and be a blessing to the community.
We are continuing to pray for improvements to resuscitation care at the hospital. We received teaching materials from the US this month and have begun planning and preparing for classes with the resuscitation committee. We hope to have all staff trained by July.
Along with staff and other partners, we are continually looking for, planning, and proposing ways to improve patient care at the hospital. We pray that God will continue to guide and provide for new ideas.
Our personal prayer requests:
Please pray for discernment for our family as we begin to see what God may have planned for us in 2024. Our initial one-year commitment is complete in October, but we are feeling more and more that we may be here longer.
For our kids to continue to feel comfortable and well-loved here. They have been so happy and healthy these last couple months, and we are extremely thankful for that.
For God to continue to strengthen and encourage us in our work.
Whew! After writing this down, we are amazed and excited again to see all that God has done these last two months, and this is just the abbreviated version.
