A Blessed Day

Victor, a patient of the hospital for nearly 3 months, with his gorgeous smile and dimples

The crew from children's ward, including the gogo's (grandma's)

Victor (L) and Marsalis (in wheelchair), two of the patients

One of the children's ward patients with his mom. He's still a little scared of the mzungu (white person)!

Today was a great day. It started out with the reading of Psalm 73, which reminded me not to envy what others have. No matter what my life is like at the time, as long as I am walking in the Lord’s will, that is the best place I could be.

Then, I went into the hospital to do rounds. All of my patients were doing great (including the woman who has bad rheumatic heart disease – that labor and delivery were very scary here, where there is no monitoring really). I discharged every single one of my patients! I was very nervous that an empty ward would mean a horrific day, as things never stay quiet for long. However, it was a very quiet day. This gave me time to really spend with patients. I prayed with several of them. I was able to have a long discussion with Stella, a very sweet 39 year old lady with 6 children, whom I think has ovarian cancer. We are working on improving her nutritional status, as she is currently very wasted, and then plan to do surgery next week. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. Ovarian cancer is a bad diagnosis – even in the States, where we have the best treatments available. Here, there is only one place in the country where she will be able to get chemotherapy postoperatively – the capital city of Nairobi, a 6-8 hour drive from here. I prayed with her that through this difficult time, she would know the strength and healing that only our Lord can provide.

On a lighter note, due to the lack of patients, I was able to spend some time playing cards with some of the long-term patients from the female surgical ward and from children’s ward. We played Uno, although we called it “Moja” (one in Kiswahili). They had a blast and it was fun to laugh with them. Below are some pictures from the day. The kids are a joy and always make me smile.

To top it all off, I received a packet of pictures that were drawn by some of the kids at Englewood Christian Church in Indianapolis. They were very encouraging and quite artistic. It was great to hear from home. You have no idea how much that can brighten a day! So, thanks ECC homeschoolers!