The Last Days

Thursday, April 24, 2008
Sawubona! nGiyanibingelela nonke egameni lenkosi yethu uJesu Cristu. Siyabonga kikulu. (Hello! We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you very much. ) Today was another marvelous day. We were reminded by Sharon ’s morning devotion that God’s mercies are new every morning. He loves us and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. We can first be reconciled to our Creator, but also through Christ we now can be reconciled one to another. And we were challenged about our own hearts, reminded that God forgives us in just the way we are willing and able to forgive others. Today was our last of the 5 clinics. We went back to Empembeni (the roads were only slightly less awful than yesterday) to find 75 people waiting for us at 8am. We saw 130 adults in the morning then 80 kids from the ACM school across the road. The pediatricians again enjoyed ending on a young note. God impressed upon our hearts again how wonderful these kids are, and how blessed we are with plenty in the States. Most of the kids complained of headaches and stomach aches. We know they all carry worms as a daily burden, but as we asked we learned how most went without lunch and many eat just one meal a day. Yet they were all so very happy to see us, to sing with us, to laugh with us, and to smile for us (and to wait all day to see us). We were reminded again that unless we become like such little children we will never enter God’s kingdom. We all came home tired yet refreshed. God has continued to do wonderful things among our team. Over the last 11 evening devotions we have heard a piece of each person’s life story through special verses and life tokens. We know the enemy prowls about seeking to destroy. We have heard about pain and suffering. And we have heard each person’s story of redemption, of how God has called each one by name and the healing and renewal that came when we chose to follow the voice of our shepherd. God is indeed our good shepherd, calling us each by name. He knows us and loves us and holds us in the palm of his hand. We know that he will be faithful to complete the good work he has begun in us. We have become quite a family in just these past two weeks. It has also been a joy to watch the team fall in love with KwaZulu- Natal and our Zulu brothers and sisters. We have heard just a small piece of Mercy and Isaiah’s story, times when they have “walked through the valley of the shadow of death” and how God has sustained them and blessed this incredible ministry. Now we can join with Sharon and call them Babawathu and Mamawathu (our father and our mother). And the ACM kids - the teenagers who have grown up in their ministry, who attend their schools and after school programs and vacation Bible schools and churches, the kids they have fed and clothed and loved and labored for - they started as our interpreters last week and now we can call them friends. Our hearts will ache for them as we go. We now know what it means for them to have jobs, to get food, to have a hope and a future. The last child we treated lost her mother to HIV/AIDS this past year, has HIV herself, and we gave medicines knowing she will die soon, too soon. We know we are powerless to stop this. But she has been taken in by one of the ACM staff and while she is still with us we know she will be loved with the same incredible love our Father has shown unto us. Our hearts and minds are turning to home. Please continue to pray for us as we do for you! There have been many tears of joy and I know there are more to come. Love to all!

The 2008 Medical Outreach Team

P.S. Some of us wanted to be sure to mention that our flight is still scheduled to arrive in Detroit around 10am, Sunday April 27