The Saturday Report – Day 9 April 19

Saubona -

Sianibingelela nonke egameni lenkosi yethu Jesu Cristu(we greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ)

Today was a good day. It was the first morning we didn’t have the scheduled power outage between 7-8 am and we must say the coffee drinkers were praising God! (Andy still doesn’t understand the coffee thing. It remains a consistent 80s by day and it hovers around 80 in the guys’ room at night. Who needs a hot cup of coffee?!) A good start to the day was a very good thing because today was also our second clinic, the one just for the roughly 600 kids who participate in the ACM youth ministry. We set out at 7:30 with four vans and a truck to pick up as many kids as we could. We passed twenty kids already at the gate to the church as we headed out. Abou t 70 kids were waiting at one of the schools and they all erupted in cheers and “Hallo!” as we arrived. Brooke’s van won the “most kids” contest as she squeezed 18 inside. Andy took second with 17. The ride back was a lot of fun with kids singing, yelling, and hanging out of all the windows. The vans went out several more times to bring the kids in. Considering the ministry works with approximately 600 local children, we did a pretty good job to see 178 today. They serenaded us with several Zulu songs before the clinic started. What a joy to see the impact of this ministry. As we watched Isaiah hugging kids and Mercy laughing wi th them, we realized again what a critical ministry they have in this area. With so many dying from AIDS, Baba and Mama Mafu are the only parents some of these kids will ever know. And through this ministry they are first loved as dear children, then given the hope of a future. Over the past five years, several team members have seen the teens grow into small group leaders and through ACM support even attend college. The Mafus tell us that many adults are hearing about Jesus for the first time because the children bring their stories and their songs and their infectious laughter back to the homes! (We discovered that a semester of college here costs 700 Rand – or about $100 – so one year costs less than $200! Now that we’v e met the teens in the ACM ministry, many of us felt our hearts burning with a desire to help!)

Overall the clinic went very well. Things went better here at the church compared to the controlled chaos of the mountain top. Cathy helped keep the pharmacy running smoothly. Sarah, Jill, and Megan already had a good system in place. Rev Rob, Allie, and Brian continued work with the glasses, and commented on how there were way fewer cataract patients today!!! Brian continues to improve his excellent Zulu, I’m sure he will be filling in as a translator before long! Kate prayed and “played” triage nurse (drawing faces on their fingers as the kids waited. Angela prayed, played, and handed out meds. Katie, Susan, Amita, and Kristi irrigated ears and debrided toes, doing an excellent job as usual. Norberta was in charge of the ever popular deworming/Vitamin station. (We noticed that very few kids mentioned worms as a complaint, but I guess if you live with them your whole life it isn’t something you necessary complain about to the “winter doctors”.)

Our pediatric doctors Sharon, Brooke, and Andy, were finally in their element and thoroughly enjoyed the day of all kids, no adults! Hilda, Danette, Jamie, Prasanth did an excellent job with medicine on a smaller scale. On a bittersweet note, so many kids did evoke a little homesickness in many of us.

While most kids were pretty healthy other than the typical case of worms, a couple kids really broke our hearts. Jamie saw one with huge swollen lymph nodes in his neck and severe ringworm of the scalp. Apparently he’s had it quite a while and the kids tease him a lot. We had a pediatric grand rounds, gathering everyone to help sort it out. With Sharon ’s guidance, our best guess was fungal, with tuberculosis and lymphoma being possibilities as well. Lacking blood tests and means to do a biopsy, we did the best we could, giving a long course of an antif ungal, an antibiotic, and pain meds. He ended up coming back later asking for traditional healing marks – open slashes over the enlarged nodes – to “let out the evil vapors”. He said he hoped the marks would make the kids stop teasing him L. What a great opportunity for the power of prayer, a kid that probably only God can heal, and we prayed God would heal him. Another child had a severe whole body rash that again puzzled the crew (Jamie’s patient again). Lots of impetigo, some ear infections, headach es, allergies, and a few with asthma. It was a good day and we think we were able to help most of the kids. We were all mightily impressed with how well-behaved 178 kids can be. NO parents to chaperone, but they all sat quietly and listened attentively. None of us could imagine this ever happening back home, even with ADD meds!

We are looking forward to tomorrow. We are scheduled to lead Sunday School at the two churches. Then a trip to the Indian Ocean for fun, relaxation, and some swimming for the very brave. We remain incredibly well-fed. Norberta and Hilda are wonderful cooks! Last night Hilda baked endless loaves of banana bread. Prasanth added delicious brownies. Andy has gladly traded his night to cook for an extra turn at the dishes!

We have three clinics remaining so we continue to request your prayers. The team is really coming together. It’s a real blessing to see how God is at work in each of our lives.

Siyabonga kakulu (thank you very much) for all your support.
Sala hathle (stay well).

Jamie and Andy for the team.