The Baptist Times Interview

This week an interview I had with Africa Inland Mission has been published in The Baptist Times on line. If you would like to read about it please click on this link to read the whole thing!

www.baptisttimes.co.uk/index.php/interviews/328-following-god-to-uganda

Stubborn Days and Big Miracles - Part 2

Big Miracles

Despite my lamentations and depressing thoughts that I blogged about in the last entry I also know that some days here just leave me full of joy and wonder. I recently went on a hospital trip with 4 different people and at the end of the day sat back and thought about how special it is that on these journeys I get to experience the wonderful gift of giving hope and life to those we are serving here. Part of GSF's ministry is to serve those in the local community and part of this is through medical assistance. I have been blessed to have been seeing this on the front line in working for GSF as they minister to these special people with the donations they have been given.

Here is a little information about 3 of these 4 people we had taken to hospital recently;

The first guy is around 40 years old. He lives in the village and has 4 children under 12 years old. He is known to GSF through their Mercy Ministry programme and GSF have been trying to assist him in his recent difficulties. About a year ago this man had what we presume is a stroke and became paralysed down the left side of his body. At this time his wife left him - He had never 'officially' married her so when he became sick her father came and took her back to her home village. In Uganda if an official marriage hasn't taken place where a dowry has been paid for the bride then she does not belong to the husband but still belongs to her parents. When her parents heard he had become sick they came to take her away leaving this man and his 4 children to fend for themselves (in Uganda the children are cared for and belong to the paternal side which is why the children do not always remain with the mother). This man struggled for months to support his children until last month when a neighbour approached GSF as they felt that he was not coping anymore. When our Social Worker arrived to assess his situation she found a bottle of Sulphur in the house which he explained that he had just purchased that week as he wanted to poison himself and his children. He could no-longer see how he could continue to survive each day and thought that they would all be better off if he poisoned them and they were all dead. Our Social Worker discarded the poison and registered him into the programme offering assistance with food supplies, clothing and money to pay the rent. Another way that she offered to help was by funding through the Mercy Ministry programme to get him some medical assistance. That's where I got to meet this gentle, kind spirited, humble and amazing man. We arranged to take him to a good rehabilitation hospital in Kampala and got him in to see the physiotherapist there. After an hour or two of assessments and exercise programmes the man appeared to be developing a new lease on life. He had changed from a bent over, shy, broken man to someone with hope, determination, joy and a future. He got a new crutch to assist him with walking and the physiotherapist gave him lots of exercises to try and help regain some of the muscle tone in his arm and leg. On our drive home I sat next to him and sat smiling and watching this man who spent the whole two hour drive home doing his exercises and watching out of the window asking questions about the capital, Kampala which he had never been to before. He also spent the journey looking up to thank us for all we had done. I always feel embarrassed in these situations as really I have done nothing. I have just been privileged to have escorted these people to the hospital where I have represented GSF and been able to use donations to bless others in God's work. 

The second patient that we escorted to that same hospital was a mother with her 3 week old baby. She was also known to GSF via the Mercy Ministry programme. She lives in the local village and when her baby was born with a cleft lip and palate she came here to look for help. GSF have an amazing ministry both within the orphanage and in this area where they are able to help so many. We took the baby with us and booked them into the hospital where they provide free medical care for cleft palate operations. This baby will have an operation to repair the lip and palate and all the medical bills, hospital stay and food will be paid for by this charity at the hospital. It was amazing to be sitting on the journey to Kampala with this lady and watching her expressions. Despite it being a journey that I do each week, to have walked through it with both the paralysed man and this lady who have never even been to Kampala before or even a good, large hospital was wonderful. It made me realise actually what a big deal this journey was for them. I am so used to escorting our children to the city for medical appointments it made me see that it is actually something that people in the villages don't ever experience like these two adults have never. It was amazing to be watching the world through their eyes.

Our third man was a 26 year old guy that works for us here at GSF. He was involved in an accident 9 years ago in a cement factory. His friend was reversing the cement truck and ran over him which amputated both of his legs at the knees. Since then this guy has moved around in his wheelchair and has done an amazing job of moving around the village and back and forth to work at GSF where the terrain is not often kind to those who have mobilisation difficulties. A sponsor from America had offered some money for him to have prosthetic limbs so we took him along to see if this was a possibility. We had a consultation with the head trauma surgeon and then met with the Physiotherapist and started to discuss about the limbs that he could have. The great news was that it is very possible that he may walk again after some intense rehabilitation and training on how to use the prosthetics. This guy was amazed and was already making plans on how he will walk up to the front of the church when he has his new legs to show his church how faithful God is. He says that those in the village have told him that he would need a miracle to walk again and now God is showing them that he does perform miracles! He was very excited about the prospect of walking and on the journey was showing us his favourite Psalms and discussing with his friend (our driver) how he will go on the local radio to tell everyone the Good News of Jesus.

It is on trips like this that I can't fail to see the Greatness of God in the daily situations I am involved in while serving here in this ministry. The great works that He does and the faithfulness he shows in the stories of people around us.

Psalm 145 v 1- 13

"I will exalt you, my God the King: I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no-one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendour of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. 

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendour of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations".

Stubborn Days and Big Miracles - Part 1

Stubborn Days

On a recent journey home from a local hospital where we had spent the day waiting and experiencing third world medicine I still couldnt believe quite how different things are here and how much they continue to take me by surprise. During the drive home I began thinking how after nearly a year living here I still sometimes sit down at the end of the day shocked/upset/confused and often just simply baffled by just how very different two cultures can be from one another.

Let me give you just a few examples of some of the cultural differences that I have noticed in just the last two weeks that still take me aback;

- Last week on a boda drive home from a hospital we passed a mob of men holding tree branches and thrashing them to the ground. It was quite scary watching them chanting, shouting and bashing the leaves and branches on the floor and I couldn't quite see what it was they were looking at in the middle of their group, I was presuming it was a fight. When my boda trip had finished I felt relived to be out of the noise and uncertainty in the mood/purpose of the group. Feeling safe again I asked the driver what was happening. He explained that Male circumcision (carried out here when the boy turns into a teenager) is a huge part of culture and tradition in the area we were in. A teenage boy had run away because he didn't want to be circumcised. He was later on found and  held/tied down so the circumcision could be carried out. However, he had been found in the town centre so the group of men who had been searching for him began to circumcise him on the pavement in the middle of the street and that's when we drove past on the bikes. I honestly couldn't believe that it was just happening in the street in the middle of the town and spent a long time on the remainder of my journey home thinking about the trauma that boy will have gone through.

- In the past I have been walking through the taxi park holding one of our babies when somebody takes the baby from my arms. In my mind I panic and automatically think that they are taking the baby from me but culturally thay just want to help or to hold the baby. It's a very different concept to get used to coming from the West where we wouldn't let a stranger hold our child and are constantly teaching children about 'stranger danger'!

- Recently on a bus journey back to Jinja a man got on at one of the bus stops and then began selling medication throughout the journey. He stood in the aisle and told everyone about each drug he was selling 'i.e; "this antibiotic will help you if you get a bad flu or a dry cough". He then would wander up and down the bus as people brought a few tablets of whatever it was that he was selling. He did this with a number of antibiotics and some other items. Again I was shocked and frustrated at this culture in its mis-use of important drugs and the lack of education people have around the use of medication.

- This morning we found out about 3 children in the local village who had died last night in a house fire. The father had left the hut to go to the store leaving the children sleeping. On his return he found the hut on fire. The neighbours had heard the children's scream but initially thought they were just being disciplined so hadn't gone straight to the hut until it was too late. The children were buried the same day and there will be no investigations into the cause of the fire (which is thought to be from a candle falling over) and possibly no thoughts or actions as to how this could be prevented in other huts in the village in the future.

- Last week I rode into Jinja with one of the families here at GSF. In town they stopped at the skip to empty their trash. We sat in shock as 3 street boys rushed over jumped into the skip and literally started fist fighting each other over the items of rubbish in the carrier bag. 

- During a recent medical emergency at GSF we rushed an unconscious man to the local hospital. After running into the ward and placing him on the bed I stood back in horror as.....nothing happened. I asked for some assistance and was told that the doctor was coming. A nurse then came into the room to take the mans temperature but there appeared to be no sense of urgency to treat the man immediately. I suggested to the nurse that we lay him on his side as he was struggling to breathe. When the doctor did come in he said that there were too many people in the room taking the air which was why the man was struggling for oxygen. I walked away upset thinking how different this situation would be if the man had been rushed into an Emergency Department in England.

These are just a handful of examples as to why I still find it so difficult living in another culture. I find watching life go on here as an observer so hard, raw and sometimes so merciless. Obviously I have just mentioned a few 'hard to swallow' moments and of course there are many, many moments I see things here where I think, "Wow, this culture does it so right!" and I often think about what a better place England could be if we were more like those here in Uganda. The things I have just shared with you are just to show you that even after a year living here I still struggle and sit down at the end of a 'stubborn day' (as a difficult day would be called here) trying to work it all out. 


One of the lessons I guess that I have learnt after my time here is that no-matter how hard I try I just can't figure it all out. Life, death, pain, joy, hope, suffering, poverty......these are just a few of the things that I will never fully understand. I don't understand... 
Why life is just so hard here?
Why I am so rich but the ones I treat have so little? 
Why even though the beautiful people I have spent this year with experience much suffering and have so little they can be so joyful and so full of hope.? 
Why 3 small children should die in a terrible accident but others are given life? 


All I can do at the end of a 'stubborn' day here is to give my worries, fears, and lack of understanding to my God. He is Sovereign over all and despite my human failings and lack of faith on some days I know that He is in control. He is the one in who these people I have talked about also go to when they are having hard days. He is where they find their love, hope and strength for each day....and where I have to remember to go when I don't understand why. I have to remember that He is the One who who is holding me and is my strength through stubborn days despite my human weaknesses.

Psalm 73 v 23-26 

"Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel, 

and afterwards you will take me into glory. 

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever".

A new addition to the family

Grace

The dictionary describes Grace as; elegance or beauty of form, favour or goodwill, kindness, love and mercy.

.

We have a new baby here at GSF and what a perfect name she has. Baby Grace is 7 months old and came last week from the local village. Her mother has some mental health problems and has not been a reliable care giver often disappearing from the home. Grace was blessed with a wonderful grandmother who would return from the gardens and find her daughter gone and Grace on her own. Her grandmother has tried her best but is unable to sustain the care that Grace needs so she has come to us and joined our home.

Grace is adorable, she is everything that her name describes. She is beautiful, full of love and we can see that she has already had favour and mercy on her in her short life. Grace is now getting spoilt with hugs, kisses and love from all that meet her. She is the most content baby I have ever been with. Today we took her to the hospital and she didn't cry, groan or whimper once, not all day - and it was a long, hot, rough day (I moaned!).

Grace was seen by a specialist neurological team at a hospital in Mbale, about 3 hours away today. We have been concerned that Grace has an unusually shaped head and a very large 'soft spot' at the front of her head. Her skull does not seem to be fusing together like normal but is wide and an odd shape at the front. We had been told that it could be Hydrocephalus. At the hospital Grace saw a neurosurgeon and had a CT scan. The scan showed us that her brain isn't entirely normal. The ventricles are slightly enlarged (the areas of water shown in the scan which shows the spinal fluid collections in the brain) and at the front of her skull there were small areas of 'brain damage' (softening of the brain matter due to a bleed). The doctor was not able to tell us if this would have been caused to a bad birth where Grace could have been starved from oxygen or damage to her brain from abuse. The doctor did tell us that it is likely that she will be slightly developmentally delayed. We were pleased to have been able to see a specialist doctor so quickly and to find out that Grace will not need any surgery for her condition. It saddens me to think that there is a reason that Grace has sustained damage to her brain and it is heart breaking to even try and contemplate the possible reasons this could have happened. 

Please pray for Baby Grace.

What's in the box?

A couple of days ago there was a lot of screaming outside my house and children shouting "Nurse Kate, Nurse Kate, come quick". I jumped up and ran to the door, my adrenaline pumping thinking that there was a huge medical emergency going on. As I opened the door Henry was standing right in the doorway holding a massive snake out on a stick that I very unhappily came face to face with. The children laughed, were jumping about and pleased as punched with themselves for making me jump and scream.

In all serious though, this is another snake that has been found and killed at GSF recently. There have been many reported sightings of snakes around the compound over the last few months and there have even been some much smaller snakes being seen and killed but this is the biggest that has ever been found here.

It turned out that the headmaster of our school was in his office and went to move a box that was on the floor. The box was much heavier than he expected so he glanced inside it. He couldn't tell if there was some sort of rubber inside or something else more sinister so with a couple of others for courage they investigated to find a big snake inside! The box was moved outside very quickly! Fortunately the snake had just dined out on a bird so was more placid than he potentially could have been. Outside a group gathered to 'stone' the snake and kill it with one of the school's javelins! 

The snake was then paraded around the site and created much interest and excitement around the children. Outside Amy and Mark's house he was laid out on the gravel and measured. He was 8 feet long!! Reports from those living here say that he may have been a Black Mamba.  

I love these pictures (that I pinched from Amy!) of the missionaries and children taking all 8ft of it in!!!

About a month ago the matron here at GSF got up at church to thank God for His protection here as at that point 3 snakes had recently been found and she wanted to praise God for the protection on all of us. Again, today, we can praise the One who keeps us safe from harm. 

Psalm 46 v 1-3 "God is our safe place and our strength. He is always our help when we are in trouble.   

                          So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and the mountains fall into the  

                          centre of the sea, and even if its waters go wild with storm and the mountains shake 

                          with its action.

Wikipedia - The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis), also called the common black mamba or black-mouthed mamba,^[4] is the longest venomous snake in Africa, averaging around 2.5 to 3.2 m (8.2 to 10 ft) in length, and sometimes growing to lengths of 4.45 m (14.6 ft).^[5] It is named for the black colour of the inside of the mouth rather than the colour of its scales which varies from dull yellowish-green to a gun-metal grey. It is the fastest snake in the world, capable of moving at 4.32 to 5.4 metres per second (16–20 km/h, 10–12 mph).^[6] It has a reputation for being aggressive and highly venomous and is among the world's most venomous land snakes.^[7][8]

Ouch!

Last week we were paid a visit by the Local health team who are sent out by the government to immunise all children in their allocated village. The government, each time there is an outbreak of a preventable disease such as measles or polio, deploy teams nationally to administer immunisations on a mass scale. Recently, there have been reports of measles spreading through the community and sadly claiming too many lives especially of those under 5 years old. We have had some mild cases of measles here at GSF and in the school.

All of our children here at GSF are fully immunised and have had all of their routine vaccines however this does not make you exempt from getting another injection in your arm! The local heath team are sent to vaccinate all under 5's that they find despite previous immunisation history. Sadly, families in the villages are not so good at ensuring their children are fully immunised (despite it being a free service) which is why the teams are sent out to each home ensuring that the youngest children are given some protection against these deadly but very preventable diseases.

The National newspaper reported that there was a very good response to the week's 3 day booster immunisation programme and that there had been more than 90% uptake of the immunisations.