Kinsey and Jordan returned from Africa this past weekend and we celebrated the homecoming. After spending a month in Uganda and a month in Ethiopia they had a host of stories to tell.
The problem with young people in the medical profession is that they forget most of us don’t relish the graphic details of surgery and disease. They shared with us that they witnessed quite a variety of situations on their trip:
- A critical crocodile bite
- Two boys bitten in the face by hyenas
- A man bitten by a dog they feared was rabid
- A boy whose arm had to be amputated because of a witch doctor’s poor care
- Tuberculosis, AIDS, malaria, and advanced cancers
- A mom who had lost five previous babies in childbirth (#6 survived!)
Kinsey and Jordan were each able to deliver babies and celebrate the joy of new life coming into the world. They met some outstanding doctors and nurses who honor Jesus by caring for those with physical needs. They worked with some who had only lived in Africa a short while and others who were seasoned veterans.
An older couple shared a story that took place several years ago while their two children were young. They had moved to Africa from Texas with skills in surgery and family medicine. They loved God and wanted to use their talents in His service in a foreign land.
One day they heard a scream from the room of their seven year old little boy. “A snake bit me!” he cried. The father got a knife, killed the snake, and chopped off its head. The snake was a poisonous viper, and the boy required eight vials of anti-venom to defeat its poison. Only two vials were found in the entire village.
After administering the two vials, the parents patiently waited to see what would happen. Soon the child cried of pain in his leg. Next, fevers began and his heart started racing. Soon the area around the bite turned black and began to spread. The father feared that the only way to save his child was to amputate the boy’s leg.
Word spread throughout the village of the crisis and everyone was asked to pray. An African pastor and other believers entered the room and asked if they could pray for the child. The American parents of course said ‘yes’ but as the entire leg had turned black, they thought it was hopeless. With tears in her eyes, Kinsey described the older couples’ account of the passionate, bold prayers of the African believers and the result that still impacts their faith and family.
Immediately the child’s heart stopped racing, his fever broke, and his pain subsided. The little boy was healed. It took two days for his leg to return to its natural color, but prayers of faith had resulted in a miracle.
We serve a God who has always had power over those things that harm his children. Kinsey and Jordan came back from Africa with increased faith and renewed love. We are thankful.
“Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, ‘This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.’ But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.” Acts 28:3-5