In June, Thomas and I are going to the Philippines with Trash Mountain Project (TMP). It is the first TMP group work trip to this area. They have made a documentary about all the amazing things that have happened as they have found sites and prepared for this and coming trips. It's called Stay, and it's great. Everyone should watch it.
Trash Mountain Project: Stay
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
My friend, Katelyn
Call to prayer:
My friend is sick. But she's not sick in any of the ways sickness has been defined for me in the past. She's a new kind of sick.
She fell snow-boarding. And my dad's annoyed that she was snow-boarding, because he thinks skiers are far superior. Her pelvis, it seems, broke away from the parts that hold it in place. She has a problem with her body that causes it not to heal those parts. Me and you would heal just fine. But she's not healing on her own. Her pelvis moves all willy-nilly causing excruciating pain whenever she does anything involving the pelvis - which is everything, by the way. Her mobility has been compromised to a degree that causes great loss and grief in many areas of life. She's going to need a miracle for her body to be restored to pre-fall conditions.
She's undergoing and exploring different kinds of treatments right now. She's travelling far to see a specialist for SI joint fusion to try to get some answers this week. By hearsay, that option has not seemed promising. She's also undergoing a very new kind of treatment called platelet-rich plasma injections to try to get her body to produce more collagen, the stuff that holds a pelvis in place. She's had limited to no success so far, but it seems that this treatment may typically go slowly. It's hard to tell.
Please pray with me that her body responds miraculously to these injections, and that she leans heavily on Jesus as she finds ways to cope with these new losses. Pray that God's glory would be made known in her, that His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. We have no hope but in God all the time, but right now, we can see it. He is our light and our salvation. He makes our mourning into gladness.
Please pray for miraculous healing in my friend Katelyn.
My friend is sick. But she's not sick in any of the ways sickness has been defined for me in the past. She's a new kind of sick.
She fell snow-boarding. And my dad's annoyed that she was snow-boarding, because he thinks skiers are far superior. Her pelvis, it seems, broke away from the parts that hold it in place. She has a problem with her body that causes it not to heal those parts. Me and you would heal just fine. But she's not healing on her own. Her pelvis moves all willy-nilly causing excruciating pain whenever she does anything involving the pelvis - which is everything, by the way. Her mobility has been compromised to a degree that causes great loss and grief in many areas of life. She's going to need a miracle for her body to be restored to pre-fall conditions.
She's undergoing and exploring different kinds of treatments right now. She's travelling far to see a specialist for SI joint fusion to try to get some answers this week. By hearsay, that option has not seemed promising. She's also undergoing a very new kind of treatment called platelet-rich plasma injections to try to get her body to produce more collagen, the stuff that holds a pelvis in place. She's had limited to no success so far, but it seems that this treatment may typically go slowly. It's hard to tell.
Please pray with me that her body responds miraculously to these injections, and that she leans heavily on Jesus as she finds ways to cope with these new losses. Pray that God's glory would be made known in her, that His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. We have no hope but in God all the time, but right now, we can see it. He is our light and our salvation. He makes our mourning into gladness.
Please pray for miraculous healing in my friend Katelyn.
Daniel
We found a void in Nimule, South Sudan. Everyday, there was a loud cry for medical knowledge at the Children's Home - enough for a sole worker to stay busy all day everyday, if only funds were sufficient to hire such a one. If only funds were sufficient to support the changes such a one would desire to make.
But truth: I knew it wasn't me. I couldn't really eat while we were there, and I only recovered from the stomach issues I had a few weeks after our arrival back in the states. And in the way of other changeable realities: I know nothing of malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid, parasite infestations, and STD's. All these caught me re-thinking dreams of South Sudan as a long-term home. It made me sad.
But something happened the last day we were there. Those dedicated to that place - who live there with the children day in and day out - saw the effects of the void being filled for just a few days. And they agreed to hire someone, our fast friend, Daniel from the Christ the King Clinic.
I took four children and one young woman to see him one day. He assessed and treated them all and wrote detailed doctor's notes for each one, even though he only has the two years of medical training that might be long enough to name someone RN in the states. All five were given long individual attention (more than five minutes) and treated for $40. All five recovered completely by the time our three-week stay had ended.
By the beginning of the next month, he had moved in at Cornerstone Children's Home as a full time healthcare worker. His wages were slightly over $100 each month. One-hundred dollars...four hours of work as a nurse in the states for one month of work in Africa.
Since then, he has done such a good job with the children that work has slowed down, and he has begun using his skills part time at the neighboring hospital. Extra funds have been allocated for healthcare by the executive board at the children's home, because they have seen the difference he is able to make.
Since then, he has done such a good job with the children that work has slowed down, and he has begun using his skills part time at the neighboring hospital. Extra funds have been allocated for healthcare by the executive board at the children's home, because they have seen the difference he is able to make.
That place might not be home for me, but I can't think about my home here without remembering the home those children have. Being there has taken away every barrier I had before about giving generously. I held onto money then, but now I find myself pushing my money away. But not only away. Away toward faces. African faces young and old. Faces of all colors forever etched in my mind.
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