June 11: By Your wounds, we are healed.

Today was our second and final day in Kibera. We awoke at 6:30am and had devotional time. We prayed for holistic healing: spiritual, physical, and mental. We prayed the Lord would radiate through us, to love His children who are beautiful, precious, and just as valued as any child anywhere in the world. We ate at Java Nairobi again (scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, mango juice of course!), and then headed to Kibera for the day.

Once we got to Kibera, a handful of us made a restroom stop at Pastor Simon's apartment. Pastor Simon is the pastor of the Bible Baptist Church located in Kibera. He oversees the Manna School. His apartment was neatly furnished and was located just across the street from Kibera. He lived in a 2bedroom/1bathroom apt with his wife and four children.

We began the hike into Kibera, experiencing the unforgettable smells and sights once again. Our medical team, headed by Dr. Larry VanFleet, saw the remaining 200 children in the school. Word had "gotten out" about a medical team in the Manna School, so various family members of the children began lining up outside the school gate to be seen. So, after we'd seen all the children and had our 5-10 minute lunch break, we began seeing the adults. The majority were mothers/infants and the elderly. I'll never forget my first patient: a 7 month old being carried by her mother. The mother had a kanga wrap on her head and wore an over sized/tattered t-shirt. She held in her arms a 7 month old baby girl, wearing soiled/mud stained clothes and a red beanie. The child was screaming crying. I asked the translator the reason for her visit, and she stated her child was sick. So, I began to reach over and hold her. As my arms reached around her overly warm body, I could tell this child was crying because she was in pain: hunger, fever, etc. I used a flashlight to examine her mouth, which would give me a better idea of her nutritional status. No more had I peered into her mouth with the light, than my heart dropped and my throat went dry. She had the most severe case of oral thrush I'd ever seen. I felt her lymph nodes, and they were bulging. I knew both of these signs are highly indicative of HIV, so I called Dr. Larry over to confirm. He has led various medical mission trips worldwide, so I knew he would have better wisdom in this situation. He just silently nodded, and said that it looked so severe, that if she didn't go to the hospital to receive immediate medical treatment, this infant would go downhill quickly. I asked (through the translator), if the mother was breastfeeding, to which she replied yes. I asked if she or the infant had been HIV tested. She answered the infant had not, but that she had and was HIV +. My initial thought was, "Why is this mother breastfeeding if she knows this is such a huge risk factor for transmitting the virus?" Then, it hit me. This woman could not afford to feed her baby any other way. In that moment, my eyes filled with tears. It was the dilemma of: either watch her child starve because she had no money to buy food/milk, or breastfeed and risk transmitting HIV to her child. She had chosen the latter. I, along with the medical team, advised her to keep breast feeding at this point a.) to keep feeding her child b.) the child had more than likely already contracted the virus. I reminded the Mom that she needed to take her child to the hospital for immediate medical treatment. She was somewhat reluctant in her response. Maybe she knew she couldn't afford it, or the HIV treatment. I'll never forget that sweet baby girl, and the unimaginable dilemma her Mom was faced with. Lord, use me to help decrease the incidence of this unfathomable dilemma, for Your glory.

We saw a total of 250 patients that day, but the 7month old girl stayed on my heart. I cannot imagine being faced with such a dilemma, but it happens everyday here. You can see that truly apart from Christ, the task is too big here. In spite of it all, I know He is working here. He has revealed Himself to the children in this school, giving them joy despite their circumstances. He is using various medical mission organizations to serve the people here, and to offer not only physical healing, but spiritual healing through prayer as well. He reigns.

Tomorrow we are up early (5:30!), and headed to Arusha, TZ., where we will spend the remainder of our time in Africa. I am so eager and excited. :)

'Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'..."For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you,' Do not fear, I will help you.' ..."Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you," declares the LORD, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel..."The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the LORD, will answer them Myself, as the God of Israel I will not forsake them. "I will open rivers on the bare heights and springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land fountains of water. I will put the cedar in the wilderness, the acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert together with the box tree and the cypress, that they may see and recognize, and consider and gain insight as well, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it." -Isaiah 41: 10, 13-14, 17-20

Currently Playing: Healed - Nichole Nordeman