Birthdays And Joy

Birthdays And Joy

Today was a great day, full of blessing and well-wishing. The team celebrated my birthday with homemade brick oven pizza, cookies, Andes mint brownies, and cake. The night was capped off with a candle lit, out door dance party! You know I like to shake it!!!

God has been teaching many things of late, including a journey through the valley of vision. I feel I am in a hard place emotionally and spiritually, but this is where I need to be and have freely chosen to go. God is helping me to discover many new, yet difficult things. He is teaching me to stare deep into the face of suffering and grief, my own personal grief and that of others. It is a place I have seldom looked before. I am learning to empathize at a deeper level, as I am allowing myself to ask God to reveal to me the things that break His heart. In the process my heart is breaking too, but I know there is joy in the maker of all things and that someday all things will be made new.

The Valley Of Vision

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depth but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is thy victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.


The Valley of Vision
A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

Saturdays

Children signing hymns of praise to the methodic drums nearby as they practice for church. Birds hooting and chirping in the afternoon sun. The distance sound of people walking, talking, and visiting as the busiest market day comes to a close.

Saturdays are my favorite day of the week in Nyahuka. The rhythmic end of a busy week filled with pediatric and adult patients, early mid-week prayer meeting, constant knocks on my door, children clinging to my side.

Each week, if not each day, is filled with joy, trial, laughter, weeping, smiles, and scorn. Moments of bliss are buttressed against prayers of desperation.

God is present in this place. His work is always near at hand, though sometimes I do clearly see. Satan is also present in this place, with death, despair, and destruction all around.

I told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
-John 16:33

Pictorial Review

I've had some difficulty posting photos over the past five weeks, so finally, here is a pictorial review of my time in Uganda. I had to greatly reduce the size of the pictures in order to post them, so the quality is a bit grainy, sorry.


My good friend Lamech.


One of my favorite kids Kemanuel. He is always smiling and his nose is always running.


Heidi Lutjens & Pat Abbott


My neighbors, Gonja and Charity


Neighbors and friends, Edmond and his son Ngime


Janet - malnourished patient


Scott & Jennifer Myhre


Paediatric Ward


Peds patient back from the brink of death.


780 gram premature infant

Children

Children

I like parties. I like having fun. My gifts of entertaining and encouraging have often come in handy when hosting others.

I have a desire to love children and show them through my actions and inactions that they are loved, I am proud of them, and they are children of God. I never want a child to think that they are worthless and unlovable. Few things break my heart more than a child who feels helpless, hopeless, and unwanted.

Much of my life has been spent working alongside children – a Sunday school teacher, a camp counselor, working in pediatric rehabilitation, and now working in the acute pediatric ward. I love kids.

This weekend I had a “Fall Festival” for the local kids. Its purpose was twofold, to honor and love on the children, and to satisfy my love of Autumn in America. The kids made a beautiful deciduous tree that now sheds leaves daily on my living room floor, a splattering of yellow, orange, and red randomly strewn about. They stuffed scarecrows, a male and female pot-bellied pair that ordained my lawn. They laughed and cheered as they joined in the relay races, and even Aligonilia, a child who has escaped death numerous times, joined in and laughed raucously. What an indescribable joy to see a child barely alive one week, me desperately crying out to God for his return to life, and now witnessing him running around and laughing like a healthy child, even though he is far from “healthy”. Amazing.

It was a great day, and I am so very thankful for God’s abundant provision. I hope these children felt how much we, the World Harvest Mission team, love and appreciate them. For at least one afternoon, they were lifted high and revered.

I often think of myself as a child, longing to run into God’s lap. When I am most desperate and fall into fits of despair, God reminds me of His love, how proud of me He is, and how much He longs to welcome me home.

Grief and Joy

27 October 2009

Grief and Joy

A few mornings ago I woke up discontent, something I am not usually prone to, but nonetheless it was the state of mind that morn. As I lay in bed I consider the day ahead – rounding on the pediatric ward, playing with the local kids, greeting neighbors, cooking a meal for Uganda friends, and trying to write some. All good prospects on most days, however I left a very sickle and fragile child, Aligonilia, clinging to life on the pediatric ward the day before and was fearful he may have departed this world during the night. His plight worsened in knowing that I attended the burial of his brother, Ammon, the day I arrived in Uganda nearly one month ago. His other brother, Daniel, also a very good friend to me, died one week after I left Uganda in 2008. Aligonilia’s father, Chris, has lost six children in his lifetime. I cannot imagine losing one child, let alone six. My limited perspective sights this as too much grief for any one person to bear.

When I arrived on the pediatric ward I found Aligonilia alive and somehow better, though still very ill. My heart leapt to see him sitting up and moving, something unlikely only one day before. I thanked God to see his face again, here, alive on this earth.

When I went home later that day, I asked some of the local kids, Aligonilia’s friends, if they would help me make a giant get well poster. It was awesome! The kids gladly obliged and went to work coloring, painting, and plastering stickers on the sign. Two of the children involved in creating the poster came with me to the pediatric ward to deliver it to Aligonilia. He smiled when he saw the poster and he saw his friends. It was a joy to see.

Aligonilia is still sick, still very anemic, and still on the pediatric ward, but he is smiling now and able to walk around. There is joy in redemption, there is joy in life, but I must not forget that experiencing the grief makes the joy somehow sweeter and fuller. God’s plans are not mine, and I must respect them whatever they are. I am beginning to experience and praise God more in grief and weakness, whereas before I only thanked him in times of joy. It is a difficult thing for me to learn, but God is revealing more of himself through the process. So in and for grief and joy, I thank God.

On Thievery

October 26, 2009

On Thievery

A few days ago I woke up with a feeling of despair and deflation. The previous day I discovered money had been stolen from me, again. Why would someone steal money from me? Why would they do it three times over three weeks? How did they get into my house each time? As these thoughts flooded me in the early morn, and I began to wonder why I freely chose to come back to Uganda, God convicted me of my own self-righteousness and led me to pray for the thief.

Prayer led me to feel sorry for the thief. At least he did not steal all my money, and he did not take anything else, except a freshly baked loaf of bread, as my computer and camera were easily within his reach. He must be really hungry. Hopefully all the money went towards food. I somehow began to rationalize the theft, and was convinced that this was just a very minor setback in my journey. I also pondered leaving a note in my underwear drawer in case the thief returned. Each time money went missing I discovered that he went through all my drawers, most notably my sock and underwear drawer.

As I pondered what I would want to tell the thief in letter form, I concluded it would go something like this:

Dear Thief (Thieves),

Thank you for not taking all my money, I appreciate your kindness in that regard. However, I am slightly bothered that you broke into my house on three separate occasions, each time during daylight hours, and scoured through my drawers. For all I know you may be wearing some of my underwear and socks right now. I hope you like them.

I prayed for you today. I feel sorry for you. You must be really hungry or really bored to break into my house, especially during the day. I hope you are someone I don’t know, though my suspicion is that you may be someone that knows me well. My assumption is that you have been watching me very closely, as you seem to know exactly when I will be leaving my house and the precise time in which I will return. You are very observant. I also hope you enjoyed the bread you stole, it was just baked that morning. That particular type of bread goes well with honey and butter (which we have, should you decide to visit us again).

When my roommate Nathan spoke to one of the kids about previous thefts, the young boy replied “The thief will meet God someone day, and He will send him to burn in the fire.” I hope that is not true. If you don’t know Jesus, I would love to tell you about him some time. He’s a really cool guy that changed my life forever. He can change your life too.

Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. Sorry, I don’t know Lubwisi well enough to write this note in that language, so please forgive me – I am trying, “slowly, slowly” as they say here to learn the language.

I forgive you for stealing from me, but I would prefer it not happen again. Feel free to stop by when I am home sometime, as I would be happy to bake you a loaf of friendship bread

Sincerely,

Your Supplier of Bread and Cash (Your “SBC”)

Life And Living

Life & Living

The two children mentioned in my previous posts have both recovered and were discharged from the pediatric ward! Thank you for you prayers! I’m always encouraged to see children make drastic recoveries, and I thank Jesus for his grace and mercy in allowing them to recover. Unfortunately, for every child that recovers there are more that are just as sick and many that do not survive.

I’m continuing to discover my daily role and schedule, and I’m starting to see more adult patients in addition to the kids. There is a physician assistant student from Arcadia University, Dan Thrush, whom recently arrived and is inspiring me to learn as well. I just hope I can teach him something in return!

I am increasingly aware of my growing desire to share and show love, mercy, and grace to the people I encounter each day. I enjoy medicine, but it is not my primary focus. If I help heal a sick child, but they do not know Jesus, what is the impact of my role? I absolutely see the need for medical care, but more so, I sense and want to be involved in sharing Jesus’ love, mercy, and grace. I desire to help heal broken souls, spirits, and health. I’m so very thankful for the opportunities God has given me, but I know there are other opportunities I am missing. I pray my eyes may be opened to those around me.

-Scott