Well, in the last half hour I have had 5 medical cases on my front porch, only one of which is simple. While I enjoy being challenged, I often struggle with feeling completely inadequate for the task at hand. One of these such cases is a girl named Mantene who is now 10 years old, but has the size of a 7-8 year-old. According to her family, she has had trouble with periodic bouts of fever and abdominal pain, along with continual abdominal distension ever since she started eating solid food. These bouts happen every few weeks. She is presently on my porch, and she seems on the verge of tears. It breaks my heart that any child should suffer with ongoing pain like this, but her parents have taken her to several hospitals and have not recieved any answers. I am trying to help, but have no lab, no medicines (except motrin and peptobismol) and my only reference books are "Where There Is No Doctor" ( not enough info for this) and "Manson's Tropical Diseases" (too much info). Lord - HELP!!!!
Roy is feeling better, but still tires quickly. The kids are all healthy - for that I am SO grateful!
More than that, we serve a God who CAN! - and I am so grateful that none of this is about me, or what I can or can"t do - it is all about HIM!

I decreased the snake population of Sierra Leone by one again today! I know that it is not much... but one step at a time, right!!! It is always disconcerting when you find one in a place that you don't expect. I am always careful in places that I know that they like to be, under rocks and pieces of wood, in tall grass, etc. However, this one I found on the porch, out in the open, trying to squirm under the water barrel. I solemnly informed him, in no uncertain terms, that THIS WAS NOT HIS ROOM! I think he figured it out! :} I have to laugh though. See, in this part of the world there are a lot of different types of snakes, and all of them except two are poisonous. So the only good snake is a dead snake...literally! And, they are VERY good - quite tasty! Unfortunately, this one was too small to be worth the work, so instead Jeepy (the genet) gets a feast. Oh well, I would gladly forego the eating of snake in favor of not finding a big one on my front doorstep.
I found the snake about 15 minutes after my friend Namissa and I had been chatting on that same area of porch for about an hour. During our chat, the guinea fowl kept running through, acting strangely. I am wondering now if she was dealing with the snake during that time, in which case, God really protected us. Namissa is such an inspiration to me in so many ways, not the least of which is her complete trust in her God. She has an aunt who has had a severely prolapsed uterus for over a year. Namissa , in a time when many families are financially struggling, is selling her groundnut harvest to pay for her aunts surgery. I told Namissa that I admired the way that she was taking care of her aunt without ever a word of complaint. She looked at me, surprised, and said, "Why would I complain? God won't give me any load that is too much! He is the one taking care of me and everything that I need. He gives to me to help my aunt too! I don't have to worry for tomorrow."
Point taken!
I hope I can remember this tomorrow, too!

Roy is doing much better, thanks to all of you who were praying. He was able to be up almost all day today and was even able to tolerate riding in to town on a motorcycle to get some parts for the generator. I was really glad of this, mostly because I want to see him well, but also because it would have otherwise been necessary for me to buy the parts and I am fairly certain that would not have ended well. It has been two weeks since he started feeling sick and he says he feels like he is at about 85%. Praise God for his healing - I am convinced that it is only God that has allowed him to heal as quickly as he has. Praise God for the power of prayer!

I have to add an addendum to my prior note. I like to "collect" funny sights. For example, as a family we have a contest to see who sees the funniest tee-shirt being worn. Remember that most of the clothing that is sold here comes from around the world and many people don't even know the meaning of the print on the tee-shirt they are wearing - this leads to some irony. We saw a young man of about 30 wearing a tee-shirt that said "THIS IS WHAT A REAL GRANDMA LOOKS LIKE". Another contest we have going is the most unusual sight on a motorcyle. I saw three men, plus the driver (making four total) on ONE honda. The funniest part was that it was coming straight towards me and they all wanted to see what was ahead and so they were leaning a little to each side. From my perspective, it looked like a four-headed man on a motorcycle coming my way! I have also seen two men and a goat on a motorcycle! Well, contest continues - I'll keep you posted.

I went grocery shopping today - no big deal right? Well, I though of all of you as I was returning. See, Everything I buy has to come back with me on a motorcycle. So, I came back with a 50 lb. bag of flour perched on the handle bars in front of the driver, I had a back pack full of tin cans, etc and between us I clutched a 24 pack of Coke ( a nice splurge) and 30 eggs. Yes, you read correctly 30 eggs in a flat open carton with no lid, all slid into a plastic bag. Now, I do have to explain that this is not paved road that I am talking about here - it probably would not even be considered a road where you come from, so it was a challenge, but I am happy to say that I arrived at home with all 30 eggs still intact and not on my shirt. I was so pleased. Another successful trip to the grocery store!! What I did today is really nothing. When we first arrived in the country, we purchased full size mattresses in town and they were carried out to the Bible school on motorcycles. I have also seen queen sized wooden bed frames - yes frames being carried by the passenger on the back of a honda. Where there is a will there is a way! I just though you would enjoy this - I wish I could post a pic - Oh well!

Banana Blessings

Several weeks ago we bought a large stalk of bananas that were still green. The kids were dying to have bananas since it had been a while and were very frustrated and impatient. Even to me and the people here who are very accustomed to bananas and their rate of maturing, it seemed extremely slow. Now, just as Roy is getting better and I have another woman I am caring for how has been very sick and unable to eat, the bananas are ripening daily and to perfection... in fact, they are some of the best ones that we have had since we have been here, and that is saying something.
I am so grateful because banana and homemade bread are about the only things he can eat as of yet - God's timing truly is perfect. So often I am impatient and feel that He is taking too long. In my selfish viewpoint, I have the perfect idea of when things should happen ( which is usually right now) and perceive that God has let me down when He doesn't do things when I expect. And then, in the true perfection of God's will, all things come to "fruition" and ripen at the right time for the need. Why was I impatient again??? :) I have a funny feeling that the bananas are not going to run out until the need does.

Sorry for that last blog. Is there a rule about how long a blog can be, because I think I may have doubled it? Anyway, I just have to say that God is awesome and more than I can ask or imagine. Yesterday morning Roy woke up and actually ate a half of a banana and was able to drink without difficulty. Today, he even ate some bread and was able to move from his bed. I can't praise God enough. So, I guess this dependence thing really works! Gotta remember this tomorrow. :)

Well, it has been a busy week here in Lake Wobegon! I have found that all the men are still good looking, although a little yellow, all the children are very much above average, but the women are not all that strong (namely me - the rest of them are impressively so!) Let me explain!!
We don't get visitors very often in our neck of the woods so we really enjoyed having the chance to visit with Jan Nickle and her niece on Friday through Saturday. Jan was my 4th-6th grade teacher and now works in Freetown with an organization that helps to prevent human trafficking - a VERY important work. Her niece is visiting for 6 weeks and was a pleasure to meet. Then, on Monday we had the blessing of more company. Richard and Paula Miller and their daughters, Faith and Grace, whom I mentioned in a prior blog, came to stay for a few days. What a blessing that was! They are such an encouragement to us and blessed us in so many ways. The kids had an absolute blast together and can't wait till they come again!!! However, Roy started running a fever on Monday and we thought he was just catching a cold. On Tuesday it became apparent that such was not the case - it was malaria. For those of you who are unfamiliar with malaria, it tends to hit every person differently. Textbooks will present it as fever and severe chills and joint aches. Roy had all of that, including the temps of 104 +. In addition to that however, it can cause vomiting and stomach pain as well as jaundice. Roy decided to opt for the complete african experience and had it all. Now that didn't worry me too much. I got him on medication for treatment right away and also started him immediately on Oral Rehydration Solution ( something other parts of the world use when IV fluids are not available to treat dehydration) However, I started to worry when by Saturday he was still running fevers that thrived in spite of ibuprofen, and could hardly drink due to the stomach pain. In fact, he threw up again. I started to look for ways to get him to Freetown to a hospital if he did not improve by morning. During the middle of all of this, a woman about 2 miles away via a bush path was injured when a tree fell down on top of her during a storm. I walked with one of our pastors to try and help because the tree broke her right upper arm, her left femur, and severely bruised her ribs and her right lower leg. Having seen the tree, I am amazed that she is even alive. The tree had to be at least 3 feet in diameter. Praise God! However, I can't tell you how insufficient I felt. The books just don't cover this sort of stuff. We walked to the hut, in the rain, stopping to kill a snake on the way and seeing several others. When we arrived, we had to wait a little bit while the men in the family finished their islamic prayers. Then they led us into a hut that was completely dark. In fact, I couldn't even tell where the walls were. The woman was lying on the floor and the only light I had with which to assess her was a flashlight that was almost out of batteries. They had applied "native medicine", but after applying it, her arm had swollen more and her hand was completely cold and had lost quite a bit of it's sensation. In fact, she had two large blisters about the size of a silver dollar on her forearm because they had been trying to warm her by the fire and she had not felt that it was too hot. I asked them to unwrap it and was relieved when her circulation returned. I repositioned her arm and as I did the bones grated against each other. She groaned - and that was the only time during the examination that she cried out at all. I then had them reapply their medicine and I put a splint on over top of that wrapping the covering over the blisters so as to keep them from bursting. Her leg still had good circulation. I instructed them on how to check her circulation and left her some Motrin. I prayed for her before I left, with their permission of course. But, I left thinking "how do you prepare for something like this?" How do you examine a person well, especially when you don't have the experience already for something like this, in a pitch black room with five people helping you hold a splint in place. Let's be honest - there are only so many things that you can fix with motrin and bandaids. I felt so helpless to help her, so helpless to help my husband, and helpless is exactly where God wanted me. See, in the middle of all this, the generator absolutely refused to work and the batteries to our phones all died except one(that one was on it's last leg and beeping at me) and so did the computer batteries. I told God that he needed to make the generator start so that I could call someone for advice and help as to what hospital to go to and to contact someone to drive us - and then I heard it... that still small voice that said "Faith, I'm not going to. You don't need to ask anyone else what to do... I WANT you to only have me...and I want you to find out that it is enough."
WOW!
Sure enough, the generator didn't start.
I realized that I only THOUGHT I was depending on God - but secretly, I thought I was sufficient and I could do it! Why do we spend so much time trying to be self sufficient - yes, to a certain extent it is commendable. But, wouldn't it be more commendable to be DEpendent on God. When I am weak, then HE is strong. Yes, I need to the best that I can and be diligent and not lazy. But, I need to do it with the understanding that it will never be enough and even what I do, I can only do because HE enables me to. I am nothing without HIM.
So, that is today's sermon folks (at least to me) and that is the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are dependent, all the men are good looking (albeit still yellow), and all God's children are above average as long as they remain rooted in HIM

OK! So, I am forty today! Yea, confession is good for the soul! The funny thing is that turning forty doesn't bother me at all! I feel younger than I did at thirty and I was much more upset when I turned 19. I think at that time I just wasn't ready to be done being a teenager. I spent the whole time being responsible and suddenly realized that I had wasted my chance to be foolish and wild. Now I have spent the next 20 years realizing that I am not 18 anymore - so now 4o is not a big deal. I have planned my life very strategically in that I have stayed in a culture that worships youth while I was young and now that I am getting old, I moved to an area of the world that esteems age. I think that we should all follow this plan - then everyone would be happy. The places that value age and wisdom would have a lot of it, and the places that value youth would not have anyone around who was wise enough to realize how foolish they were being - ignorance is bliss and all that. Or, better yet, they would get sick of the lack of wisdom and start to value age. After all, to get old is an accomplishment. In fact, I think that our definition of age is all messed up! I agree with Abe Lincoln when he said that "Age is not the number of days in your life, but the amount of life in your days". And someone else said that anyone who is not learning is old, it is the excitement and interest in the day to come that keeps you young. Proverbs 31 talks about a 'wife of noble character ...who laughs at the days to come..." I am here in a new world in which everyday is a learning experience and there is no way to plan or predict or even control what happens next. How can I do anything but laugh at the days to come. If all this is really true, then I am having an "un-birthday" because I am actually getting younger, one day at a time.