Wins are wins and I'll take them

I’ve been back in Togo for 6 weeks…..after a stent in the US to see family and refresh a bit, I am back for a few months.

Some things I have been trying to focus on at home and now back in Togo is learning to abide in Christ. I read a great book while at home called Humble Roots. I highly recommend it. This is a quote from there that has really stuck with me: "Your heavenly father knows what you need. He knows your heart is troubled. He also knows better than you do, that all these things are beyond you. And so, this is what you must do, all that you must do: you must seek Him and let Him take care of the rest.”

I am trying to solidify in my sinful mind that even when things are hard and the answers are not what I want, think, or expect that He is in control, knows me, cares for me, and is there if only I would go to Him. Here are some verses that have been helping me along the way: 

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” Nahum 1:7

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”   1 Peter 1: 6 – 7

“…Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith…..And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5: 8b, 9a, 10

I share these in a hope that they may be an encouragement to some of you as well.

I returned at the height of rainy season which brings daily storms and cooler weather but also loads of malaria. I don’t think I have ever experienced a disease that just steals children from this world as quickly and relentlessly as malaria. It is merciless in its attack and despite our best efforts and great medications, we see way too many succumb to it.

I think I forget a little, when I am away, just how much heartache we have with death here. How many times a day or week I will sit with a mom that just lost her child and try in some way to comfort her.

It is easy here to be beaten down by the heartache…..by the death. But, sometimes we get a win. I want to share just a couple of the “wins” I have seen since my return.

Just a couple of days after I got back, a young woman was brought in with a snake bite. These are fairly common here and the venom causes the bitten extremity to swell. That is the outward signs anyway. Inwardly, though, the venom spread and prevents the blood from clotting. It is common to get bleeding throughout the body: abdomen, head, etc and this can wreak havoc and lead to death. The effects of the venom progress the longer the person waits after the bite before being treated.

This patient came in 5 days after she was bitten. She was completely unresponsive on her arrival. I immediately started the antivenin but the destruction was already severe and she was anemic, requiring transfusion.  Several hours after her arrival, I was called to see her and was barely breathing. I feared she was in flash pulmonary edema either from the whole blood she was receiving or from the effects of her envenomation.  She received some meds and was placed on a non-rebreather but I talked with her brother and told him I did not know if she would live. She had a bad night for sure but the next morning she was so much more comfortable and actually opened her eyes for the first time. She continued to improve dramatically over the next couple of days and went home recovered.

My next story is an ongoing prayer request…….we have a new preemie in our hospital that is right at 2 weeks old. He was born emergently by C-section after his mom had a placental abruption at 30 weeks.  He was born weighing 1.27kg (just over 2.5 pounds). To say his first 24 hours of life were rough is an understatement. I was the physician on the day he made his arrival and I ended up resuscitating him for several hours because his effort of breathing was not sustaining him. Two times, during his first 24 hours, he was handed over to his parents for them to say “goodbye” because there was nothing else we could do for him. Both times he got better by being held by his Dad. I am not one to throw out the word miracle haphazardly but truly I have no other explanation for him living. I told the Dad that God was doing something here and we would continue to pray and trust and see what would happen. Well, this child is progressing well for a preemie, however, he is still very tenuous given his size. Pleas pray for him and for us as we make medical decisions for him. Pray especially for his parents, who are very strict Muslims, that they may encounter Jesus during this time of trial. Pray for us as we interact with them every day that we would find ways to show Jesus to them as well.

You Should See It in Color……

There’s a very “country” song called In Color and sang by Jamey Johnson. It tells a story of someone looking through old black and white pictures and the singer telling the stories behind each one. The chorus after every picture description is the same, “If it looks like we were scared to death, like a couple of kids just trying to save each other. You should have seen it in color…..A picture is worth a thousand words, but you can’t see what those shades of grey keep covered….You should have seen it in color.” Here’s the link to the song  

https://youtu.be/EYGwxf1gCC4

I recently heard this song on the radio and the tears started streaming down my face. I just kept thinking how true that is with ministry pictures and even updates for that matter. How often pictures are posted with plenty of smiles and the “perfect” scene. It’s the idea of putting your best foot forward. Show only the best parts of your life to everyone. People tell me all the time that they want to see more pictures of me and my work in Togo. I am not one that takes many pictures. It’s not that I don’t think pictures are important or that they don’t tell a great story. They do. But, for me, it’s what is behind the story that is so important. It’s like the song says, “you can’t see what those shades of grey keep covered. You should have seen it in color.”

I have quite a few pictures that I have taken over the months I’ve been in Togo. They are of smiling kids and fellow missionaries. Unfortunately, what you don’t see, what is “covered” in those pictures, is that as “shocking” as it may seem, missionaries are real people, very much still in process, flawed, and not every day is happy and joyful. Now, that does not sound very much like how all those pictures appear does it? I think some don’t want to see anything but happy, smiling pictures. But, I think there’s some that really want to know what’s going on, the struggles and the triumphs. So why do we only tell the happy stories and gloss over the hard ones? Why do we minimize the conflicts and focus on the joys? Is it fear? Fear that all your supporters will stop giving? Fear that by being honest you are not portraying the “perfect missionary” image that is expected? After all, missionaries are not supposed to struggle with anything, right?.....

Despite all of this, I love doing what I do in Togo. I would not be there, or keep going back, if I did not truly believe that the ministry of the hospital is impacting that area for the kingdom. So, even though many of the pictures taken in Mango maybe don’t show the full colors, they depict the joy that is often found there. Just remember for every picture of a smiling child that’s posted there are many stories that aren’t.  

I would like to challenge you to ask the Lord what it means for you to “see it in color.” Maybe it means reaching out to a missionary or someone you know in ministry and asking to hear the real stories, the “full color” stories. Maybe it’s asking the Lord if He has a new ministry or mission field He wants you to serve in.

It is true that I don’t take or post a lot of pictures about my work in Togo but I have lots of stories and experiences that I would love to share. Please just ask and I will gladly take the time to show you all the colors of Mango, Togo and the ministry of the Hospital of Hope.

I am actually stateside right now for a little break and will be heading back to Mango in late July till November. After this, I will return to the US for at least 6 months to fundraise so that I can return to Mango to continue in ministry there. If you would like to find out more information or how you can financially partner with me and the ministry there, please message me.

It.....

Being in Togo for close to a year has taught me a lot about myself.  It has made me really rely on God every day because frankly there is no other way to make it here. It is definitely not by my own strength or “spirituality” that I can be here. The fact is being here is hard. I had been here before on short stents but something changes in your mind when all of a sudden you don’t have a fixed leave date. There ceases to be that “light at the end of the tunnel.” All of a sudden this is where you live. All of the cute things about a new culture wear off quickly when you live somewhere and suddenly the “cute” becomes frustrating.

But, here I am…..trying my best to do the best I can every day. I have experienced such highs and such lows here. I also continually show my sin to those around me. I know I fail daily. My sanctification process is very much ongoing and frankly it hurts and gets messy at times. The first time I came to Togo, I joked with the other missionaries here that being here was like being at adult summer camp. That has become a very true statement including all the good and bad that comes along with it.

In my last post, I wrote about a sweet baby boy that had become very close to me. Nicknamed Puddles by us, he had been in and out of the hospital for most of his 1-year life. He endured several painful and difficult surgeries and with each one he prevailed against all the odds. However, he continued to have trouble growing. After his last surgery, he lived in the hospital and went back and forth to my home as well for care. His mom would stay for a time and then return to her village to take care of her other kids.

He started gaining weight and things were looking better and better.

He would sit in his bassinet at the nurse’s station and just laugh and entertain the staff and the other patients. He was a joy and I loved him dearly.

Then over the course of 24 hours he decompensated and was gone. This precious little boy was gone, just like that. His death cut a wound in me so deeply that I still feel it today. Why did this happen? Why did he make it through all of those surgeries, start gaining weight, and then the Lord took him? What did I miss? I could play the why game even today and the pain is still there.

One of the other doctors and myself have been out to his village a few time to visit his Mom and Dad. We took her a few photos of him recently. Photos here are a very foreign idea. They are not something people have of each other much less of a child that has died. We had asked if she wanted some and she said yes. I think it was very difficult for her to see her baby boy but my prayer is that the pictures will eventually bring her happiness because she can better remember him and not sadness.

Their tribe is Gangam which is a very spiritually dark tribe here. However, with our visits to their village and talks of Jesus and our hope in Him, they seem more open to hearing and have asked to have the Jesus film shown in their village sometime soon! I will continue to go and visit them to let them know Jesus’s love for them despite their loss and sadness.

I came across this verse the other day and even in its simplicity, I found so much power.

“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”  1 Thessalonians 5: 24

In my opinion, no truer words have ever been written or read. He, being the Lord, who calls you, his child, is faithful and will surely do it.

It here can mean so many things and for me it has taken on many meanings as of late.

It…..is sustaining grace to work day in and day out here when so often the diagnoses are vague and outlooks are grim.

It…...is wisdom to say “I don’t know” to a family or your colleagues but continue to try.

It…..is a strength to keep going and keep loving when death comes all too often

It…..is seeing a child, who a week ago looked like she would die, laughing and playing with a new stuffed animal.

It……is traveling to the village of a child that you loved to build relationships with his family and to tell them about Jesus and His love because your mind still cannot wrap itself around their son’s death.

It…..is looking at a schedule and knowing that there’s not enough providers for the work to be done and trusting God to sustain you or provide more people.

It…..is a better understanding of hard situations and difficult diseases like Lassa fever and how to best approach them as they impact the community you live and work in

It…..is crying with the mom of a child that just died and trying to give her some hope in Jesus in the midst of that impossible situation.

It……is waiting and waiting for the details to be worked out so a child can travel to the US for heart surgery and someone donates the exact amount of money needed for all of the airline tickets.

It…..is seeing a patient in clinic doing well after you and others fought for weeks in the hospital to keep her alive and being able to rejoice with her and her husband.

It…..is getting unexpected news from home and deciding to leave knowing that you are adding work to your colleagues.

It means a lot of things to me right now and I am sure in a month, in a year from now it will mean other things.

I don’t have any magic words to say. Whether in Mango, Togo or anywhere else, whatever the It is in your life right now know that He who called you to himself as his child is capable and able to do it.