Learning to Let Go

I, Dontie, am sitting here reading my Bible reading for today in James and the words jumped out at me:

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.'  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow...Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"  (James 4:13-14a, 15) 

We have this illusion that we are in control and we make plan, but ultimately, we don't know what tomorrow brings.  Africa has been such a good teacher in that lack of control. 

Water may or may not be on for who knows how long.  Do I worry about that?  The power may be on or it may be off for 10 days straight.  Do I worry about the food?  What am I going to do with that month's supply of meat in the freezer that is thawing?  Every vegetable I pull out of the fridge (as quickly as possible to save every last bit of coolness), is going bad and we can't use them fast enough.  Do I worry and fret?  Am I in control of these circumstances? 

What about our future here at Karanda?  Our TEP (long-term work visa) was denied and we are in the process of appealing it.  We have had a handful of extensions, and we go month by month not knowing if we'll have to be out of the country or if we can stay.  My first instinct is to worry and wonder what is going on here.  I want stability and knowing what tomorrow brings.  But here in James (as well as so many other places in the Bible), God reminds ME that He is in control.  He knows the details.  This is ALL in His plan and He has a plan that is perfect and good. 

Christopher and I are learning to let go and just live each day.  For someone like me, this is a tough lesson to learn.  But what freedom it brings! 

• Yes the water goes off, but we learn to use what we have wisely and not worry. 
• Yes, the zesa (power) is off, but I have to go one day at a time, use my brain that God gave me to be creative, and ultimately trust that God is in control of even the zesa!  I have to let go and believe in His goodness.  Maybe that month's supply of meat can be a blessing to several people around who are starving. 
• Yes, we don't know where we will be after this month's extension has expired, but its ok.  God has a plan and He's got a reason for this uncertainty and I have to trust Him. 

So we now are learning to say, "If it is God's will..."  Because that is why we are here for whatever amount of time that is!

A section of our drive to Karanda Mission Hospital.  Zimbabwe is a beautiful country.

Some of our critter friends around (or in) our home:

Guinea Fowl right outside our door         

                    

                             Wall Spider hanging out on our wall

The largest snail we have ever seen.  We named him Sully.

 

A high bridge we cross getting to the hospital, and our car.  Water has gone over this bridge a number of times during the rainy season.  

All in a Day

Here is a snipet of what a day is like at Karanda:

Woke up to the roosters crowing at 5:00 AM.  This is farmland and most everyone starts their day at 5!

Water has been on for only a few hours in the morning these past weeks, so I hurry to fill up all our buckets in each room and the kitchen.  I make sure to flush the toilets several times.

Zesa (electricity) is off, so wait for the hospital generator to kick on sometime between 8 to 9 so we can have some coffee and plug in all the torches (flashlights) we used last night.  They charge in only a few hours. 

It begins to rain in torrents, so I hurry with buckets outside to collect water as we quickly go through all our "water buckets" even with being extra careful.  Several pots go on the stove to boil the rainwater that I will then put into our water filter.  It has to boil at least 10 minutes to kill bacteria before filtering. 

We thank God for the rain, but sure enough, there goes the zesa for who knows how many hours or days.  Our record so far is 10 days with no power (outside of the generator).  Someone figured out that in 20 days of February, we only had 96 hours of electricity!

Go to feed a fellow missionary's cat (Mittens).  The missionary is on home assignment so we are taking care of the cat until her return this month.  Find a fruit bat in the sink and it is still alive with a broken leg!  Decide to wait for Christopher to help me get it out.  Not feeling that adventurous and brave just yet! 

Christopher comes home from work for tea (half hour break), and he is my hero as he rescues the bat (hissing and all) with a bucket and gently releases it in a garden outside.  We admire the creativity of God in the wings and architecture of the bats body.  We even get a look at its little sharp teeth as it hisses at us shaking all over.  Poor little bat.

Visit with some of the ladies who come around selling fruits and vegetables.  I never know what they will bring and sometimes it is just one item.  But I try to buy from them as much as possible as there is a famine going on all around us in this area.  I would have never guessed with the green all around and crops growing beautifully, but last year's harvest was small and hasn't lasted through until this year's harvest. 

We hear that a World Vision truck is coming to the little town area outside the hospital to distribute sacks of corn and other items.  People wait in anticipation.  The boys and I walk to town to buy a coke from one of the hospital employees who also runs this little store.  The shelves are almost bare...but he always has cokes...and ice-cold too!  The boys and I practice our greetings with people in town.

 

Christopher gets off work unusually early, so we go with him to visit the Peds Ward.  The boys love this and I am once again humbled by the way they love on the kids, touching them and jabbering away with them.  They don't even seem to notice some of the abnormalities they see.  I wish my eyes could see past as they do.

Supper by candlelight and baths from a bucket.  We go out in the courtyard to look at the incredible stars in this African sky.  There is nothing like it!  We praise God for His awesomeness and thank Him for the chance to be here at this time in our lives. 

Climb in bed under our mosquito nets and pray for our families and supporters.  It's the end of another day at Karanda.

Deliverence for Patience

I wanted to share an encouraging story about what God recently did.

Patience is a 15 year old female who was admitted to our hospital one evening.  She was totally disoriented and was suicidal.  Her husband reported that for a month or longer she was refusing to eat, was having visual and auditory hallucinations, as well as various delusions. 

The next morning when I met her she was lying in bed with an apathetic expression and a hollow/blank look in her eyes.  I sensed that there was a spiritual problem present rather than a medical one.  As I evaluated her, I noticed a red string around her neck which held an item blessed by her religious leader.  (Many people here wear a string around their neck or waist as a way to protect themselves or ward off evil spirits.)  She was part of a cult that did not believe that Jesus is God, but rather their prophet/leader was God.

I said through the interpreter, “This necklace cannot protect you, only Jesus can protect you. This is not helping you.  Can I remove it?”  After hesitating, she agreed.  I broke the string and threw it away.  Then I asked if I could pray for her and she reluctantly agreed.  I prayed a prayer of deliverance over her and wrote an order for the chaplains to come pray with her as well.

The next morning, during rounds, I saw Patience, but she was a totally different woman.  She had already eaten breakfast, and was peacefully sitting up in bed, smiling.  The change was so dramatic it was amazing. As I sat on her bed, she immediately said in English, “Thank you.  I am free.” I excitedly replied, “Jesus did this!  Jesus set you free!”  Her nurse told me that her confusion, hallucinations, and suicidal thoughts were all gone. Patience told me that she prayed to my God the night before.  I was very excited for her and proceeded to thank the Lord for delivering this young woman.  Since she lives near the hospital, I invited her to come to our church and said she could even sit with my family.

Seeing what God did with Patience has been invigorating.  It reminded me that Jesus came to, “heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free.” 

Go Go Goi!

My boys and I had a cultural lesson today.  One of our fellow missionaries set my boys down, to explain some important things about the Shona culture and their homes.  Every home has a front area (or veranda) that is very important in how it looks.  Each morning the woman of the house is out on her hands and knees scrubbing and waxing this area until it shines.  This means that shoes are taken off before even reaching the veranda and not at the door or even inside the door.  The flowerbeds around their houses are free of trash or plants (you don't want any nasty critters living in them) and even the dirt area before the veranda is swept neatly.  No matter how the house looks inside it is a matter of respect and duty to have the entrance looking presentable. 

This is why, when you go to a house, you stand at the entrance (not the door) and call out, "go, go, goi!"  This is the same as our, "knock, knock, knock!"  You do not enter the home, or even step up onto this highly waxed area, until you are acknowleged or invited in. 

This reminded me of the verses in Revelation 3:20, "Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Christopher's purpose here at Karanda is to fix broken bodies, but the only true healer is Christ Jesus.  Christopher constantly is sharing with his patients that all he does is temporary, but only the Lord Jesus Christ can heal completely and eternally.  He stands at the door of our hearts and calls out, "go, go, goi!"  All we have to do is invite Him into our lives and into our hearts.  The wonderful thing is, our entrance doesn't have to be perfect and well swept before He calls out to us.  But once He is invited in, He cleans us up from the inside out and we can be "whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7).  The inside is what matters most. 

Jesus does not push His way in.  He waits until He is acknoweledged as Lord and Savior.  We are here at Karanda to share this tremendous truth with these people whom we are learning to love and greatly respect.  There are many who know of Jesus, but few who really know Him and have Him in their homes and lives.  Please continue to pray that Christopher has opportunity to share Christ with his patients as he treats so many who are dying from cancer or AIDS.  Karanda has some wonderful chaplains who work diligently and tirelessly with the inpatients.  But there are so many people who come to the outpatient part of hospital each and every day, and Christopher and a PA see almost all of them.  We pray that no matter how long their stay, they see Jesus all over the hospital.  There is no greater guest to arrive and knock on the door of our hearts.  "Go, go, goi," will you invite Him in?

The Other Half

Over the past 3 months, I, Dontie, have been trying to find my place in this ministry here at Karanda.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a multitude of opportunities! But with two small boys and a house to run, food to cook, and finding time for my own spiritual walk, time in a day gets quickly swallowed up.  I am also one who doesn’t just jump in.  I want to find something I can really commit to and still have boundaries.  It seems that everyone on this campus either works at the hospital or teaches in some capacity or another.  Forming friendships has to be on the “off” hours and that runs into meal time and bedtime.  This is a very relationship oriented culture, but it takes rubbing shoulders to be able to form those relationships.  There are several casual friendships that I have formed with ladies who sell vegetables or who help around the guesthouse, but nothing yet that could be deep or influential.    

However, tonight, I was priveleged to join a group of women who began the Beth Moore study on the book of James.  I have been looking forward to this night for a couple weeks now, and I was thrilled to see how large of a group was involved.  We had missionary ladies (both single and married), nurses, the pastor's wife, nursing school teachers, among others.  To my pleasant surprise, the majority of the group was Shona ladies!  It was a blessing to begin a journey together knowing that we start on a common plane each with areas of struggle and desires to grow closer to God.  This wa a first for real fellowship (apart from the other missionaries) and heart rejoiced.

Someone's ministry (in the U.S.) provided the workbooks and the DVD study for us - a study halfway around the world that will impact lives just like the ones sitting in the chairs in the audience on the DVD.  Thank you for this gift (whoever you are)!  Thank you for the opportunity to form relationships at a deeper level than daily greetings and superficial small talk.  I am excited to see what ways God will open for me to minister, not just as a mother and wife of a doctor, but as a woman whom God has gifted and has called as well!

 

Zimbabwe is...

…“A cattle country so drive with caution!”  This was a phrase we became familiar with as we drove to and from Harare this past weekend.  It is common in Africa to have extra passengers whenever making a trip.  When news gets around that someone with a car is going into town, the car can fill up pretty quickly.  This time, we enjoyed the company of one of the nursing school instructors on both trips, and he explained many things as we drove along. 

 There are herds of cattle along many of the roads, dirt and paved, in Zimbabwe.  He told us that when taking the driving test here, it is asked, “What is Zimbabwe?”  The correct response is, “A cattle country, so drive with caution.”  There are so many things to watch for as we drive, not just cattle or other drivers.  There are many people who walk along the road or sell vegetables and other goods to travelers.  A driver’s eyes have to always be on the lookout for anyone or anything that could dart out in front of the car.  On the dirt road leading to the hospital, we have chickens and cows, goats and guinea fowl to contend with.  It all makes for an adventurous drive.  This is Africa!

Our river in front of the hospital.  It is usually not low enough to cross this time of year.

We love seeing the change in scenery as we drive up in elevation from Karanda to Harare.  The climb is about 2,000 feet.  We go from rural land with thorn bushes and elephant grass, to rich farmland.  As we get closer to Harare we begin to see orchards that line the road and huge farms.  One thing we love about Zimbabwe is the rugged mountains and stone outcroppings as far as the eye can see.  As the rains have come to most of Zimbabwe, things have turned so green and the land is just beautiful.  We hope we can experience more of Zimbabwe’s beauty and what she has to offer.  We love Africa!   

A gorgeous rainbow blessed us here at Karanda!

A Dishpan of Water

In light of our frequent water cut-offs we wanted to see what creative ideas you have as readers.  How many ways (using the same water) can you think of to use one dishpan of water?  Get those creative juices running!

We are in the midst of our rainy season with very little rain.  Here at Karanda, they have a season of intense rains from mid-October through about March.  Then there is no rain until the following October.  So it is vital that we get these good rains during this season, because they sustain us through the rest of the year.  We have had maybe 6 strong rains this season and though it is nice and green, the farmers are very concerned.  Also because of the lack of rain, we have had abnormally hot weather.  It has been in the triple digits on and off for the last several weeks.  As you consider how far one dishpan of water can stretch, please pray that God would send us this rain we so desperately need.  Then we will wait in expectation as we are instructed in Psalm 5:3, “In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”