At the Last Minute

A supporter sent me this quote from the book, The Circle Maker, saying, "God is a God of making things happen at the last minute. God loves to play chicken to see how we will react." How true is that! We have seen that over and over as we have served here, from the moment we decided to come to Zimbabwe, until today. It started when our house in the U.S. wouldn't sell. We prayed and prayed for someone to even come look at it. Nothing happened month after month no matter what we did. Then we decided to rent it and within a month, our house was rented, we packed, and left for Zimbabwe. For some reason it was not time for us to sell our home.

From the very start I think God was saying, "I have some things to teach you and to refine in you. BUT I will be with you, I WILL PROVIDE, just walk and trust ME."

As you've traveled this journey with us, we've asked you to pray for things, and God always answers. His answers are not always what we are wanting or when we want them, but He always answers. Just a month ago we were praying for our water issue as 4 of our 5 boreholes had dried up. Many of you were praying, praying even for rain. It has rained a couple days now for a bit, and the water came back on just as we were at the bottom of our water barrel. We've had water every day since for half the day which is a praise!

Also,14 months ago, we asked for prayer for our car we purchased that got confiscated as we were getting it cleared to go into South Africa for a trip. The police said they suspected that it may have been stolen (before we bought it). That has been a long road of hearing we will never get it back, to we may possibly get it back but with a big price tag. This past weekend we went to town to get our monthly groceries, and there in the mission parking lot sat our car that had just been released! PRAISE GOD! We have 3 months left, but we got the car back!!!!! It will be a valuable addition to the hospital for short-term visiting doctors or even those who may come for longer like us. God returned it to us just at the last minute and in the meantime provided us with transportation when we needed it.

I was visited the other day by my friend who almost died after having her baby.  Her life is a miracle because of prayer.  Both she and her little boy are strong and doing well! God is at work, He hears our prayers, He has plans for us that we can't even imagine. I reminded my friend of that.

So hopefully we have grown in this adventure. Zimbabwe will be a part of who we are now for each one of us. As it says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

                                   

                                                

      

These two years have been a time of learning to trust God and allowing Him to use us in our weaknesses.  

Water Problems

The water had been off for a day and a half, but that is not unusual here at Karanda.  Then we got a call, "4 of the 5 boreholes have run dry!  Do what you can to manage until we can pump up water from the river!"  We quickly shot out a request for prayer and water came back on after the third day, with only a pitcher left from our resevoirs.  It was a  beautiful sound to hear our tank filling up at 5 AM!

But we still have a problem on our hands.  This is June, and the rains don't come until mid-November.  It is highly unusual to get any rain until then.  In the past, the water table has not been so low until later in the dry season, and so it is difficult not to worry.  Water is something you just don't do without.  If this was just our own home, or a small compound, it wouldn't be such a concern.  But we are a hospital with big water needs.

 Our hospital laundry is always busy keeping linens clean.

 The gardens provide almost all the food for patients enabling us to keep costs down.

A busy kitchen making "sadza", the staple (made from cornmeal).

This just touches a few areas where water is vital.  Right now the river is quite low.

We are not the only ones who use the river.  It is used to water vegetable gardens (what the people around us survive on), do laundry, water animals, as well as hauling back to their homes for daily needs.

The lack of water is a community problem, and many people from around the surrounding villages have been coming to our compound to get their water.  Our boreholes have been carrying a heavy burden.  But God promises to meet our needs.  The borehole we just drilled a couple of months ago is now meeting the needs of our compound, as well as our part in being responsible with the water we have.

Resevoirs of water for when it is turned off daily.  We use it sparingly and reuse water however we can for flushing toilets, etc.

A small tub of water can go a long way!  (especially when its a sweet baby who's been in it!)

Thank you to all who have been praying with us for God's provision or guidance in what to do with this water situation.  We are so grateful that in this place we have the Living Water Jesus talked about in John 4 when he met the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well.  Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water [the physical water] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  (John 4:13-14)

We have a great opportunity to share this abundant, life-giving water with those around in the community as they come to us seeking a basic need.  We look forward to see what God is doing and will do in both realms.

The Power of Prayer

One reason medicine in Africa is a drawing factor to us is the reliance we must have on God's hand.  There are many times when medicine is not available or procedures are not a possibility, and all we can do is pray.  This has also been a tough thing because it stretches us and it is difficult when the answer is not as we pray or hope.  But we believe, and continue to believe, that there is power in prayer.  We want to share a few ways we have seen that very evident in the past few months and even just in this week.

A young woman became our friend right soon after we arrived at Karanda.  She helped Dontie out in the classroom and Luke grew very attached to her.  After a number of months, she and her family moved away.  However, we get to see her from time to time as she returns for visits.  Several months ago, she announced that she was pregnant with her third child.  Her two former pregnancies had been very difficult and her boys were both born prematurely.  With each pregnancy she has struggled with dangerously high blood pressure during her 3rd trimester.

Just last week, she came out with very high blood pressure and an emergency C-section was conducted.  Baby boy #3 was born early and very little (3 kg), but strong.  However, our friend started going downhill.  She began oozing blood inside and it wouldn't stop.  It is a clotting problem called DIC.  This is the same thing that happened to the mother of the little girl we wrote about a number of months ago who died.  DIC is a dangerous thing anywhere in the world, but particularly dangerous here where there is a shortage of blood and only whole blood is able to be given.  Our friend received 5 units of blood (mostly given by nurses and staff here) and she teetered dangerously close to death.  People surrounded her praying for her healing.  She is well loved here and she had great numbers of people who were continually bringing her before the Lord, asking for complete healing.  It was just this past weekend that she was in critical condition.

Today, I went down to visit our friend, and found her cuddled close to her little boy and smiling.  She knows she should not be alive, BUT SHE IS!  That is God and only God!  We spent some time rejoicing and thanking God for her life and the life of her sweet little boy as he grows stronger each day.   James 5:16 encourages us, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

The awesome thing is that prayer is not only for adults and "spiritual giants", but God's power is evident even in the answer to a child's prayer.  Matthew 18:4 says, "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."  Many of you know we have been struggling over the past number of months with continual outbreaks of abscesses.  Every one in our house has had them, and the treatment for them is painful.  Leena had a series of 3 on her face just at 3 weeks old, and had to have them cut open and drained.  Just a couple of weeks ago, little Christopher had one pop up on his stomach area and it got nasty overnight.  Unfortunately, he knows what it takes to get them better and he has become very fearful of them.  We prayed that night over his sore and he continued on in prayer, with all his heart, that God would heal it and it wouldn't have to be cut open.  The next morning, the redness had reduced in size and even though Christopher did have to squeeze it, he didn't have to go down to the hospital and have it incized.  Little Christopher continued to pray each day for healing, and within 2 days it was almost gone.  This was the prayer of a child!  We thank those of you who have surrounded us, over the ocean, praying for our healing.  Your prayers have touched us and as of right now we are all healthy.  Thank you for praying over us and know there is still power in prayer, even from the mouths of babes.

African Mother's Day and Vacation

This has been an exciting month getting to share our life here with family.  Christopher's mother visited us for just over two weeks.

 A part of her time here was over Mother's Day and what a special Mother's Day it was for Dontie.

After church, the women's group came to our house singing and dancing.  They surrounded Leena and Dontie in a time of prayer and blessing as a welcome to Leena.  There was a spiritual challenge given to Dontie as a parent and the pastor's wife blessed our sweet girl.  This meant so very much to Dontie to have the women share this special time with her and for Christopher's mother to experience it as well.  We then were invited to a traditional Shona meal at the home of one of the church ladies.  What a treat!

After giving Christopher's mom a good rural exposure to Zimbabwe, we headed off for Victoria Falls on a 12 hour busride!  Victoria Falls is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.  We stayed in a lodge that's walls opened up onto the gamepark like a tent and wild animals just wandered around in our "yard".

warthogs everywhere around the lodge

We were able to relax and also fill our time with fun explorations of the area around us.  Here are some of the animals seen on a safari that Christopher and his mom took for a day.

 A kingfisher bird

Giraffe with oxpeckers on his neck

Wonderful views of hippos

This is an area of Africa where there are many elephants.

A male kudu

We enjoyed learning about the Ndebele culture (the tribe of this part of Zimbabwe),

 and then Christopher bungee jumped off the third tallest jump in Africa.

After all that excitment, we walked the trail around the falls and were thoroughly soaked as the mist (which at points was like a rainshower) billowed up from the powerful falls.

We are so thankful to have the chance to get away and enjoy another area of Zimbabwe, making memories, and sharing them with family.

Under Construction

The past two weeks have been exciting around Karanda.  Our hospital has been dealing with water issues and shortages for quite some time now, and we were finally able to get enough funds to have a new borehole drilled.  The boreholes we already have not only provide water for the hospital and the staff living on the compound, but also for the community around us who come in to collect water.  So we have struggled to have enough even to make it through half a day each day.  We are hoping that with a new borehole, we will be able to meet the growing needs and have enough water to make it through the dry season (which has now started and lasts through mid-November).  There was much excitement as a truck with an air compressor on it and the drilling "rig" came onto our compound!

Setting up to drill. Check out the HUGE air compressor in the truck by the tree! It was very loud!

A few of the spectators.  This was before the great cloud of rock dust erupted and everyone ran screaming!

This is just a little bit of the rock dust that was all over the compound.

The other exciting construction event was one of completion.  The new Male Ward had its opening day on Tuesday, April 30th.

 This has been a project in the making since 1980.  It was a need that never had sufficient funds to see it to fruition, until now.  Back in 1980, the then used male ward started meeting its limits in occupancy.  This has been a continuing problem over the past 30 years.  There were many who were praising God as the ribbon was cut signifying the opening of a beautiful new building.

The nurses' station.

Spacious and bright rooms

Of course we had to have an opening ceremony for the boys' room so that they too could cut a ribbon!

In our house there is always something under construction, whether that is legos, train tracks, or some sort of boat made out of beds and toy boxes.  On this day, we were superheros saving the people of Karanda from bugs and imaginary bad guys!

Leena Grace is now 2 1/2 months old.  She keeps growing and fills our house with coohs and great smiles.  She is a joy to us!

We are looking forward to the numbers of volunteers and work teams scheduled to come out over the next 2 months.  This will keep our compound very active and exciting!  Keep praying that our lives will show the construction God is doing in each of us and that we will remain a work in progress.  

Easter Meetings

A month has flown by, and we are looking towards a season that is going to fly even faster.  As we move into the month of April and May we begin to see a good number of volunteers and short-term teams coming out to help at Karanda.  We love the activity and new faces (and some ones we got to know last year) around on the campus.  It also means a lot more help with the busy load of patients who come to our doors. Rains have ended and we can now cross the river!  That means a lot quicker trip to Harare (with a lot less bumps) and the patients who have needed to come can now cross.  We continue to pray with the rest of the community for a bridge to be built.

Leena Grace has been working hard at growing and enjoys here brothers' attention.  She is now over one month old!

We hope you had a wonderful Easter.  Easter here is quite a bit different from the United States.  The church here has what is called Easter Meetings.  They meet, along with other churches, to have a weekend of services, meetings, lessons and fellowship.  Christopher was able to go along this year and spend one night.  Here are some pictures of the time he was there.  

The Easter Meeting Christopher attended was with our local pastor at Rusambo, a former mission station, one hour north from Karanda Mission Hospital.

Uniforms are important in Zimbabwe.  The women dress in a certain outfit for their church denomination.  This is one of the services inside the church.

At night he enjoyed worship with dancing and singing!

The second night of Easter Meetings, they showed the Jesus film on the outside of the church building.  The film is in Shona, the language of the area we work.  

With how busy the hospital gets, Christopher has not been able to get away and participate in outreaches and rural activities of the hospital such as this.  He was happy to be a part of this experience and hopes with this season of help coming to Karanda, he can do more things like this before we leave.  

We also want to share that our TEP (our work permit) has been extended through the end of this year!  We are thankful that this was not a big ordeal like last year, and we can focus on ending strong here at Karanda.  Thank you for your continued prayers in many different areas.  You lift us up!

And Now We are 5!

Introducing the newest member of the Kidwell Family:

Leena Grace Kidwell

born Friday, February 22, 2013

at 5:58 PM

on the Karanda Hospital Mission Station 

Zimbabwe

Dear Leena (light),

Its been a long journey this past month, but we finally did it!  Your birth was the light at the end of the tunnel for me to get through the number of nights of contractions and no sleep.  How appropriate is your name now to this birth story.  You were so very worth every minute of it though, and I praise God for the blessing of your life and having you in my arms.  We have loved you from the moment we knew of your existence.  God has had His hand on your life in so many ways already.  

Here is our story of your birthday:

Thursday night mommy started early labor (once again) and it was much harder this time around so we hoped this was for real.  But once more, at 5:00 AM, the contractions petered out, leaving mommy very tired and in a heap of tears.  Throughout the morning, mommy continued with contractions every 10 minutes, and finally at 2:00 PM they began to become more regular and strong again.  

God ordained a wonderful couple (who just happened to come out for the weekend) to take care of your brothers for the afternoon not knowing if this was it, or if it was more false labor.  You were 2 days past your due date, so we were really hoping this was near the end.  They took Saint and Luke down to play at the guesthouse at 4:30 PM, and by the time they were out the door, mommy was already feeling very strong contractions.  But upon checking mommy, she was only still 3 cm dilated, which is what she had been for 3 weeks.  Within the hour, mommy knew she couldn't possibly be 3 cm still, and asked daddy (he's a doctor) to check once again.  Sure enough, mommy was now at least 7 cm dilated!  Daddy rushed around to go get a car to take us down to the hospital.  While he was gone, our friend, Miss Rejoice (a midwife here) came to help.  She has helped mommy through a number of tiring nights and took such good care of the both of us.

Before daddy got back with the car, mommy was already fully dilated and her water broke walking to the door.  Daddy and Miss Rejoice helped mommy lie down on the living room floor and in a few minutes you graced us with your beautiful cry of life!  We did it little girl!  

You were born 2 minutes before 6 in the evening at our house, which was not at all in OUR plan!  But God had it all worked out.  He had and has HIS hand on your life.  There was a flurry of nurses and midwives in and out helping make sure everything was alright, and by the time your brothers came back from their play date, you were snuggled up with mommy on the bed.  What a blessing!

You weighed 3 kg. exactly (6.6 lbs), and were 48.5 cm (19 inches).  What a little lady.  Welcome to our family!

Always loving you,

Mommy