A Little Encouragement

Wednesday night we had our first Kipangi. This is basically a big covered-dish meal. Traditionally one is held monthly. All of the missionaries and visiting work teams were there. Sarah fixed pies and had our helpers make cookies. BBQ beef was the main ingredient. It was hard to meet everybody. We are quickly learning that there are constantly people in and out of this place.

Work has been okay for Ashley. He is battling the slow pace of things in the wards, such a the time it takes to receive lab results, but he is starting to learn his way around. He is also beginning to build relationships with other staff members. It occasionally gets discouraging for him thinking “what am I doing just seeing all of these patients”. However he began reading the chaplains notes in the charts which made him smile. They says things such as “ I prayed and provided encouragement from the Bible” or “I shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with this patient”. The other day Ashley had a patient who he and the surgeons decided should go to hospice care. He asked the patient is she knew if she would go to heaven if she died. She did not know for sure. The chaplain shared the gospel with her earlier, but she was not ready to surrender her life with Christ. The next day Ashley asked her if she was ready then. The nurse then led her in a prayer to receive the hope of Jesus Christ. What a blessing! He also had patients smile and thanks him the other day as they left the hospital, which made his day.

Sarah has been building relationships with her workers. They talk a lot and when they go to have their “chai” (tea) time, she invites them to sit at the table with her. The other day the girls were discussing a wedding they were going to and Sarah shared about ours and showed them the wedding album. They are all very thankful for the growing friendship.

Maggie is becoming more well known around the facility. She is playing more now with the other kids, but native and Mks and seems to enjoy it. She also is sleeping better now through the night.

This weekend Ashley has been on call. It has not been that busy, but he has had to stay around the house to answer the phone. Some of the patients have been intimidating, but he is learning to do the best he can with the resources he has available.

Saturday night we had our first guests over- 2 couples. One is a couple from near home, Anderson, SC. They are a pair of FP’s, one of which Ashley went to college with (small world). The other is a couple from Massachusetts. They are 1 year into a 2 year commitment. He recently finished surgery residency and she is a nurse. We all pitched in on food and had a good time of just sitting around and talking with one another. We love our colleagues here, but these folks are the closest to our age.