Jungle Jaunt to Hospital Hustle

written August 30, 20ll

Have any of you gone on a jungle, mountain hike? In flip-flops? Friday, Sharon and I did just that. A teacher and some students invited us to go with them. They go quite frequently to look for food. Anyway, after finding a wild fig tree in our backyard (the fruit has a sweet/sour taste) we hiked on a trail that traverses a nearby hillside. First, we did the balancing act and tried to keep our flip-flops on while crossing a small river. On the trail again, we went up, up, passed beautiful jungle flowers and bamboo clumps; then off the trail, we bushwhacked on slippery slopes to look for mushrooms, all the while slipping around in our flip-flops. Finally we got back on the trail, which made for a much easier walk down the mountain. On our way down, we stopped to harvest some young bamboo shoots and dig for some wild roots, then down the trail we went, forded the river, traversed the hillside and finally arrived back home. That was fun!

Two hours later, Gayle and I found ourselves headed for the Meta hospital, which is 30 minutes south of here, with a mother and her two-year old daughter who had malaria. Thankfully, she had the mild form of malaria — P. Vivax. While waiting at the hospital for the girl’s test results, Gayle got a phone call from a teacher telling her that her son, Micah, was on his way to the same hospital doing an emergency run for a village woman who was about ready to give birth. About half way to the hospital, she delivered her son. Micah put the pedal to the metal, and just a soon as Gayle and I were finished with our village patients, Micah zoomed into the emergency parking area. We watched all the excitement as the hospital personnel grabbed their equipment, cut the babies cord and carried it off as it made lots of loud cries. The mother was put on a gurney and taken to the OB area.

With our patients taken care of, we made our way home for some much-needed rest. . .

I hope that gives you an idea of what life can be like at times around here. Please continue to pray that we will have the resources and the strength for the work the Lord would have us to do.

God bless,

Brenda