“Often our plans fail, that God’s plans for us may succeed.” MH 473.3
We thought we had it all figured out nicely. With 3 of us working here now, we decided that I would work with only Jerry for one week, then only BletJhaw for one week and then all 3 together for one week. This seemed great because I could stay in BYT all the time, and the week that Jerry works with me would give him more work to do. (Even though he speaks very little English and I speak limited Karen)!
BletJhaw took the first week off because he had an enormous amount of errands to run at his house. Jerry and I began the week with a bang. Right away a BYT lady, YeGhah, came slowly walking to our house. She was over 9 months pregnant and said the doctor told her she wouldn’t have her baby until she was over 10 months! However, now she was having labor pains and didn’t know what to do because there was no way she could ride all that way on the back of a motorbike. There was only one solution: I would take her to MDG clinic where her records are – and I’d better hurry unless I wanted to perform a difficult delivery singlehandedly with possible complications.
Before driving I said an earnest prayer for help. As I drove out of BYT, I realized that I have not driven on the bad roads for quite sometime. I only drive in an emergency. Usually BletJhaw is here and he does all the driving. I didn’t have to go far before I faced a real problem. They were putting concrete down in the WST corners and I must take an impossible narrow line between fresh concrete and the bank – at the same time we are driving uphill. The first corner was way too narrow to accomplish. As I was backing up and creeping forward and backing up again, one of the workers said he would drive it through for me. All too gladly I surrendered the steering wheel to him and watched him struggle to get that truck around 2 really tight corners. I never could have done that. The rest of the trip went well.
We left YeGhah and her husband with the medical staff and as I drove toward BYT, I was inwardly dreading that concrete section. Fortunately the workmen were still there and the same young man got my truck through, though it was even harder coming from this direction.
Now I am dreading the next day, because we hear that a lady, SoLaChiMo, in MeDeLeGwee, (MDLG) is very sick and they want us to please check her. We know the lady quite well and understood that she had complications delivering her sixth child just 5 weeks ago. She had become numb and tingling from her waist down before the delivery, which got worse after the delivery. Her baby died after 4 weeks and during this entire time she could not eat or drink much of anything and I knew that I must go to her. We could walk there, but that would take 2 hours and if she needed to go to the hospital we would have to go all the way back and get the truck. I was thinking about that concrete section and the most horrible road going down to MDLG it was a long way. Could I make it, I wondered? With God’s help I can do all things! It must be done!
. . . But God had a wonderful surprise for me! When we returned home, there was BletJhaw! He had miraculously gotten everything done in just 2 days. He had hurried to get to us by the evening because he was worried about me driving all the way into MDLG the next day! I know the Holy Spirit sent him. Immediately I felt a weight fall off my shoulders and breathed a big thank you prayer to Jesus.
BletJhaw had done a wonderfully self sacrificing thing. I really appreciated it because as soon as he came we were able to go to WST and have our routine worship. In the morning we went to MDLG in the truck. BletJhaw skillfully maneuvered that truck around those 2 corners, though it was extremely difficult. The MDLG road was terrible. I was so thankful that BletJhaw was driving it. At times I thought it might be impossible, but we made it. When we arrived we saw that SoLaChiMo was indeed sick and needed hospital care.
Here she lies, they had just done some kind of devil ceremony on her stomach and were waiting to see if that helped her. The husband is cooking us dinner in the background.
The Devil magic seemed to do no good, so she said she would go with us, but wanted to go the next day because she feared the elephants that late in the afternoon, so we had time to treat the sick in that village and have a lovely worship with the people:
The little boy holding the picture loved the story of the good shepherd. I pray that everybody saw the love of Jesus for them in that story!
Our day is definitely not over yet. This man with the white hat became very persistent with BletJhaw that we needed to go to KwyCo village and check his daughter. She is short of breath.
We hesitate because each one of us has had a busy and tiresome day, and we must return in the morning. But the thought of Jesus, pressed by the multitude, called to visit Jairus’s house did not hesitate. All who came to Him were tenderly cared for. This persistent man jumped into the back of our truck as we were leaving and made sure we turned the right way toward his village. Sure enough his daughter was in great distress with an asthma attack. Fortunately I had one ventalin inhaler in my medicine bag which brought her enough help to make it through the night. We would pick her up in the morning.
Finally our day seemed to be completed and we headed home in the late twilight hours. Upon arriving however, we discover that TheyMo had been waiting to tell us that his wife in NeLeeGwee (NLG) village was desperately sick with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea for 5 days. She was too weak to walk, could we please come! We know we must go all the way into NLG village that night – BletJhaw driving the nasty roads again in the dark. Thankfulness to BletJhaw swells up in my heart. He has no idea how valuable, loyal, and skillful he is in this work, though I tell him time and time again!
TheyMo’s wife is indeed very sick with abdominal pain, fever and dehydration.
It is very late now – we are hungry and yawning. I am able to give her IV fluids and treat her with medicine and an injection that will calm her stomach. She is lying by the fire and the little bamboo hut is filled with smoke making it hard to breath at times, but we wait for all the fluid to infuse, and the medicine to take effect, then we pray for her before leaving.
The next morning we are on our way to 2 villages, and then on to the hospital the long way through the elephant playground. But every patient is cared for properly.
On the way home I hear BletJhaw in a soft voice say: “I’m glad I came!”