Healing Body, Heart, and Soul One Person at a Time

Over the past two months, I have had various opportunities to show the love of Jesus through providing medical treatment for the sick. In the US, I think we take medical care for granted sometimes, but my eyes have really been opened up to see that medical care is a precious gift for the people of Uganda-one that is not easily given. God's heart has surely directed me to the lonely, the sick, and the suffering, and I cannot help but respond to their cry for help. I know that I will never be a Medical Doctor, but in my heart I will always have a special place for the sick. I also believe that one day I will not only be paying for and/or providing medical services, but also I will be praying for and witnessing miraculous healings.

Here are just two stories of these precious people I have been able to touch by providing medical treatment.

$4 US Dollars Saves a Life
Early one morning a young girl about the age of eleven appeared at our church. (We had been praying all night so many people had spent the night there.) She asked for the Pastor and said that the matter was extremely urgent. She had walked for miles to tell us that her mother was very sick at home and had not been able to eat for days and could drink very little. You could see the worry and concern in this young girl's face, and we were all aware that the mother was the sole caregiver for her five children. (This family was enrolled in our Sponsorship Program; therefore, we knew all of their background.) We reassured the girl that we would come and take the mother to the clinic and pay the medical treatment costs. Pastor Victor and Peter took the motorcycle to collect the woman and bring her to the town for treatment. We found out that the woman had many sores in her throat, which was making it very difficult for her to swallow. After receiving the proper medication to treat her illness (a total cost of $4), we said a prayer for her and then took her home.

Two weeks later, the woman visited our church and stood up to testify that she had been completely healed. She tearfully recounted her story and gave all the glory and honor to the Lord. She said that as a result of the Lord healing her life she made the choice to get saved. She ended her testimony by thanking us for our assistance. The gratitude on her face warmed my heart more than I will ever be able to describe and again reminded me of why God has sent me to Uganda. In addition, this incident sincerely left a lasting impression on me because I could not stop thinking about the fact that this woman could have died because she did not have $4 to pay for medical treatment. I thought about how many people were just like her, but never had anyone to help them pay less than $5 for medical care and died as a result. I thank God that this woman's life was saved, but I pray for God to continue to give us opportunities to bring life and hope to others.

Blessing Jesus Through a Small Child
I was sitting in my house writing some letters when I heard the voices of children outside. I got up to see who was out there, but before I could reach the door a small girl, about the age of 3, came walking toward me desperately crying out, "Abooki food". I took her quickly in my arms because I could see from how she was walking and talking that she was quite sick. When I brought her near I felt her body burning up and could hear that her breathing was very shallow. Her little brother entered the house and told me that his sister was very sick. (These children often come to my house for food because they live very near my home. They are always poorly dressed and extremely dirty. Their mother does not seem to mind about their well being. In fact, she just goes around the town begging for food and money.)

I told the boy that we were going to go to the clinic and I picked up the little girl and carried her to the nearby medical clinic in town. They began to ask me how long she had been sick and where her mother was. I informed them that I did not know how long she had been sick because she had just come with her little brother to my house today. I told them I also could not tell where the mother was because these children often wandered around alone. They took the girl's temperature and told me her fever was very high. Then they proceeded to take her blood. This process was very difficult for me because, of course, the little girl was in pain. I held her tightly in my arms to comfort her and prayed for her to have peace. She quickly stopped crying and even said "Bye" to the nurse who took her blood.

We then waited for her results. The doctor retook her temperature when she came to see her. It had risen two degrees in that short time. The doctor informed me that the difficulty in breathing was caused by the high fever. She then said that the blood test revealed the girl had severe malaria, and they would need to give her an injection and a number of tablets for treatment. I told the doctor I would keep the medication and administer it three times a day because I knew that the mother would not take the responsibility to do it.

For the next five days, I administered the tablets three times a day to that little girl. It did not take a big sacrifice on my part to complete this task, but I knew in my heart that each time I gave that little girl her medication I was ministering to Jesus. In my mind, I considered this act to be very small--After all, I only paid $7 for her medication and was just handing her tablets to swallow and food to eat--yet, in my spirit, I strongly felt the Lord's pleasure in my actions.

Always remember that although our little acts of kindness may seem very small in our human eyes, they bring great delight to the heart of God and are magnified in His kingdom. Never stop blessing others with simple acts of kindness! Those who have made the strongest impact on others and have changed their society for the better did not do one great big task; instead, they consistently did small acts of love and service. These simple acts of kindness are what change the world!