Jipe Moyo - take heart, be of courage

Acts 28:8 (New International Version)

⁸His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, right? Right. But also faith may come by trials. It may come by suffering. Isn't it true that when we face trials of many kinds we're to count it as pure joy! Why? Because the testing of faith develops perseverance and perseverance must finish its work so we can be mature and complete.

I've never been in so much need of prayer and I've never seen such blatant answer to prayer.

In no particular order and certainly not covering it all:

1. Luke's latest bout with dysentery (yes a fever and dysentery...just like from Acts 28:8). Luke had amoebic and bacterial dysentery. The treatment is fairly simple and after 24 hours, there is improvement and after 48, they are much better. We began treating Luke and after a day and a half felt it was improving enough we could return home. We'd been in the capital because of the malaria but the dysentery came day two of malaria so we hadn't returned home. After 3 days on medicine the condition was worsening. We called the Doctor in our town and realized that because of the loss of blood (sorry if that's too much information...I'll be as specific as you want in person for all you interested in the details) and because of a few other possible problems, we were told to grab the passports and head to the capital in case he needed further treatment. Now, further treatment can mean a lot of things, one of which a blood transfusion. No one wants that for their child, but in Africa, it's to be avoided at all costs. We asked for prayer via my mom (THANKS MOM!) and by the time we got to the doctor, the dysentery began clearing up and the stool sample showed that he was free and clear. We were able to go home the very next day.

2. A few days before that, Luke was diagnosed with a 7 count malaria case. That's pretty high, especially considering his age and the fact that he is on good medicine to prevent malaria. (And yes, of course we were doing everything within our power to prevent malaria the good old fashioned, avoid the bites in the first place way.) The fact that the diagnosis came was nothing short of miraculous b/c the only doctor with adequate training (in my opinion) within about 3 hours was able to see him and give him the shot of treatment he needed in order to help him immediately. We went to Dar in case things got worse. He seemed okay at the moment we made that decision. However, he quickly began getting worse. His fever was coming down (with alternating medicine) to the 100-101 range but within hours, even with alternating meds and cooling him down, his fever began shooting up. It read 104.5 and often reads 2 degrees under what it actually is...for instance, that same time, mine read 95. That's with us doing everything we could do. We got him to Aga Khan, a hospital founded by people from the Islamic faith and it was in fact reading over 104. They couldn't give him medicine b/c he'd had all his body could take. We ran a few other tests, and found that he was also battling a bacterial infection (which we found out later was dysentery.) A prayer request had been sent on the way to the hospital and by the time we left, he was fever free for the first time in days. Malaria can do that...spike and then go away. The issue was, however, that it happened immediately following prayer. The doctor marveled at what he saw and said it must be the "magic of a hospital." We were able to share with him that we had friends and family praying in the states and we attributed it to that.

3. While we're on malaria, the time before when Luke and Levi had malaria at the same time, they never really got very sick. I look back and see that was on a Sunday when many were gathered together to pray for them. I see how mild the cases were and originally thought it was the medicine. That wasn't a bad assumption b/c their medicine is really good. BUT...now I see that God was sparing them and answering prayer.

4. Here in Dallas, Luke's unexplained fever was getting higher every day. There were a few scary possibilities, but I was at the point I could handle any diagnosis...I just wanted to know what was wrong. We went to the hospital and had many people here in Dallas, as well as at home praying. Again, the fever broke at the hospital and never came back. Now he is right as rain.

5. Our first week in Africa, I looked around at how different life was and would be and realized that only by God's grace could we minister in such a different place with different people. God, through prayer, took those misgivings and fears away and I was able to see the people as they really were...just people created by God to worship Him.

We did pray (often) for health. God didn't shield us from these storms (though he did shield us from other ones), but he saw us through them and revealed Himself to us through them. We had to persevere and were matured through the difficult times. Some would say that to persevere would have meant to stay longer. Some would say we shouldn't have gone in the first place. Time can settle much, but I can tell you that God saw us through each time and was, is, and always will be faithful! We (all of us, kids included) gained much...one thing being, God is big enough to hear our prayers and good enough to intervene on our behalf.

Source of peace

Hey guys,
This blog has been on the back burner for obvious reasons. But now, all the kids are healthy and during this reflection, we're walking away with SO much. We are excited to share face to face, one on one with each person that has walked through this with us, through prayer and financial support. This blog is, however a good place to start.

My last entry was about the peace I saw a friend have during a difficult day for her. I had a very similar difficult few days recently...on many fronts. I see now, "my grace is sufficient for you." I don't think God gives us grace to go through other people's problems. He does, however give us grace to go through our own. When we found out that Luke had such bad malaria, I felt confident that God was in control and that He was good. I had that peace that only the Lord can give. Also, as I watched him get sicker through the night but didn't know what was wrong, I did experience that same sort of peace.

I compare that to times that I walked through illnesses with the kids and didn't have such peace. (One particular malaria case with Charis) The difference? I think it's in the "what-ifs." With Luke, we did have our contingency plans. For instance, we took him to the capital city so that we could have somewhat good care should we need it (and we did). We carried with us what we needed to bring his fever down and we sent out prayer requests immediately. We were prepared, but when my brain went into "what-if" mode (and I know every parent knows what I mean), I took my thoughts captive and enjoyed the peace that comes from knowing a. people are praying, and b. God is good and in control. It was also critical to choose to worship the Lord, looking for ways to serve Him not only despite of the illnesses but through them. Rejoice in suffering. Did I do this though each illness? Not at all! Did I accept God's peace that passes understanding during each moment and just worship him as I watched my children suffer? Nope! But do I understand that peace better than I ever have, not in spite of the suffering but because of it? Absolutely. I told a friend of mine that I experienced peace probably 90% of my time in Africa and she seemed surprised. I guess the only explanation...His grace is sufficient for me. Anyone who knows me, knows that surely if God provides peace during difficult times to me, He can provide it for anyone. It's a gift from Him.

Oh that no one would have been walking through this with us and see anything other than God's goodness and faithfulness. We saw it clearly and felt His comfort stronger than ever before. Now as our future is unclear (more on that later), we are having to chose that same mindset (taking thoughts captive, trusting that God is able and good). We're walking by faith and trying to remember that verse in James that talks about saying "if it is the Lord's will, we will . . .". It's not such a bad place to be:)

peace

Real peace. Peace that passes understanding. Saturday we were scheduled to go on a real safari but because of illness we had to stay home. At about 6 am we heard a quiet "hodi" at our door. The visitor was a korean mother studying swahili with us and she was coming for help for her very sick husband. His fever was high and he was vomiting. Here the first assumptuon is malaria and it is critical to act quickly. I grabbed the malaria kit, did the test and 15 minutes later read a negative result. He was so sick though. False negatives do happen and early treatment can easily be the difference between life and death. She walked over to the clinic to try a second test but the electricity was out and without it the doctor could not work. All that could be done was to wait. A few hours later levi began complaining of severe tummy pain and I went to ask my good friend from korea what I should do. I looked into the open door and she was sitting in a wooden chair witrh a bible and notebook in hand yet crying. I assumed she was worried but within a moment I realized that no, she was praying and drawing near to God in the midst of a hot day of caring for a sick loved one and not knowing what medicine is needed. She was clearly at peace. Full of it in fact! I took her son out to play with my kids and she brought out coke and we all had a nice picnic. Her husband quickly recovered without medicine despite the serious state he had been in. I don't pretend to understand all the sickness and faithfulness of GOD but I wonder if God didn't miraculousy heal him. Peace is so often felt in america...from time with family to vegging in front of the tv...from attending church in a comfy building to enjoying the great outdoors. But peace that passes understanding...that comes in the midst of the shadow of death...while your husband lie moaning on a mat on a concrete floor and you have nothing to offer, that kind has one source alone. I thank god they are here to spread the same peace among such a wonderful people...the peace of Jesus Christ.

Malaria

Wanted to update a post. We're in an internet cafe two days in a row! Lucky us. It even has air conditioning. But...sadly we're here waiting on some more malaria tests and a few other samples from the local clinic. We were prepared to be sick while here (both emotionally and literally...with medicines and medical books). We weren't expecting quite as much sickness though. God has proven faithful though! Say a quick prayer if you get a chance. It is a spiritual battle we're in.

oh the difficulties of Africa:)

Well, I thought with this blog spot we'd get to post more often. Just to give you a taste of African living (which I must admit has a lot of great parts...like coke from glass bottles, and never having to worry about being on time!). To post this short blog, we tried for several days to get online at language school...to no avail. So we loaded up and drove to the Oasis...the nice hotel that offers wireless internet. Upon arrival, we learned, that their internet was not working. We drove to another hotel, where they assured us that we can get online with wireless. They walked us around to the back and showed us the computer. It's hot in the room and there are kids in their late teens playing shoot em up video games. It doesn't smell nice. We decide that we'd try somewhere else. Wireless would allow us to skype with a coworker and we really need to do that. We drove through town. As we're approaching the round about (called Keepe Lefte here) a we have to stop to wait for our turn. When we do that, a car cuts us off and we remember that African road rules are very different. You don't wait your turn, you edge out and take a risk. Luckily, we were able to do that without hiccup and we landed in a nice airconditioned internet cafe buty with no wireless. We take a moment to do facebook and gmail, never quite clearning the inbox. And here I am...sitting in a cubicle! Not too bad. It's a successful day! (I hope it's clear, I'm really not complaining or offereing excuses. These types of things are to be expected in a developing country. Just filling you in.)

an average day

An average day looks something like this:
Up at 6:00
Breakfast at 7:00
Devotional at 7:45 (only we are usually tied up taking the kids to school and miss it)
Class at 8:00 (whole group instruction...vocab and grammar)
Chai at 10:00
Class at 10:30 (more whole group and then small group practice)
Lunch at noon (we get the kids from kindergarten first)
Siesta time (only there is no swahili word for this much needed concept in the tropics) - two days a week we meet in the commons room to study the word of God...with people from TZ, Ghana, Nigeria, Indonesia, India, America, Finland, Canada...I'm probably leaving someone out!
2:30 more small group practice
4:00 afternoon tea time
4:30 break...to do some laundry by hand, study, catch up on internet if it is working, have a quiet time, build relationships,
5:30 kids showers
6:00 dinner
6:30 kids in bed *to avoid bites...we don't make them sleep yet, we read to them (right now it's Magician's Nephew)
Evening is time for more studying and a little r and r time...a lot of reflection to take in all the new experiences of the day
Bed comes early...before 9:00

chameleon

Am I remembering the song right...by Boy George...
cama-cama-cama-cama-chameleon.?

If so, that means like, like, like, like, like, chameleon in Kiswahili.

The other day, we saw a chameleon that was about a foot long! I had a bright idea to pick it up with a tree branch and put it on a red shirt. (The shirt was laying on the ground, not on me!) It never did change colors...stupid environmentalist! (Go green) Sister C, Mrs brave herself, from Nigeria, was scared to death. We all have our weak spots.

nina watoto watatu

That's the closest way to say that I have three children. It actually means "I am with three children." The idea of ownership here is...non-existent...or very very minimal.

I am with a computer...irregardless of rather it's mine or not. I am with a house, thankfully! This is a very communal society and what I have, you have and vice versa. It's not uncommon to be asked for a ride. In America we have the idea that I have a car and you don't, so I drive and you walk...unless I know you well and then, sure hop in! Well, here we can't give rides to total strangers so we have decided to only give rides to those we know. They work very hard and walk far, so a short ride isn't really such a big deal. One day we had a car full of language school friends and a total stranger asked for a ride as we rounded a corner. One of the Tanzanian teachers showed us how to say (with our hands) that we were full. I thought it was funny that it would have to be for that reason that we refuse a person, but it isn't my job to assess this culture...it's my job to learn it. By the way, you hold your hand out, face down and bend your fingers up and down, like you're picking up a bunch of little things off the ground. You never know when knowing that might come in handy:).

agghh! Kumbe!

We've been trying to blog for about a month. The truth is that internet is super slow here and that's when it's working. I have yet to even be able to pull up our yolasite blog/web page. I can get to it from the office, but that's a drive into town and doesn't always work at that! So...we're going to try a new approach...blogspot. My hope is that we can do a better job with this. I'm going to cut and paste from old emails and things so that I can try to record some from the past month. Other than that, say a prayer for me that we'll be able to continue updating this specific blog.