Ministry of Presence and Compassion

Hello Everyone, it has been a very busy week here in Mozambique and our team have been faced with many different things. After the initial shock of being in Africa, the team has settled into their new home and it has been a fun adventure getting used to all of the changes. The staff at the camp is so welcoming and makes us feel like family in so many ways which has helped the transition to be much easier. One of my most favorite times is when we all gather in the mornings to have devotions with all of the staff, workers, and visitors. One of the local Pastors, and very good friend, François shared early this week about the importance of the ministry of presence as we care for others. He challenged us to seek out the opportunities to look each other in the eyes and truly see what struggles were weighing heavy on our neighbors hearts. He spoke of compassion and love for the needy and sick, and as the week continued, that has resonated so many times as our team has been given many opportunities to care for the people we are in contact with.
The week started with our team touring the different communities, schools, clinic, and being able to be part of a women’s meeting. In Africa, women are not given the opportunity to go to school like they are in Canada, and the education of women is not valued. One of the passions of ASAM is to support the education of women, and so many different communities have been blessed with the Thursday morning education sessions. It was such a blessing for our team as we sat on a matt on the dirt and watched the women walk in to meet us under a tree. These women were of all ages, even a 62 year old Grandma came to try and learn to read and write. School is a bit different for them though, as they come with their babies on their back, a small tattered notebook and some broken pencils. But as I sat there and watched I was amazed at the concentration on their faces and the strong desire to learn. Despite the huge obstacles in their way, these women meet under a tree once a week, to learn to read and write bible verses with eager hearts. The nursing students were able to share some of their information, but I know that these women taught all of us so much more through their example of dedication and the warm loving spirits that each of them displayed.
Our team was met with much joy this week as we toured the school and preschool. The children although a bit hesitant at times quickly warm up to the students and are eager to hold hands, laugh, and play games. Despite their obvious hunger and need, they are the same kids as what we see in Canada and desire to be loved and cherished. It is hard to express in words what it is like to have a little child with a dirt stained face look at you and smile and quietly slip their little hand in yours. It especially blessed my heart as I saw little faces that I recognized from last years trip and heard them quietly whisper “Suzannah” as they pointed to me. It reminded me of the responsibility that we have as a team to these children and the impact that our visits make in their lives. We aren’t able to remove them from their circumstances, and we aren’t able to take away their entire struggle. But we have been given the opportunity to share love with them, laugh with them, and communicate how precious they are…. That is an honor that I cherish and one that can easily be overlooked. It was so great to see the faces of the students as they were able to experience this relationship for the first time. Their laughter joined with the children as they played soccer, or looked at the wall paintings, or just stood holding hands. I could see the passion building in the students lives which excited me as I know that God has brought each of them here for a purpose.
After the school, we were able to go and see the clinics that have been running now for years. The students were able to meet the three Soccarista’s – nurses that have been working and training here, and also get a feel for their environment. I am always amazed at how hard these men work, and how much they care for the people in the community. Even though this is my fourth visit to these clinics, it always shocks me at the contrast between their little rooms and the huge ER I work in at home. Their medication and supplies are low and they have many sick people to see, and yet they are excited and smiling while they work. We are excited as a team to be able to help in these clinics. As we were leaving the clinic, we were greeted with I would call God’s reminder of hope in a place that is often hopeless. A brand new baby, her mother who had delivered her throughout the night, and a local birth attendant were bringing the baby to be weighed. The mother, although tired, stood with pride holding the little girl and as I peeked through the blankets and saw the little lips and nose, and head of hair, I praised God for his blessing of new life. All babies are precious and I am blessed to be part of deliveries back home in Canada, but somehow in Africa, where death and new life are so raw…. The presence of a new little one spoke of God’s faithfulness and joy so loudly to my heart.

Our team was also faced with many difficult struggles this week….. The reality of Africa hit like a ton a bricks to all of us.

We met a Grandma from the community that has suffered with her health for many years. Recently she has broken her hip, and now is struggling with Abdomen pain and digestion difficulties. As we walked up to see her, we found her lying on a cold cement pad outside of her house with blankets around her shoulders. It was obvious that she was in pain and not doing well as she moaned quietly as I assessed her. What struck many of us the most was that she was a Grandma lying on a cold hard floor, by herself…… and it was hard to see? I have met this Grandma many times in the past, and I know that she isn’t alone. She is part of a community, and I have learned time and time again in Africa how much they value Community. This Grandma has a neighbor woman that cares for her and is always looking after the needs of the children, and the other members of their community. I was challenged as I thought back to my own neighborhood, and reflected on how limited my view of community is. In Africa, these people depend on each other, work together to raise their children, and are eager to help each other and despite their own needs, care for each other. What a great lesson and example they set for us all. We will continue to support this little family and care for this woman in any way that we can while we are here.
Difficult seems like such an understatement as I think about the next man that we met. We were told by one of the health workers that a man wasn’t doing very well and by the sounds of his condition, I knew we were walking into a difficult situation. As I walked and heard a little of the story of this man’s condition, my stomach dropped, and I tried to prepare myself for what we were going to see. We were told that this man had been feeling poorly for a while, that he had been struggling with TB, and has been hospitalized many times, and was again feeling sick. As I walked into the community and between the huts, the anxiety was very evident in the faces that I saw. We were welcomed warmly and I stepped into the hut where this man was and as I looked at the mat and saw Horacio, my heart sank. I looked at sunken face, his arms that were thinner than my wrist, his protruding bones and I knew I was in the presence of one of the worst diseases known. I struggled between stopping my tears and my turning stomach as I reached out and held his hand and began assessing his very frail body. His family quickly moved to get us all chairs, which broke my heart….. even in their state of crisis… they were serving me. I sat in the hut with some of the team members, and as I listened to the family tell the story, I stopped to see Horacio looking up at me with a longing that I have never seen. Perhaps he was longing for pain relief, or maybe he was longing for his the unknown future of his baby that was crying beside him. Maybe he was thinking about his young wife, and wondering what was going to happen to her and his other family members. His eyes were pleading, searching, and so full of pain and I felt such strong feelings of helplessness. His family was anxious to tell me that they knew this wasn’t AIDS, because he had been tested and they were told he was negative. They were clinging to hope, the only hope that they knew which came in the form of paper that had been given to them from the hospital.
We asked them to bring us the papers, offered some medication for the pain and promised to return to support them however we could. Shannon, my co-leader sat across from me in the hut, and her heart spoke the same desire that we all wanted - for this man to know Jesus. Thankfully, she and some of the team have been able to speak with him about God’s love and the hope that comes through knowing Jesus, although we don’t know for sure what decision this man has made we are believing that the prayers that have been made in that tent have been heard. On my last visit to Horacio prior to writing this, the family brought out a little bag holding the papers from the hospital. As Heather – a local Missionary – and I opened the papers we discovered that the test results the family was clinging to as a negative for AIDS was in fact the results of the TB test. I felt so frustrated and saddened on many levels…. How could this happen. But it does. AIDS, a preventable disease continues to rob people of the lives that were intended for them. I sat in the hut and looked into the eyes of the young wife that most likely would become a widow, I looked at the small children that may lose their father, and I held the hand of Horacio who is very possibly dying as we prayed. It was so hard for me as I looked around at this family, the presence of death in the hut was so heavy, his childs cries into the night, his young wifes face….. it was so hard. We have no idea of this kind of devastation in Canada, no idea……We tried to make him comfortable, and then left the family to huddle together around the fire in the African night……..I am unsure what will happen, but I am sure of the God that I pray to and His goodness, sovereignty and promises that one day this will all end.
Further challenges have met the team in another family of a worker on the farm named Bochageza. He also is a young man that seems to have a mass growing in his upper abdomen about the size of a small nerf ball. He was hospitalized, but we heard that he wasn’t receiving any care and so he was brought home. We were thankful to hear that he had received some IV fluids but puzzled at the report that on his chest x-ray they saw a big white circle. As a team, we are very limited in the medical care that we can give without a physician, x-ray results, CT scans, medications and all of the other health care that is so readily available in Canada. But, we are determined to do our best with what we have. The future is very uncertain for this young man, and as I held his new little baby girl, and looked around at his family, I was again challenged by how young these people are and how great their suffering is. As a team, our desire was to be the hands and feet of Christ as we came to Africa, and we have so many opportunities to do just that. The medicines, although helpful, can’t solve this problem. The local hospital wasn’t able to offer any help, and the options for other medical care are very limited. It seems hopeless, and it could be very easy to just feel like we are here watching people die. But, I believe there is a bigger purpose and I know that my understanding is not God’s understanding. In the Bible there is much testament of God’s healing but along with the healing was compassionate loving care that we as a team can only hope to try and model. The first thing that Jesus did when he went to see the ones with leprosy, was to touch them and we want to try and love the way that Jesus did. We aren’t able to heal, but we know the God who can and we are praying for those miracles to happen. Our hearts break for these people, we cry because of the pain that we see but we are determined to touch these people so they know that despite their pain, Jesus loves them so. Please continue to pray for our team as we continue to walk through the opportunities opened to us to minister to the people here. I will update you on these and other stories soon.

Much love to all of you back home.

Suzanne