Therefore be steadfast

The resurrection victory was not very evident this morning. A holiday weekend, in spite of Dr. Jonah’s hard work, left the pediatric ward packed to overflowing. Three sets of malnourished twins—we have an extremely high twin rate here, and many women cannot manage the margin of calories to nourish that second body. One set is 1.5 and 1.7 kg (three pounds each) born to a 16 year old mother-too-soon. Two other kids with kwashiorkor, protein deficiency, weaned too early because their mothers got pregnant again within a year of their births. A dwindling 4 kg (9 pound) one year old whose drawn skin makes his face look skeletal, clutching his mother, probably TB. Another 10 year old with possilble TB, barely responsive, coughing, wasted. A young boy who found an unexploded grenade and with his friend threw it into a fire—the friend died, and he was left with a deep shrapnel wound in his hip. An older kid with sickle cell disease on her third blood transfusion this week. A three-month-old whose HIV positive mother probably has transmitted the virus, leaving his tiny body wracked with cough and diarrhea. A comatose five year old who was fine until a sudden convulsion three days ago, maybe cerebral malaria, the smear negative, not yet awake. A baby whose mother told me that five of her 8 children had died from various diseases. The list goes on and on, more than double what I’ve recalled quickly above. Bundibugyo is dangerous country.

So moving out into this mess in faith that the resurrected Jesus is making all things new . . . Well, it is an act of faith. The celebration of Easter was tremendous, spiritually and socially. But I entered the post-Easter life this morning feeling pretty poured out.

As often happens in the midst of the morass, one infant who nearly died of pneumonia a week ago today looked at me and smiled, a reminder that hope remains. Scott and Pamela traveled two hours (each way) to meet with health center staff in Karagutu for a “performance review”, a day to review data and encourage the staff. Karen received 70 goats this evening, a huge infusion of hope and protein for the suffering, to be distributed on Thursday. So there is some significant abounding going on (1 Cor 15:58). Therefore be steadfast.