BACK TO THE BUSH: Malaria strikes again!

Bush Camp, Home of some rather extraordinary memories!

   It was but a few days left for my stay at the bush camp when the two staff’s children came down with malaria. The plan was that my son would take me back to base camp and there I would say goodbye to my daughter in law and grandson, as well as my co-teacher friend. At this point, I had no idea how this malaria thing would affect my exit plans.

   It was sort of up in the air as to who would go with us (my son and I) to the capital city. As it turned out one of the trainee families (2 adults and 3 children) needed a ride to the capital. However, if they went with us, then my daughter in law, grandson, and teacher friend would not be able to go with us for lack of room in the vehicle. This was hard for me for it meant I would have to say goodbye to them at base camp. Yet, I had begun to accept things that did not turn out according to my plans; maybe not as gracefully as I should of but accepting them nevertheless. There are some things you just don’t have control over and submitting to the will of God is your only option; that is if you want to stay sane!

My new forever friends!

   So I said goodbye to my bush camp friends, and bush camp with no idea if or when I would ever see them again. Though my time with these friends and this place  was brief, the impact they had on me would be with me for the rest of my life! My heart was and always will be grateful for these new friends and my bush camp experience.

My tukal; my dwelling place along with my 2 friends. Yes, I will miss it! As hard as that is to believe!

 

    When we got back to base camp, my son began feeling feverish and went to bed with 104 degree temperature. Since malaria was strongly suspected, he began taking the necessary meds to treat it.

   You know how God often works out things that don’t seem so good to our benefit!?  Well, because I was there, I was able to take care of my son, giving him his meds through the night. That allowed my daughter in law to focus her attention on her son and get a much needed night’s rest. Yet, it was this mother’s joy to be available to care for my son in his sickness. You mom’s who read this will totally get why!

   I prayed for my precious family and friend, that God would spare them from coming down with malaria. There were two more weeks of bush camp left and they still had responsibilities to fulfill.

   Now, my concern was that my son would have enough time to improve in health before it came time to take me to the capital city and on to the airport. I intensified my prayers for my son and that I would be spared this malady!

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BACK TO THE BUSH: Timely Words

3-5-13

(while alone in my tukal)

 

    I read in my journal today of a time when I was feeling kinda down. It seemed I felt I had missed out on some memory making time with my grandson and because my son was busy with camp things, I hadn’t seen much of him either. Put these two together and I’m sure you can understand the source of my sadness on that day.

   The real problem, however, was with me getting a bit too focused on myself. I would like to be able to write that this was only a temporary problem while I was there; that I succeeded in overcoming them, but I can’t. Oh, I did have moments when I clearly got past myself. Yet, there wasn’t as many of those type of moments as there should have been. 

   And in this instance, as I sat alone in my tukal sadly contemplating the long 5 days I had just gone without being able to connect with my son and longing for more moments to spend with my grandson God gave me a gift.

   My son popped into my tukal just to chat with me! He talked about what an honor it was to have me there and to work alongside with him in ministry. Those timely words delivered by my beloved son were just the balm I needed to lift the sadness from my heart. Just those few words dispelled the gloom and my world was bright again. 

Timely words, delivered by God who loves us more than we can imagine, will always dispel the gloom and make our world bright again.  

Back to the Bush: Expanding Friendships!

Living in Africa! Now this is a tukal I could get use to!

       Since my son and daughter in law’s move to Africa, their expanding horizons has had an affect on expanding my horizons too.  After their transition from here to there, they met a missionary couple living about an hour’s drive from their home.  Their friendship formed quickly as the husband of the couple was a linguist  as is my son. They are with a different missionary organization and several months after meeting each other, this couple came back to the States for 6 months.  While they were on furlough, my husband and I had the privilege of a visit from them in our home.

     With that brief history we shared, meeting up with them again during my stay in Africa was like a family reunion. Family-like ties grow quickly in this environment. Making memories with family get to gathers are now no longer possible, therefore it becomes imperative to adopt new family asap so that those memory making opportunities continue. 

     While I was at bush camp this couple joined in the training. The wife, who is a nurse, was invited to provide medical training, and the husband, who is a linguist, offered much needed advice on culture and language learning.  After they completed their classes they were to travel to their home to move back in.

This view trumps my concern over any spiders I encountered.

      It was our great joy to meet them there later to assist in the reopening of their home. I swept and dusted just like I did back home, that wasn’t anything new. However, some of the critters I came across in my efforts proved to be a fresh and new experience.  I wondered if these African spiders might be more formidable than ours back home. However, I was assured that quick action on my part with a spider killing spray would allay any latent anxiety on my part. Nevertheless, I was considerably relieved when that part of the cleaning process was completed!

     You know that verse in the Bible that speaks of God supplying all our needs?  Well, I saw that in action as I witnessed how God sent my son and daughter in law to be the new friends this precious couple had been praying about for two years. They lived a rather isolated life there and they needed people they had things in common with, that they could relate to, and with whom they could share their life and work.

     Not only did God meet the need for friendships for all couples concerned, the kingdom’s work was expanded due to their combined efforts. God always comes through for His kids!

 

Philippians 4:19King James Version (KJV)

19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

 

 

 

One step forward; two steps backward, then baby steps to victory!

February 2, 2013

While I am not 100% yet (that’s gonna take awhile) I do feel I am improving.  When I ventured down to the showers later on in the day, I discovered that two of our guys had installed wooden doors.  Oh how wonderful.  Now, I didn’t have to live in fear of the wind (which was ALWAYS) blowing the curtain loose from where I had it tucked; giving whoever might be strolling by a view they weren’t counting on.

On the way back to my tukal, feeling somewhat refreshed and improved, I came upon my son and grandson sitting in the shade of one of the tukals.  Joining them was a delight. I always, always welcomed a moment to hold my grandson.  When only a few moments are allotted and it will be a few years before you get to lay eyes on each other again, these times become priceless.

Hey Dad, I’d rather look at you!

Holding on to him; holding on to a memory!

Our conversation that afternoon centered around my son’s plans about preparing for the future.  He has some well thought out ideas.  I’m especially intrigued with his future study plans which will involve living and studying for several months in a western European country.  The thought that we (my husband and I) will likely get to go visit him there thrills my very soul.  (There are some mighty delightful perks to being the mom of a missionary!)

It’s February 3, 2013

. . and my improved health has proven to be short lived.  Crawling into bed that afternoon, I noticed I had fever.  I sent word to have my son bring me some ibuprofen hoping it would relieve the aching and the fever I was in the throws of. When my son brought the medicine, I approached him about the possibility of my going home earlier than planned. ( Actually, I wanted to leave asap.)  I was feeling all of my 64 years and was beginning to think I had bitten off a lot more than I could chew.  I remember saying to my son, “You have got to get me out of here!”  To say I was in the depths of despair would only scratch the surface.

My son did not want me to make such a decision in my present weakened state.  He called my husband and after his attempt to give me a pep talk, it became painfully clear that I wasn’t going anywhere.

So I resigned myself to the reality that no matter what I had got to stick this thing out.  I had not expected things to be so difficult and I began questioning God’s purpose in allowing me to come for the length of time I had committed to.  Honestly, I was a little mad at God.  He knew what was in store for me and He didn’t intervene to change a thing to spare me this misery. (Ever been in that boat?)

Unlike everybody else in that camp, my reason for being there was mainly to make memories with my son and grandson.  But to do that successfully, I had to feel a lot better than I was.  So achieving that goal was  slightly hindered at the moment.  Very disheartening.

The fiery darts were doing a number on me.  Criticizing me for not being as spiritual as the others and as a result caving in when conditions got challenging.  Fortunately, I’ve had some good training in that regard and I was alert to what the Enemy was up to.  Basically, it all boiled down to

John 10:10

A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. 

I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

I knew I had a decision to make.  I could cooperate with the thief and allow him to steal, kill and destroy, everything that God had planned for me, or I could cooperate with God and enjoy the abundance with which He was so willing to bless me.  Admittedly, it wouldn’t have been quite so hard, if I hadn’t encountered the physical challenges of the sickness, but I was there for the duration and my focus needed to change for God to get the glory and for me to experience success.

The Turning Point

My son left the tukal for awhile and returned to share with me that the camp members were gathering around my tukal to join in prayer for me.  I will never be able to describe the peace that came over me as their audible and soft words drifted around and through my tukal.  Their prayers left me feeling cared for and encouraged. The only condemnation was coming from those stinking fiery darts and believe me I was going to get a grip!

                                                         I could do this thing.

My book gives a detailed account of what fiery darts are and how to fight them.  I hope you will check out my book and its accompanying blog:

Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice

blog:  http://fierydarts.wordpress.com

Until next blog,