Stranded? Stuck? No Way!

 The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7

You may be wondering what I am doing here in Niger and why I am not on a plane coming back to the USA, immediately?
Background information is that I received (a week ago Tuesday), a request to come to Niger to bring urgent supplies to our CURE International Hospital. At the same time, there was a need to assist with a site visit for a candidate for an important position at the hospital. Many of you know that Paul and I have been involved in one way or another with CURE Niger since it opened in 2010. It holds a very special place in our hearts and lives.
Paul and I prayed and counted the cost of what might happen with the Covid-19 and interruption with travel plans. The Lord confirmed that I should go. Paul did not have the time off from the University. Paul gave me his unconditional blessing to go alone.
All went well with bringing of the supplies and the site visit was going very well. We decided to relax by going out to dinner. While we were having a pleasant evening I checked my phone and saw about 10 missed calls. Something was going on....

The President of Niger announced Tuesday night, March 17th  that the airports and all borders would close at midnight, March 19th. Niger has borders with many countries including;  Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad, Algeria, and Libya. These borders are all portals where there could be transmission of the virus. The President of Niger made these important decisions to keep Niger as safe as possible. I respect that very much. It is one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world. He stated rightly that it would be a hardship on the medical system and the people should there be an outbreak here. At the time there were no confirmed cases of Covid-19. Tonight it was announced that there is one case.
My return plane ticket is for Monday, March 23 but of course that will not happen. It was a hard decision to make....stay or try to go home?
Could I be of help in this crisis?
Should I go home because of my age? That was the question from a friend! Haha, I turned 63 today.
Could I find a ticket to leave?
As I talked with Paul and George the hospital executive director we did not have any strong sense either way. So we prayed together. I prayed that I wanted to be obedient. If I stayed it would not be as someone special, a super hero or martyr but as a fellow worker in our mission.
If I went I would need a ticket that would bring me safely home. I spent several hours researching my options to travel.  There were only two economy tickets left on the airline of my choice. They were $5400 each one way! FYI first class was $7200! A travel agent who is experienced in CURE travels could only find a route that would take me to Cote d'Ivoire for an overnight in a hotel, then to Dubai also for an overnight, then to JFK in New York and finally two more short flights to get home to Lexington. Even the most adventurous person I know would not take this challenging route that would require an additional $3000 or more plus visas for two countries. No way! It would be too risky to take such a route to places unfamiliar to me. We asked for wisdom and we got it!
I was to stay, which deep in my heart gave peace and joy. No fear, just trust. Being obedient to God's leading is so important to me.
So here I am! Not sure how long.  The future is uncertain everywhere. I choose to trust. I choose to be at peace.
Besides, all the dear friends I have here cannot leave. 
They are cut off from their extended families. There is no freedom to leave at this time. So we stay calm and carry on! There is work to be done. Being anxious will not change the situation. Trusting will! As we trust in the LORD, He gives His people peace that is beyond understanding.  He gives joy, courage and eternal perspective. For such a time as this, I am here.
God is good.
God is faithful.
God is trustworthy.
God is Sovereign.
God is in Control.
God is full of compassion, righteousness and kindness.
God is our Peace!
So......see you whenever!
If you feel sorry for me, please put your energy instead into encouraging others, including my Mum, my dear hubby and adult children working in healthcare. Help those in your corner of the world.

And don't forget to pray! Pray as you go about your day. Pray out loud! Pray God's Word.
Whenever you wash your hands say Psalm 23 or the Lord's Prayer which take about 25 seconds at a normal pace of speech. Pray for this time to be a revival of hearts in marriages, families, and communities even if folks cannot meet together! Pray for our service people who work selflessly in the US and around the world to help other nations in so many ways.

Please carry on doing what you have been called to do, even if it has to be done remotely for a while.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.  2 Timothy 1:7

Police Escort

Something happened this week  that was so unusual even Paul said I need to blog about it.

We had a full morning at the hospital and around 3 pm we needed to leave the hospital to deliver 9 boxes of nursing books to a local clinic that has recently opened a Christian Nursing School. Following our dropping off of these books, we drove to the airport to pick up a visiting anesthesia resident.
Words cannot describe the beauty of the new airport in Niamey, Niger. Everything about it is beautiful, efficient and clean. There are bones of ancient animals with historical notations. There is a cafe with a sign that looks very much like Starbucks but don't be fooled! It is a knock off. However, since we were early, we went through security that is required to enter the airport and treated ourselves to a pot of tea served in proper tea cups. Image us sitting, sipping, and chatting. All of a sudden a police captain uniformed and armed asks to speak with Paul. The brief conversation is only partially understood as the policeman spoke so quickly. Being slightly paranoid, I thought he was suggesting that the cafe was only for departing passengers and so he would show us where to find the arrivals. He mentioned that the plane we were waiting for would come in at 16:11 precisely.
Paul and I finished our tea wondering if we had done something wrong by coming into the airport and having tea while not being passengers?
We looked down the terminal and saw one or two passengers come out from customs and baggage claim. We assumed these were the first class passengers and since we knew that the young doctor was not coming first class we finished our tea and began our stroll down the terminal to the arrivals. Immediately, the police captain strides up to us and says he will escort us to the arrival hall. There is only one, so we were a little confused and still feeling perhaps we had violated some airport regulation. SURPRISE! We were not only being escorted to the arrivals we were being escorted right the way through to the escalator where all the passengers must come down. We walked passed other police, customs officers, public health nurses checking for yellow fever vaccinations and so on. We were in total shock! We had no ID on us other than our business cards for CURE and hospital badges which would mean nothing to immigration officials if we were asked what we were doing there. Every time we passed another official person, Captain AK would say, these people are with me. At one point he received a call and said that he needed to go for a few minutes and if anyone asked us anything, we were just to say speak to Captain AK.

There is a spiritual analogy here:

We have no authority to go into the presence of God who is holy. We need an advocate. We need an escort who can vouch for us, who can give us permission.
Jesus Christ is our escort to God's Presence. We have no authority, no credit of our own.
Jesus told His disciples that one day He would have to leave them but He would send an advocate, a comforter in other words Jesus would send His Holy Spirit. While we were fearful to be left alone in the unauthorized zone, we did not need to fear as we had Captain AK's name and permission.
How sweet to have everyday spiritual lessons as we go about our everyday tasks. God is alive and well. He is teaching us great and wonderful things about His kindness to us. What a grace gift to be given permission to meet the young doctor! How wonderful to have an escort, advocate!
We are privileged to be here in Niger! We are enjoying our days keeping our eyes and ears wide open to see the goodness and kindness of our great God and Savior.

Word pictures-Sweeping the dirt

Disclaimer: Before photography people read books with words and no pictures except for perhaps an illustration or two that was hand drawn and painted.  I am going to attempt to post a blog without pictures since my computer is not allowing me to post photos. I will post the pictures on FaceBook.
Hopefully, the descriptions will cause you to see in your mind's eye some of our experiences and spiritual lessons/illustrations.

Brown sand and terracotta colored dirt is everywhere. Most homes have dirt floors. Most roads are made of dirt. It is very dusty everywhere. There is trash everywhere on the ground including bits and pieces of plastic bottles, discarded candy wrappers, worn out and broken sandals and so on. What do people do with all this trash in front of their homes and shops? They sweep it away or at least attempt to.

Everyday we see men and women with a small bunch of twigs about 15 inches long sweeping the dirt. The trash is swept up and piled up to be burned or thrown in a ditch nearby. The sweeper makes the dirt as pretty as possible with circles or swirls.  Do you know what? It is still dirt! There is nothing that can change the fact that there is dirt everywhere. Can you picture that in your mind?

There is a spiritual illustration here and you do not have to be a theologian to understand.

No amount of sweeping in our lives can make us clean. We can do our best to clean ourselves up. We can get rid of some of the trash which may be undesirable or irritating habits. We can make ourselves look as good as possible through outward observable activities like church attendance, generous giving, daily quiet-time and small group attendance. We can even do good works such as teaching Sunday School, feeding the homeless or going to Africa on mission journeys. All these good attempts to be 'clean' do not change the reality of the human original sin that has tainted us all.  Sounds rather hopeless doesn't it? What hope is there of ever being clean and getting rid of the dirt in our lives?

The good news has been shared for many years in an old hymn-
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! 
Yes the remedy for our 'dirt' our sin stained lives is the cleansing power of Jesus Christ. Truly God, Jesus Christ became human to be the perfect solution to humanity's greatest need of a relationship with God who is holy, pure and good.

You see at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly....But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
Romans 5:5,6,8

God made Him (Jesus Christ) who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
 2 Corinthians 5:21

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:22-24 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith---and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God---not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 
Ephesians 2:8-10

Jesus loves the little children and this little light of mine!

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white
All are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world!

This little light of mine, I going to let it shine
This little light of mine, I going to let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
Shine it all over this world......

There is a name I love to sing, I love to tell its worth
T'is music in a sinner's ear, the sweetest name on Earth
O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus
Because He first loved me!

These old songs of the faith bring much hope and joy in the midst of our daily work.
These old songs of the faith bring much peace and purpose in the calling of God to serve here in Niger for 6 months.

We have come to shine our little light in dark places......

• To children born with congenital malformations
• To children with incurable diseases 
• To family members who cannot communicate due to language barriers
• To family members who cannot afford the necessities of food, clothing and medicines
• To children who long for affection and affirmation
• To those who cannot read or write
• To staff members struggling with life issues
• To those who feel sick or lethargic due to the extreme heat day and night
• To neighborhoods overwhelmed with poverty
• To those we rub shoulders with day by day whose thinking is darkened and longing for some LIGHT to bring gladness and purpose to their labors

But what is that little light? It is our cheerful attitudes, abilities, access to medical/surgical treatment to offer to those in need?

These would never be enough. 

No, the Light that we bring, in all that we are and do, is the Light of Jesus Christ. He is the Savior, Lord, Healer and Helper. He alone can bring the Light of Truth, Wisdom, Encouragement and Perspective to our dear colleagues, patients and family members.

We have been studying in our morning devotions and prayer time the fruit of the Holy Spirit. These are the characteristics that God wants to develop in all His people:

Love
    Joy
      Peace
            Patience
                    Kindness
                              Goodness
                                         Faithfulness
                                                       Gentleness
                                                                   Self-Control

This dear one is having multiple surgeries for burn scar revision so that she can function normally.

After several surgeries this little angel as I called her has done marvelously well. The arm splints are to keep the skin grafts and prevent skin contractures. This gal had such a super attitude and was often seen singing and dancing.....always smiling!

Joel our CURE Storyteller, journalist, photographer who genuinely cares for these little ones. He is able to calm those frightened or crying with his soothing voice and strong arms showing our Heavenly Father's care

 

Emmanuel and his 'groupies'! The children love him so much. He plays with them and tells them about God's love.

Can't help giggling!

Love my little ones who fall asleep in my arms

One cute fellow all bundled up in a knitted hat and sweater by the ladies in the Workers' Together Circle from Boca Raton Bible Chapel. What a sweet and shy boy!  His mother was a precious one too, taking special care of her son before and after the surgery.

Iya is one of our longstanding patients with a complicated wound. After nearly a year, he is finally able to walk and put a little weight on his foot!

One of my patients who was abandoned by his parents, loves to have a cuddle and makes sure everyone knows that I am his and no one else can sit on my lap.....so cute! He waves at all the other children.

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Dr. Paul, aka Papa Paul, daily, quietly, expertly, gently, compassionately cares for our patients during their surgical experience. He is so loved by the children! He shows Jesus love to these precious ones. He knows how to help them through the fear of the operating room.

After morning prayer time, I am almost always snuggled by precious ones like these

.

Living Water

While in Ethiopia we visited a monastery that was over 1000 years old. It had a natural supply of spring water that many believe has healing properties. We shared with the priest and our guide how Jesus healed me back in September 2017 when I was so near to death.

Listen to the birds and the running water....reminds us of the Living Water of the Holy Spirit, bubbling up to joyful and eternal LIFE!

The beauty of this part of Ethiopia cannot be captured in a photo...but I tried!

Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8

 Reflecting back on our trip to Ethiopia, we saw many wonderful and beautiful things. We visited many churches carved from rocks from the top down into the earth. We visited a monastery that was reported to have holy and healing waters. We were in awe of the history, the legends and the preservation of Bibles and sacred items by the Orthodox church.
All of this was very moving and humbling to know that we are living in a very tiny sliver of time in the history of Christianity.  It is such a privilege to hear of the many who have suffered for the cause of Christ in this world. Even today in many parts of the world there is much persecution and discrimination of those who follow the LORD Jesus Christ as the one true Savior and God. He is our refuge and strength! We love Him because He first loved us! It is a joy to serve in Niger at CURE International where we can love and live out our faith daily with our colleagues and patients.

Nursing Conference in Ethiopia-Old and New Friends

We are off to the long awaited Nursing Leadership and Governance Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We nearly didn't make it due to health issues. Paul was so very sick requiring IV re-hydration and strong antibiotics. It is very hard to keep healthy here, even with all the precautions we take. We pray daily for strength to do the work the LORD has given us. Even in illness, we are learning so much and identifying with the dear folks that we work with and minister to daily.

We usually fly Delta and affiliates so it was a different experience flying this airline. We didn't eat any food as we were scared after all our illnesses. The flight was just under 5 hours and we enjoyed the rest, reading and listening to music.

We made it!  The picture of the monkey (on the poster behind Paul) is for our grandchildren. They are always asking about what animals we are seeing in Africa. Of course in the city we see only donkeys, camels, goats, sheep, chickens, dogs, cats in the streets. We have seen the giraffes outside the city. We did manage to see some monkeys in Ethiopia but they were so quick and hard to photograph.

This is a picture of the Hilton garden. This was a great rest spot before the conference began. We needed to regroup and put final touches to our presentations. I was desperate for a hair cut and manicure!

Day One of the Conference. Here I am with Fatchima the Nurse manager of our Ward at CURE Niger. She gifted me with the material and we had same dresses made. We are twins! We have the same Father in Heaven! The uniform, same material for outfits is very common in West Africa. The women at church select at Christmas, Easter and other special occasions, a pattern of fabric for their 'uniform'. Of course in the USA, women would die if they showed up to an event in the same dress as someone else. Love these cultural differences. Fatchima and I get along so well. She is the mother of three boys. Her husband works with an NGO and does trauma counseling.

This is a view from our hotel room in Addis Ababa. The view is of the bus station. It was very noisy!! This city has a population of 10 million. Every morning instead of the call to prayer by the Imams as in Niamey, Niger, we had the call to prayers and worship by the Orthodox Priests.  In Ethiopia, it would go on for hours if it was a special saint of angel's day! Seriously, the singing, chanting and prayers in Ghez (ancient church language related to Hebrew) on many days was 3 hours in the morning and more in the evening. It was pretty convicting about praying and worship.

Ah, this is the good stuff! Paul and I needed to get some healthy food after all the illnesses. Ethiopian food is so good and healthy. On this plate at 9-11 o'clock is injera the local bread made with protein and iron rich teff flour. at the top of the plate you are looking at two kinds of wat.....what is wat? It is a sauce. The caramel colored one is made with lentils. The redish one is made with ground beef, tomatoes, onions and spices very different to the USA. The rest of the plate is covered with fresh lightly steamed veggies. Oh this was so delicious. The blue labeled bottle in the background is called AMBO. It is a local spring water that has been carbonated. Paul and I were quite addicted to it. It was good to find something that Paul would drink to keep his fluids up!

This is a  group photo after dinner. We are missing Fatchima who went staight up to bed, after not sleeping the night before!

Here we are, matchy-matchy! How very West African!

On the left is Trudy, the chief nursing officer at CURE's Oasis Hospital in the UAE. Trudy asked each nurse manager to give a ten minute presentation about their hospital. I helped Fatchima to prepare the PowerPoint but insisted that she present in English. She practiced with me and it payed off. She did a smashing job!

Here she is presenting with Trudy and I looking on proud as can be!

My joy was to present the Christian Worldview of Nursing. I get very animated as it is a passion to see CURE Nurses give excellent care with Christ's Character, CURE Values and Biblical Perspective!

Why not? As Christian Nurses we must serve to bring glory to God!

On the left is Dr. Becky (PhD Nursing and new Director of Nursing of CURE Network), Anne (Nurse Matron CURE Kenya), ourselves and Trudy from the UAE....TEAMWORK!

Diane Lawrence the American Heart Association Course Trainer and Irene the Theater Matron of the Beit CURE Hospital in Zambia are two precious colleagues. Diane had to leave the conference early to attend to a family member's health needs back in the USA.

 We had an unscheduled visit from the Spiritual Directors across the CURE Network who were having their conference in another town outside of Addis Ababa. We took a few moments to greet one another, take a quick photo and pray together before getting back to our nursing sessions.

Paul and I enjoyed an evening after meetings with a dear friend from many years ago. Mismak has a restaurant and we were spoiled with a wonderful meal.

The whole team of servers and the chef Abby (in the blue) came out for a picture.

We had our own coffee ceremony which includes parching the green coffee beans, pounding them, boiling the water over a charcoal fire, burning of incense.....and of course served with popcorn! It is like this all over the country. I had not had any coffee since my illness in Sept 2017 so I wasn't sure if I could handle the coffee but I had a very small cup and it was good! I don't think I'll necessarily be a coffee drinker again but it was good that I didn't hurt anyone's feelings by not participating in this special ceremony.

Mismak and Paul.....brothers!! So grateful for our Ethiopian family!

Oh, yes, matchy-matchy again! We had so much fun at the conference meeting, learning and collaborating with such wonderful people!

Here we are visiting the CURE Ethiopia  Hospital. Paul went back another day to visit the OR, He had such a good time and enjoyed collaborating with the surgical and anesthesia team,

This is the Spiritual Director of the Tebow CURE Hospital in the Philippines. Pastor W is so joyful and passionate about serving the LORD. I have enjoyed the privilege of working briefly beside him in the Philippines.

A parting coffee ceremony at the end of the Nursing Leadership and Governance Conference.

Coffee, coffee, coffee....Bouna? (Amharic for coffee)

Everyone is getting ready to leave but one last coffee has to be enjoyed together.

Paul and I are with Juliane from Zambia. We have enjoyed the times with her family and look forward to visiting Beit CURE Zambia in the near future, Lord willing!

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. 

Proverbs 27:17

Come to Me, all you who are weary and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, 

For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

100 Days!

Our children and grandchildren have celebrated 100 days during the school year. Today, Paul and I are celebrating 100 days in Niger. We had planned to go to the giraffes and eat lunch at Cap Banga the riverside restaurant that we like so much. It didn't exactly work out the way we planned. Instead we spent the day very quietly in our apartment. Paul had a fever and was dehydrated etc. I spent the day counting drops for his IV infusion that Dr. Diane kindly put in. I counted the number of messages from my prayer warriors, I counted promises, I counted blessings, I counted the number of visitors who dropped by......and I was trying to keep this on the hush, hush as Paul's new resident here seems quite nervous about getting sick. (The cat is out of the bag now!)
God always has a better plan. The resident Dr. Jake had a wonderful day without us! He got to see the giraffes, the sunset over the dunes and eat supper at Sahel Academy Mexican Restaurant night. God is so good!  Every little detail that we could be concerned about is being lovingly, carefully, and thoroughly handled by our God who is sovereign over all our circumstances. He makes no mistakes.

• We have enjoyed a good week of caring for our patients at CURE. Papa Paul and young Dr. Jake went over to another hospital to give lectures and demonstrations. 

• We are building intentional relationships within the local medical community.  

• We had the joy of bringing donated gifts of toys to the children this week. 

• We had the joy of preparing for seminars in Galmi and Ethiopia. for the coming weeks. 

• We had the joy of learning together what it means to be connected to the true vine Jesus Christ---drawing life and strength from Him so that we can produce more and more fruit. 

• We enjoy the daily routine of the hospital and loving these dear children and young adults. 

• We certainly have more than 100 blessings in the lives of the staff and children of CURE Hôpital des Enfants au Niger! 

The following Psalm seems appropriate.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is He who made us, and we are His;

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the LORD is good and His love endures for ever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations.