Faith that Saves

2013-02-19 The Journey – Faith that Saves

That is the title of my Daily 3-Minute Retreat that I enjoy most days.  Part of the meditation today reads, “Throughout his ministry Jesus insisted on the importance of faith.  We are challenged to see with the eyes of faith.  Faith recognizes the light of Jesus’ presence and provides freedom from all that blinds us.  Faith, touched by the gentleness of the Lord, allows us to follow Jesus on the way.”

Akobo Hospital Stabilization Center

 Nutrition Program for the Severely Malnourished 

hospital ward

I thought I would share today’s journey with you and see if you can tell me how many times you see the light of Jesus’ presence along the way…  It is not a pretty journey, but it is a journey that will take us from a table with food I was too hot to eat to a visit to the hospital stabilization unit for severely malnourished children and on down the road to see mercy and grace in action guided by a guardian angel, or perhaps, it is Jesus, I will let you decide.

See the man in the grey shirt?  That is him.  The shirt is hiding his wings.  There are angel wings there I am sure.  I watched him work today.  And as I tell you about watching him, I will tell you another story.  It starts with a little boy.

His name is Dhol.  He is three years old with these bright beautiful eyes.  I met him sitting on his bed next to a lady in a pink dress with one arm.   He is a tiny thing sitting there with his hands peacefully folded in his lap.  He never moved, except to turn his head away as I approached the lady in pink to greet her as I made my way through the ward.  His eyes would follow me and I squatted down to be eye level with him and he just turned his head.  I brushed my finger across the skin on his arm and he just glanced but there was no reaction.

He did react when I took his photo. I had started at one end and worked my way to the other where Dhol is sitting.  I would snap a picture and show it to the ladies with the children.  They would laugh and smile and for a moment their fear slipped away as Sam and I made our way through.  It is hard to think something as simple as a photo could bring such joy, unless you have never even seen what you look like except in a ripple of water.

Back to Dhol and his photo.  He looked straight ahead as I snapped the picture, big eyes full of curiosity.  I stooped down so I was eye level to him and showed him the picture.  He grinned from ear to ear and his eyes sparkled, for a moment.  He just sat and stared until his aunt said “kalas” (finished) and I took the camera away.

I don’t know the rest of Dhol’s story, where he came from, how he became so sick, or any of the other details. All I know is that his aunt came to stay in a village near Akobo because his mother was sick.  She died and the baby started going down-hill, until he was admitted to the hospital.  I learned today that the baby is HIV positive and possibly has TB.  He cannot get treatment in our hospital.  I am not sure I want to know the rest of the story. 

I have the pictures, but I am not going to share them.  It is too close to the one whose eyes kept calling to me during my discernment process.  There are plenty of photos on the web.  They look the same.  I don’t want Dhol or the others to end up there.  It doesn’t seem right.  Yes, we have our share of living “photos” in Akobo proper and in the outlying villages, but Akobo is more than that and I don’t want to be a part of perpetuating the image that that is all that Akobo is. 

outside view of the veranda for the pediatric ward
and nutrition center

I will share a couple of pictures of the Nutrition Center where Sam and his coworkers work and ask you to pray for the work that they do, not only in the hospital where the worst cases are seen, but also for the work they do as they travel to the villages by car and by boat.  I will ask you to pray for the work that I will be doing that I may teach one thing that will be spread to these mothers and families that will help their suffering.  But I won’t share the photos of the children.

The photos of the children and families are, in one way, hard to look at. In another they are memories that  restore my faith. I know that sounds weird but you haven’t met the “Sams” of the world.  Sam, I know is not the only nutritionist in the world, but he is the only one in my world.  After watching him work today I am convinced that there can’t be one on the face of this earth that is not an angel.   You would have to be to go to the hardest places in the world and scoop these tiny children who are at death’s door and try to restore them to healthy lives    in living conditions that are beyond belief.  You would have to be to go to the extremes Sam went to today to save the life of one child confident in a faith that saves.

As we were sitting in the dining hall he came in and said he was going to the commissioner’s office to see about a boat.  I needed to go there, so I asked him if I could walk with him.  Sure, no problem.  We stopped at the hospital on the way and that is where I met Dhol and the others.  That is where I saw mercy and grace in action led by Sam.

Walking in faith that heals through the overflow pediatrics "ward".
Yes, those patients are being treated there.  The ward is full now.

First of all Sam is this kind gentle soul with a belief in God that is one of the biggest I have ever seen or experienced.  But to watch him with the children and the family members is a dance right out of heaven.  When we arrived at the commissioner’s office I watched the dance begin again as he quietly and confidently asked the guard to see the commissioner.  We learned that he had gone somewhere else today and they didn’t know if he would come back today or not. 

That didn’t deter Sam, remember he has a faith that saves.  He quietly and gracefully asked if there was another way to make it happen and we were directed to the vice commissioner’s home.  When we arrived, we waited, for a bit and were greeted by him.  The vice commissioner listened patiently to Sam’s story and quickly agreed to go back to his office and write the letter granting the lady permission to travel with the child and to waive the fee on the boat. Less than an hour later we were on our way back to the compound, letter in hand.  Mercy and grace dancing down from heaven…

Because of Sam’s dance with God, because of his never ending faith and the mercy and grace that draped this day, Dhol will have a chance at life.  A chance he would not have had if he had stayed in Akobo.  A chance he would not have had if it were not for commitment of people like Sam who hide their wings and go through life committed to serving God confident in the faith that saves.  They do it with mercy and grace, with love and commitment, they do it with love in their hearts for the work they are called by God to do.  I am so honored and humbled when I am privileged enough to walk with these angels. 

Thanks be to God!

Sharon