“And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,”
Mark 6:51
Hard yet rewarding
These past few days have been hard. I had a little patient who needed extreme care—what I believe was asthma, though I’m still not completely sure. We treated him as best we could, but it wasn’t enough. His oxygen stayed at 80% and he was fighting hard. His name is Jamin, and he is only two years old.
Thankfully, because of Starlink, I was able to reach the health professionals for our province. They sent out an emergency health patrol dinghy. Providentially, we were already traveling that day to bring the good news to the three villages down the river, so we were able to transport Jamin along with another woman I’ve been friends with here for many years. She is extremely sick with TB.
We had a time of preaching and many people came. When we left the patients at the hospital, I prayed over them. God knows all things. He is in control! I’m so thankful for Starlink—that I was able to contact the hospital eight hours away by motor, and they came.
The next village we went to was Sorobo. We arrived while the tide was still very low. (We’re in a severe drought because of the El Niño of 2026, and we live on a tidal river, so the tide comes up every 12 hours.) I stepped out of the boat and the silt and mud sucked my boot in like quicksand. I started to panic a little, thinking this was like those movie scenes where a train is coming and your foot is stuck. I was sure the tide would sweep me away if I didn’t get up onto the “totem pole” bridge. I pulled and pulled… and instead of moving forward I fell backward and literally sat in the mud! Agh!
Bella had her friend with her, and Ori just kept saying, “Oh Melissa.” We finally got up the bank—thankfully the tide didn’t sweep me away. The ladies of the village had a great laugh, and I’m sure the story of the white lady stuck in the mud went all through the village. They brought me to a little “lagoon” (I felt like we were in Peter Pan) where I washed down my clothes and got about 90% of the mud off.
Caleb then preached on the grass under the mango trees from Mark 6:45-56. The people don’t always understand how to answer the questions, especially in villages that don’t know our way of doing things as well, but in the end they did answer some. We made it back home grateful for all God did that day.
Today I heard from the Hospital staff that the two patients that we brought down are doing well!
Jaymin
Aina in the TB ward on the road to getting better!
Yes we had to climb up that ladder.