Global Health Engagement 2018 – Team East Africa Update #3
Forgive us for the delay in posting—we had technical difficulties with the Wi-Fi… but we’re back! Last week was our first week working in the hospital and treating patients and while it was difficult, it was a very eye-opening for us as a team. We had a diverse patient population, ranging from infants to the elderly. Monday started off slow, but things quickly picked up as the week progressed. The flow of patients was so rapid that we had to delay our lunch break to around 2:00pm almost every day; however, all of us were able to adjust and adapt quickly to the hectic schedule. Throughout the week, we noticed that a significant amount of the injuries developed from the lack of health education available. The majority of our patients suffered from chronic lower back or neck pain with some infants with developmental issues. Along with the physical brokenness, we also saw the spiritual brokenness of Kigoma. We encountered many Muslim patients and were encouraged by the positive responses when we offered to pray for them. Many of them even accepted the Injili, which is the Swahili and Arabic translation of the New Testament Bible. Overall, the last week forced us all to rely on God a lot through difficult times and encouraged us as a team in our faith.
On Saturday we were able to have a day to rest and recover from the busy week we had. We were able to go to the Pepper’s house and enjoy each others’ company at Lake Tanganyika. Others were also able to take the rest they needed to be rejuvenated for the week to come. Sunday was a very challenging but uplifting day for all of us. We went up to the village of Nyantole for church service which was extremely joyful, as usual. After the service, we split up into teams to go into the Muslim village to share the Gospel with the people. Many of us were very nervous and hesitant to share what Christ has done in our lives with people of such strong Muslim faith. Although there were no immediate conversions, there were multiple households that were responsive to what we shared and even asked for a copy of the Injili. This time of sharing resulted in much spiritual warfare. As we prepare for this next week, we are hopeful that we will be able to continue showing Jesus’ love to the people of Kigoma and recognize how faithful God is in spite of our short-comings.
