Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Ups and Downs of the Week

This week has been filled with ups and downs and we have been grateful that none of these things are left up to us, but to the Lord to handle. I have been battling with planters fasciitis for at least a year and I finally got some relief. I kept thinking it would get better on its own, but I finally saw a doctor a couple of weeks ago for a cortisone shot in my heal to help with the inflammation of the ligament. It helped about 97%, but I went back last Friday for another one to take care of the other 3%. It worked!!! The only issue left was that I had changed the way I walked for so long that my knee was messed up. After lots of prayer and retraining my walk, these last few days have been great. Praise God for needles!!
We have asked for prayer for our friend Khumi because she has been so sick the last couple of months. We found out she had gone off of her medications and developed lots of other problems. It is too soon to ask her why, but if she had not agreed to Mike forcing her to go back to the Healthcare Centre on Tuesday she could have died. She lives in a tin shack with cold damp floors and air that comes through like she has a window open all the time. She has lost close to 50lbs and can’t eat anything. She was diagnosed with Tuberculosis of the stomach. I spent some time with her on Friday and she is doing much better. Please continue to pray for her!
We have 2 teams here this week working in the communities and spreading the love of Jesus. One through a Sports Ministry and the other is helping out at Living Way and the Children’s afternoon kids clubs. The sports ministry has a net ball game planned for this afternoon against some of friends who are in our Bible Study. This should be an exciting afternoon. The Zimbabwe girls invited us to come on Wednesday night, so we will have a tough time deciding who to pull for!
Unfortunately, for our individual volunteers it has not been such a great week. One of the guys got mugged, at knife point, walking home for lunch. Mike and I had not agreed with them wanting to walk but they insisted it would be ok. We have been suggesting that they move to a new location because it just is too close to the township that we work in. Yesterday we got everyone moved and they are much happier. This goes back to young people who come with their own ideas and agenda’s then get taught hard lessons by God. We had another issue with a new volunteer whose expectations were way over the top. She was ready to get on a plane and go home but Mike and I spent about 1 ½ hrs talking to her yesterday to suggest to her to allow God to work in her life to see what He might be up to. She called us last night apologizing and telling us she would give it another try next week.
Ending a positive note, we went to the grocery store yesterday and one of our local volunteers, who started at the Healthcare Centre yesterday, had a wonderful experience and was so encouraged and excited to see how God had used her nursing abilities to take care of the ladies. We never know how people will respond in tough situations and we just seek the Lord’s guidance for each one and are grateful for His hand on their lives.

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