See Something More

It was one of those days when it felt like nothing was working.  I had made an appointment with the most specialized eye doctor in the entire country to present to him one of the medical cases I have been helping with. He was my last hope that something could be done, but when I explained the situation, he literally said, "There is no hope. Nothing can be done."  I had another appointment regarding another medical case and found out that the patient needs a $1000 surgery that I can't afford.  I received news of a woman that I had sent to a nearby city for a medical intervention, and learned that she had been sitting outside the hospital for three days just waiting for a doctor to see her.  I felt like I was trying so hard to be a nurse and help these people, but I had nothing to show for it except bad news. I missed being a competent nurse in my labor and delivery days, when I knew how how to help people and they trusted me to do it. Here, on this day, I felt like I ...

Sitting across the table from me, she didn't seem very interested in anything about me. She didn't look at me, and she didn't appear to want to talk. Maybe she was skeptical, maybe she was intimidated. I began to wonder if I had chosen the right thing.  She was about fifty-five years old, just a few years older than my own parents, but the hardness of life had added age to her body and wrinkles to her face. She sat uncomfortably, but that was because she has had a prolapsed uterus for the past five  years, and she can't sit or stand in one position for too long without hurting.  I've taken on the role of "medical case manager" on our team, which means that any medical cases that we hear about get referred to me. The more we help, the more people find out that we can help, and the more people come and find us to ask for help. You can see how it can get crazy pretty quick. I want to help everyone who comes to the door, but I'm beginning to realize that I...

I escorted them to the gate, helped them gather their luggage, and then watched them go through the security checkpoint and continue on into the airport. I stood there until I could see them no more, and I had a million thoughts and emotions running through my blood.  I remembered what it felt like to be in their shoes, just finishing my survey trip to Burkina, falling in love with a people and sensing a deeper calling, but then having to turn around, leave, and go back to the old life I came from.  I felt like something about their leaving didn't fit right - like it just wasn't time for them to go yet.  I thought about the missionary community and how people are always coming and always going. It's a fluid, constant circulation of new and old people.  I also considered the couple as I watched them leave. They are seeking God's direction on the next step in their lives and specifically to what location God is calling them.  I even thought about my parents, getti...

Every Sunday morning when we go out to a village church, Charlotte and I usually pull the children aside to do a mini Sunday school with them. But this Sunday was a little different. It might have looked the same - children gathered under the shade of a tree, colorful mats laid out on the ground for them to sit on. But there was a deeper excitement beneath it all, a higher anticipation.  Instead of being just another random visit with another one-time Sunday school, this was the kick-off of a village children's ministry. Charlotte and I had selected six villages with the greatest potential for a successful, sustainable children's program. We had organized a tour through these six villages, designed a curriculum, and put a plan into motion to identify and train children's ministers in each of these villages. These six will then become models for other churches in other villages, and we pray it will catch on like wildfire. But then again, this particular Sunday was only the v...

"Let's run up to the nutrition center and visit two of our babies up there," I said since we had a free afternoon. Everyone agreed, so we loaded up in the car and headed that way.  We have a partnership with the local nutrition center because we send a lot of our severely malnourished infants to stay there under supervision. The mothers or caregivers receive counsel and nutritional education in a friendly environment with other mothers and babies, and the babies get weighed and monitored for growth and development.  When we arrived, we found the first infant, Namwinbele, happily kicking on the bed. "You are looking so big and strong!" I said as I patted his little belly and tickled his cheek. "I remember when I first saw you and you were so tiny and fragile and sick," I said. "Now look at you!" His caregiver smiled at me and chuckled, and even though she didn't understand what I was saying, she could tell I was delighted.  That's when...

It's what we were made to do. It's the secret longing at the bottom of every heart, whether recognized or not. It's what we pursue with our lives...in one fashion or another. And when directed at the one who is worthy of it all, it completely and totally satisifes. Like it's more valuable than breath in our lungs. Like it is the breath of our hearts.  Worship.  I've always felt a stirring in my heart (some people might call it a "calling") to lead people into worship. For the longest time, I thought that looked like a guitar in hand and words on a PowerPoint slide. But living here in Africa, God has shown me that leading worship is so much more.  Leading worship is about bringing worship with you wherever you go...whether you have a guitar in the backseat or not. It's about inviting people to adore and honor God in their lives. It's about causing worship to spring up wherever you are and in whatever circumstance you find yourself.  In other words, ...

I have no idea, I thought to myself when I saw her eyes and the plaques beginning to form over her corneas and scleras. Again.  If I wanted to, I could be discouraged all the time when I see a case that I don't know how to handle. As a nurse, I want to be able to help people with their medical problems. That's why it drives me crazy to see so many things that I've never seen before and have no idea how to help. I just end up referring people all the time.  "Well, I know an eye doctor in another city..." "Well, I could send you to Ouaga for treatment..." "Well, you could go to the local medical clinic and see what they say..." And each time I say it, I hear myself saying, I don't know what to do or how to help...again .  A nurse doesn't want to refer, she wants to do something about it herself! At least that's how this little nurse feels.  That's why I sometimes wonder if I should have studied harder or longer. Maybe even been a...