Hi Friends,
Our Internet has been down for days and I am anxious to share our recent medical trip. We are so grateful for your prayers and continue to need them daily.
How thankful we are for the gift of a recent container of food from KIDS AGAINST HUNGER...the hunger in the villages and mountains was so bad. Because of the generosity of the food donations from KIDS AGAINST HUNGER as well as FEED MY STARVIING CHILDREN, we were able to send hundreds of boxes to coastal and mountain villages, feeding hundreds of children as well as schools and over 1000 people who traveled long distances to find medical care.
We drove over ten hours, much in four-wheel drive. The suffering is beyond adequate words. We sent many that were critical, to the hospital five hours away over rough terrain. One died the next day. We brought six kids back, some in horrible condition, one little three year old is hanging on to life in our clinic room by a thread from severe malnutrition. His body is blown up so badly, he can hardly open his eyes. The internal fluid is coming through his bloated legs and feet. The body actually at this stage begins to eat itself until death. He is so pitiful, he just makes weak groans. His mother died in January from sickness, leaving four kids. I can only imagine him lying in a mud hut each day, like so many that die in this area, slowly wasting away while the father tried to go out each day to find some type of food. No doubt he was left with the other little children most of those days. His father carried him the long distance to our open air clinic. We had so many critically sick and could not return to PAP for several days. We put mattresses on the floor of an old building. It was so dark inside, but served the purpose at the time. We made it into a critical care room. We also had a twelve-year old girl who had a seizure that morning and fell into the fire. Her body was so badly burned. Another on a stretcher dying of T.B., a man on another home-made stretcher with Ascites, his liver ,stomach, legs and feet so large - he was so weak, another child with possible encephalitis...
Dr. Philip, the only doctor miles away, stopped by. He was on his way to Aux Cayes for a meeting. We were so glad to see him. He has been a friend that has medically covered us for years. He saved us from having to bring many down to the only little health clinic in existence. One little guy, Alex, was lifeless laying there on the floor on a mattress, with his arm clinging to his father's neck. The dad would lay close so that Alex's little hand could cling to him. It was hard to be in those conditions with such limitation to what you can do. Nevertheless, we gave him the best care possible under those conditions. I asked the dad what he was able to give him to eat every day. He said only sometimes a little rice and yam (not our kind, but a starch). I asked him if he ever had an egg. He said no, never. The long trip back was hard on them, ten hours again. New Life Children's Home was like a ray of sunshine...how many little frail bodies have come through that gate over the years.
We brought them all to our little clinic room. Tonight, I watched them, all clean and fed. We had to make more beds on the floor on mattresses, but they all had toys and teddy bears for comfort on the way to recovery. One small baby also with malnutrition, only a few pounds, but the doctor could not determine if the baby is a boy or girl without a sonogram, which we will do. We had brought the parents in for a few days to fill out paper work and for comfort. Regardless of how they came in, with loving care coupled with prayer, they will never remember their misery.
We are working hard with our New Life doctor to reverse the process of our little Alex 's malnutrition and believing God for another miracle. He is just one of many in that area that God sees every day...suffering the terrible agony of hunger. If people only realized how very blessed we are. I held his little frail body tonight, watching him barely clinging to life. Although every part of his little body is still bloated, his face , arms, hands, legs and feet, his little ribs could have been easily counted . His skin was coming off of his hands where the fluid had nowhere else to expand, his chest full of congestion. We gave him some soup this morning, but he couldn't keep it down. He just takes small sips of fluids. No child should ever know this misery. I know this is descriptive, but it is what is in my heart tonight. It is not easily forgotten, but also needs also to be shared . Most people never know really what goes on with hunger as it escalates into the horrible painful malnutrition; the pain and tears with no Mom to comfort and nobody that hears that cry or sees those tears. I've buried so many.
I don't know why I'm sharing all this, but it's such a reality. The truth is that the majority of our kids came in this way. Now, to see them running, playing, and praising God is the real miracle. One of them, eighteen years old, helped preach in our AM Sunday service today. Years ago, we saw his pain, just like this little boy, Alex, struggling to survive. God, of course, saw and felt the pain, but He saw something else we could not see then, he saw the preacher. There is no telling what He sees in little Alex. Please keep him in your prayers.
On another note...we also had a pastor's conference for one day. Sixty-four pastors and workers showed up. They were so grateful for the words and encouragement. They pleaded for more seminars. We sent all the parents back today to the mountains. We sent them with the boxes of food that came in the resent container and paid their way home as they had other kids to care for. They all begged us to keep their children here...they saw their loving care. The emotions were hard...would they live or die? Would they see them again? But they knew their children were in the hands of the Lord and those that loved them. Alex's Dad could not quit saying thank you, he was so very grateful.
I am so very grateful for those that help us. You could never put a price on the value of a gift that literally transforms a child's life forever. I always think of how this could have been one of our children, but could it be that God knew He could trust each of us to hear His voice, answer his call, and be part of this healing process? I'm so grateful for the joy of being here and holding this little guy. There just aren't words to say what you feel as you hold him with so much love, this little broken body, all of us holding back tears, but knowing that God just sent us six little angels.
We love you,Miriam
Love has no border
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