Friday nite I subbed for a tired midwife. Delivered a baby the head went right into the bulging amniotic sack and I believe it made for a nice controlled delivery. everyone did fine. Saturday morning a real sick 3 month old came in Dennis our IV starting champion got an IV going and we gave fluids and meds to stop the convulsions. We started antibiotics and anti malarial meds and prayed. The child was sick for over one week with care by the village witch doctor and only when the infant was at death’s doorstep did it come to the clinic. Another seizure and aspiration into the lungs ended hope of a recover. I always say we need 12 hours to turn things around and we only got 6 hours. It is always sad but we can only do so much. During that time interval I pulled a tooth of a 15 y/o girl it was a tough pull because the crown of the tooth was very decayed and the roots were very strong. I have pulled about 40 teeth now. Michael Stick the surgeon from Madison continues to be a great asset to us here. He cannot believe all the hernias here and he is enjoying doing the surgery thing even when I assist him. I am starting to understand this hernia thing. – Tom
All posts by Suzy Kuj
Witch Doctor
Feb 28th started out much as any other day.I was taking care of people who came in for dressing changes and just before lunch, Dennis, one of the medical staff asked if I would take over caring for a 5 month old baby that needed to be watched closely. Baby Anyar, had been very dehydrated and was in shock initially suffering from possible pneumonia and amebic dysentry. I gave some IV medications and kept an eye on him out on the back porch. After I had seen all my patients for dressings I went out with the translator to ask a few questions of the mother. There was a man sitting there also who I asked if I could pray for the baby. They said yes, and I did. The uncle asked if I prayed because the child was suffering? I said yes, that’s partly the reason, but that we all needed prayer and pointed to each of us.
I went to lunch and do some other things but felt drawn back to them. I asked Isaac who is a translator and A Community Health Worker if he had time to translate for me. He was happy to help. We started a conversation that lasted quite a while. Apparently the child had been sick for about 10 days. They had gone to another clinic quite some distance away and were given medicines. After 3 days the medicine did not seem to have made any difference. A family member said if it hasn’t helped then they should go to the witch doctor.
I know that all of you reading this in various parts of the world, outside of Africa, think this is very strange. For those who have many questions about this I would love to talk with you some time face to face about it. Let me just say, it is very, very real. They ended up going to two witch doctors. The first one asked to be paid 50 Sudanese pounds. This is a huge amount for most people. This witch doctor said the baby had gases in it’s belly, and rubbed oil all over him to remove the gases! It didn’t help. The 2nd witch doctor wanted a bull, goat and chicken for payment. This was a big problem because when the mother of the child got married her uncle was supposed to pay with a bull, goat and chicken but never did. The witch doctor stated the baby won’t get well without the payment. Fortunately I asked them if they knew God to whom I had prayed earlier. They did not know about God at all. We talked about God, his son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It was a long conversation that I can’t go into details but it was very obvious that God had set this appointment for us to meet together this day.
In the end the brother and sister prayed with us to ask God’s forgiveness for their wrong doings, accepting that Jesus paid the price for their sins and invited Him into their lives. I explained that this was a free gift, no money, no bulls, goats or chickens for their healing.
They will never again go to, or trust in the witch doctor.The power of the witch doctor pales in comparison to the power of the One who made heaven and earth and rules over all his creation.
“There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘see what God has done!'” – Numbers 23:23
Guaria Village Praise Report
Guaria village has a population of about 496 people. One of our Bible School Trainees planted a church in Guaria village. The Gauria people love God so very much and they usually meet for fellowships every Saturday in the evening and they have invited us to come. They also have Sunday services. Albino (Compound Manager) has gone to the Saturday evening service a couple of times along with Pastor Joe and Peter Malok (Community Health worker) and some of our Pastors from the Bible School.
The major challenge they had was the lack of clean water for drinking. They requested our Ministry to drill a borehole for them if possible. One interesting thing about this village is that they have unity or a oneness. They all joined hands; Pastors, chiefs, elders, men, women and youth and sent to our ministry a proposal that stated that they are in need of a borehole. Our partners, Aid Sudan, sent a group on Saturday morning to Guaria village to drill a borehole. Every member in Guaria along with the women and children were there together to see what was going on in their village. These people are so very excited because they are looking forward to having a borehole which will give them clean water for drinking and will help prevent many of the common diseases such as diarrhea.
Because of this borehole and the availability of water, they will now be able to implement projects such as green vegetable planting and mango planting. This will result in the growth of Guaria and the other surrounding villages.
They thank God above all for remembering them, and they also thank Aid Sudan, our Ministry IDAT and our supporters and all those who participated.
“So that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.” – Isaiah 41:20
Baby needs prayer
Yesterday in the evening a certain lady brought her child to our clinic. Malek Malok one month and a half was left in the house when a goat came in and stepped at the right side of his head. The temporal bone depressed or sucked inside but the baby was breastfeeding well and no prior loss of consciousness when he was brought to the clinic. When the temporal bone is depressed (pressed in)it can cause pressure in the brain and cause neurological dysfunction, thus causing bleeding. The Doctor said it was a miracle for that child to be alive. We prayed together with the mother and she said that she has a reason to praise God for her child being alive.
Please pray for this child because there is a possibility for him to have a deformity. Operating on the child also is risking. The best thing we can do is to put him in the hands of God and to trust Him for His mighty work upon that baby’s head.
Praise Report on the Accident
We thank God and also you for praying with us regarding the accident in Tonj which happened on Sunday 12th February. The survivors who were rushed to Wau Hospital in critical condition are feeling much better now. They are also happy and together with their families they thank God and also In Deed and Truth Ministries for taking them to Wau with the ambulance and for buying the medicines for them.
Please pray for Nyok Deng Mayiik who was one of the patients in that accident and was taken to Wau. We have not succeeded in reaching his relatives. Awad our compound guard took some clothes to him and also bought medicines for him and he is very thankful to God and our Ministry.
A certain man heard about the accident on Sunday night and he was told his son died in the accident. He came to our clinic to take the body to his home but he was astonished to find his son alive. Bilal Amac was doing okay and was regaining enough strength so that he could even speak. His father danced for joy and all who were there in the clinic were excited and rejoiced with him. He asked our doctors to help him to transfer his son to the Wau hospital.
“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another, they will tell of your mighty acts.” – Psalms 145:3-4