Prayer request and update for 4 day old Mawien who came in to our clinic 4 days ago with neonatal sepsis & unable to breast feed.
Thank you so much for your prayers for baby Mawien. He did show significant improvement after sending our the prayer request, but unfortunately the next day his parents discharged him and decided to take him to the witch doctor and we haven’t seen them since. This was very sad for our whole team, but makes us all the more determined to continue shining God’s light into the darkness here in Tonj. Please keep praying for this family that they would take to heart the good news of Christ we shared with them while they were here.
We were blessed to have the children’s choir from Konywok visit our church to welcome Suzy and Hannah back to Tonj along with the return of the Macleod family. Here’s a taste!!
We then went into our time of praise and worship!
After the message we prayed for Emmanuel, who is going to school in Kenya to be a pharmacist. He has been trained and raised up within In Deed and Truth and will come back to serve in the clinic.
Madelena Adut Ateng from the village of Madol is the mother of this beautiful baby girl, the third baby to deliver in our clinic today. In a country where we have one of the highest maternal mortality rates, it is always a joy to assist mothers in safe delivery.
IDAT Midwife Annie with newborn
We thank God for the privilege to serve the people of Tonj with a maternity program that saves lives every day. Please pray for wisdom and favor for our midwives, nurses, doctors and community health workers.
Since we were not able to go to Maloney for several months due to severe flooding it was a great blessing to start going again regularly on Wednesdays. The word is out and this week we saw more patients then we have ever seen in the past.
Patients waiting in the shade for clinic to start
The day started bad, my first patient was an 18 day old that had been sick for a long time. The infant was malnourished and very lethargic. The skin was grayish in color and I knew the infant would probably only live a few more hours but we tried to see if we could help turn things around and I know there is always hope for God can do anything. Sadly, the infant died after about two hours. When I first saw the infant I hated seeing him for I knew all the organ systems of the body were already shutting down. They say in trauma cases there is the golden hour where if you can catch the person in the early stages of shock and get IV’s and all going before the systems start shutting down you have a good chance of survival. This child had long passed that golden hour. It is heartbreaking to see a little one die and listen to the mother’s cry. We thank God for Pastor Santino who was able to step in and minister the love of Jesus to this family and share the hope we have in our Savior.
Dr. Tom assessing patients in Maloney
During the next 6 hours the clinical officer Sharon, myself, a hard working team of Community Health Workers and a missionary nurse from Texas named Amy saw over 250 patients. I love seeing the patients in the early stages of malaria when they respond so well to therapy. We saw many children with high temps from malaria and Pneumonia and many bootie shots were given to get things turned around fast.
We headed back to Tonj about 6:30 PM and had to push the LandCruiser to get it started. On the way home the CHWs were in good spirits laughing and jabbering all the way home yelling boom- boom every time we hit a bump and it is almost impossible not to hit a bump for in some places the whole road is one big bump.
One reason I believe the CHWs are so chipper on the ride home is because they are exhausted to the point of giddiness and they are proud of the amount of good we are able to do on the days we go to Maloney. They laugh and giggle and tell me that my sons (boys) are hungry (no time to stop for lunch) and need some bread and they enjoy eating their peanut butter sandwiches.
Pray for Maloney and the continued outreach there to bless that community.
God gave me the great opportunity to work with In Deed and Truth for three months. From the start of my trip, God had every step planned out. I lived my entire 27 years of my life in the state of Texas until January of last year. In January I ventured out to live in cold Colorado for a short season to live closer to my brothers, sister in law & nieces for a time. I had known about IDAT for a few years from their website and getting updated by their blog. I had never really considered serving in Tonj. But, for some reason I can’t explain except for God’s always greater plans- I emailed the stateside coordinator Jeamette at this time to see if they needed a nurse’s help. In just a day or so she emailed me back & said where in Colorado are you? We were close enough to meet in person and we did so the very next week! At this time I had only been in Colorado a few weeks. God had this meeting in mind way before I even considered moving to Colorado!
Fast forward 6 months later I’m on a plane headed to Africa! I was scared and anxious not knowing what to expect! After arriving in Tonj, South Sudan I immediately knew my life would never be the same again. Serving the Dinka people in the clinic and by having the opportunity to be apart of Community Health Evangelism has truly given me a joy I can’t explain. Seeing people walk for days many times barefoot and always with limited food & water to be seen at the clinic is humbling. The Dinka tribe has so much strength and culture. They welcomed me into their lives and sometimes homes with open arms. God gave me strength each day to love on another person. The need in South Sudan is so great. I have seen this now and it cannot be ignored. I’m so thankful IDAT has been there so many years. God willing they will continue to do awesome things for the kingdom in Tonj, South Sudan. The ministry and clinic is truly a bright light. To me it is just like the city on a hill. So many people receive medical care and most importantly the loving Gospel message from Tonj and even villages far away.
Many of the Dinka tribe’s stories are heartbreaking and makes you wonder what could God’s plan possibly be? One of the stories that I will never forget happened in my first few weeks in Tonj. The ambulance had gone out to pick up a patient from the outlying village Thiet. When they arrived at the clinic the story came out. The woman had been in labor for a couple of days & pushing for hours at home in her village. Many woman had tried to help her get the baby to be delivered. When nothing was working one of the men out of desperation used a spear to stab the baby’s head & literally drag the baby out. The baby passed away immediately & the mom was near death when she arrived from blood loss & the trauma. The next day she was taken to Wau for a blood transfusion and recovery. I’m not sure how long it will take this woman to get over the trauma from something so heartbreaking. I pray and ask God frequently to give her peace and understanding. I ask God to give me understanding! This horrible situation has caused my faith to grow. I have realized that I will not always understand, but need have faith that God is always just & good.
The difficult lessons and people I met in Tonj is something that has changed my life forever. My time there was truly in God’s plan. I feel blessed and full of joy thinking about what God showed me. He is great, just and full of compassion. He knows what the Dinka people need more than I ever could. He is in control of everything. He uses all to His glory and I count myself blessed to be used by Him. Everyday in Tonj wasn’t perfect by any means. I learned very hard lessons in a place so far from my family & everything that is familiar. I had to rely on God in ways I never thought possible. Sometimes I prayed to Him to just get me through the next hour. I would pull through then ask God please come be by my side this hour. Being in that kind of unity with The Lord is what He wants. I pray that God will continue to work in Tonj and maybe He will send me to serve the Dinka people again!
