NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Little baby Alisan

They were each just three pounds when they came to us.  Hard to believe that two little twins had made it that far and were still alive. Their mother was exhausted and unable to provide any milk for her babies.  We decided to have the mother move from her village – which is very remote – and come live here in our village to seek care.  A family offered to have the mother and the babies move in with them while we tried to get them on the road to recovery.  We worked with our local medical clinic to make a plan.

The mom began a diet of corn, fish, rice, and peanut.  She was so tired when she first came.  They babies were starving and crying all the time.  She was trying to feed them, but was unable to give them enough.  So, she desperately needed sleep and to get her strength back.

The twins were six weeks old with sunken faces and just looked so sad.  They were so hungry!

Using formula is a rare occurance here.  Guinea does not want mothers to use it unless absolutely medically necessary. Even if they can get a doctor’s clearance, the formula is completely beyond their financial means.  The formula costs would be the same as feeding an entire family.  And, culturally, women don’t nurse other women’s babies.  So, most often, these little ones who cannot get enough milk from their mother’s will eventually starve to death.

We did not want to see that happen with these two little precious ones!  The mother started her special diet of food to gain more milk and we started giving the twins formula for every other feeding.  It was a big deal to see two babies with bottles in the village. Many other ladies came and sat around to watch and I was so excited that I could be there to show them exactly how to prepare the bottles – and I showed them how to feed them.  They drank it right down!  I was so afraid it wouldn’t work, but they were really hungry.  Their mom was so visibly relieved that she couldn’t stop smiling and thanking me.

It’s been a few weeks now and they are really growing.  They’ve gained over 2 pounds each!  Their mom is so much stronger and more rested.  They were telling me that in their village, when the ladies saw how tiny these two were, that everyone told them they needed to poison the babies.  People said that they were demons.  But, the mom said that she knew she was supposed to go for help.  She says that we missionaries were brought here to show everyone in her village that these babies aren’t demons.  Some people came from her village this past week and she showed them the twins and said “see, you believed they should die, but look at how they’ve grown”.

I love that we can show Christ’s love in ways like this.  I love that God continues to bring people into our lives and gives us the opportunity to be a blessing.  Please keep praying for this family…keep praying that through all this their hearts may become open to hearing the Gospel!

So tiny

The twins with their mom

Growing more every day

I promise he wasn't as miserable as he looked - he'd only smile after the camera went away...

So many posts swirling around in my head.  I think of all the things that I’d love to share with you all, so that I could give you a real glimpse into life here.  But, I have been plagued by some very severe headaches lately and have been falling into bed the same time as the boys.  And so, the writing of life’s events have been put on hold.  But they are there in my head…

It’s been a struggling to keep up with the pace of life with these headaches.  I saw a doctor in the States who prescribed a daily medication for tension migraines and it seemed to work really well for a few months, but now the headaches are coming back.  There is no doctor to see here and two years is a long time to go without seeing anyone for help.  I wish that I could rest without needing to answer the door all day, but people will just sit and call for me at the door until I come.  There are so many people looking for work, looking for help with the seed they need for planting and many, many people who are very sick.  It can be very overwhelming.

…And then in the midst of it, is encouragement.  Encouragement in the form of a little boy who is alive this week – against all odds!  I posted on facebook last week that I had a taken a little boy to the hospital who was dying of malaria.  They came to get me to drive him to the hospital and looking at the boy – I honestly didn’t think he’d make it through the day.  The malaria had become so severe that he was convulsing and his eyes were rolled back in his head.  I drove so fast to the hospital – all the while praying that God would spare his little life for the family.

I can’t really communicate to you an accurate picture of “hospital”…because I know you are thinking of American hospitals.  Instead picture run down buildings with no water, electricity most of the time, four people to a room, no screens on the windows, no nurses, one doctor to an insane amount of people…are you starting to understand?  I hate that this is the best I can do for someone – but the father was so thankful that he could even see a doctor and get the medicines that his little boy needed.

We checked on him a few times throughout the week – making sure that the bills were not going to them and they were able to get the medications from the pharmacy (here the doctors write what you need down and your family goes to the pharmacy to get it and bring it back).  Today, they came to the house to let us know that he’d been released and is on his way to a full recovery.  After more thanks from them and a few reminders from me that he needs to eat more than just plain rice – they headed back to their village not far from us.

Yes, there are many days with no rewards, no thank you’s and no rest…but then God gives us a day where we can see a difference we’ve made and it’s a wonderful thing.  I told the father that I had asked many people back in the States to be praying and I wanted to take a picture so that they could be reminded of God’s faithfulness to hear our prayers.  Thanks for continuing to pray for our days here!

The medical clinic in our village

I put quite a few posts out there on facebook about sending people to the clinic or taking people to the hospital.  Health Care in Guinea never ceases to amaze me – 99.9% of the time not in a good way!  We have had people with broken bones wait days for an x-ray because there is no electricity.  We have had people not be able to get medicine because they are “out of that one”.  We have women giving birth and heading home 30 minutes later.  We have emergencies that won’t get treated until the bribe is paid to the nurse.  Normal everyday healthcare in Guinea.  Below is a picture of the clinic in our village – there is no running water or electricity.  This is the first place people go for help with childbirth (yes, they give birth without electricity or running water) and sicknesses like malaria.  If there is no one there working in the clinic (which happens quite frequently) then they would go to the hospital in town.  However, the hospital still goes days without power, there are no screens on the windows, no air-conditioning or fans and you have to bring your own nurse.  It is honestly a scary place for me to visit, but for the vast majority of the people in our village the hospital is too expensive to go to.  We have created cards for both the clinic and the hospital, so that we can send people there knowing that they will receive treatment and be able to purchase the medications that they’ll need.  We shared many times over our furlough how this medical ministry has opened doors for stronger relationships.  Parents who are thankful that we were able to provide the funds to save their children, medical emergencies that have saved lives and just walking through difficult times with our neighbors.  We’ve been excited to see people desire to help us with these costs and help us continue building these relationships.