Intense. That’s the best word I can use to describe the day I just had today (Monday, June 18, 2007). As a small team, we ministered here in Swaziland, visiting the sick in the hospitals. Most of the patients have AIDS.
Our first stop was the children’s ward. My eyes immediately were drawn to a little boy and 3 ladies sitting around him near the back of the room. I said “hi” and introduced myself. He sheepishly grinned at me. He had a wonderful smile. I spoke with his mom and his two aunts. I was able to talk about Jesus and pray with them. He loved the stickers I gave to him. His aunt invited me several times to their church, which is holding two revival meetings daily this entire month. I wish I was staying in Swaziland so I could go with her! Unfortunately transportation logistics and leaving on Wednesday morning prevents me from going…It broke my heart to tell her that I couldn’t make it. When the boy received more visitors, I moved on.
A couple other WR girls and I felt led to the women’s ward. WOW. That’s where it got intense. Everything was magnified: The smells, the sights, lack of proper clothing, dry IV’s. Many of these women were very close to their end. Some were able to spit out a word or two. I was able to read Scripture to some, sing for a few, and pray over all that the ladies in the name of Jesus. One lady was 19, had a 2-week old at home, skin and bones, and on her last days. Another lady had been depressed since 2003. She ‘ate up’ my smile and the Word I read. The smile God gave me was contageous, filling her face despite her obvious pain. I helped another woman eat her dinner (1/2 peanut butter sandwich and a small cup of milk). I covered (with a blanket) a woman whose body was full of sores. Oh, so many stories…A word. A touch. A prayer.
How am I feeling in during and after this ministry? Helpless?? Perhaps – I can’t ‘save’ them, physically or spiritually. Hopeless?? No, b/c GOD CAN save them physically and spiritually. This next story will reveal Hope founded in Christ.
As we were leaving the women’s ward, we visited with a couple ladies sitting outside the men’s ward. These ladies didn’t speak English. So we communicated non-verbally. Another woman joined them, and when she found out (through motions) that we were praying for people, her face lit up! She ushered us into her son’s private room in the men’s ward. He was clearly in pain, with a basketball-sized tumor on his neck. We prayed for him and his mom: That this 18-year old boy would be free of pain, have healing spiritually and physically, and know Jesus personally. What totally blessed me was his mom’s demenor. He clearly did not have much time left, based on observation and discussions with a nurse. Yet the mom was full of the joy of the Lord. She obviously believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way to God. Amazing to find such joy in such an intense place.
Some stats on AIDS I learned today before heading to the hospital: Approximately 44% of the 1.2 million Swazis have AIDS. Many people unknowingly have AIDS. It’s common to deny the prevention of spreading AIDS in Swaziland (abstinence or faithfulness in marriage). The UN predicts that by the year 2050 Swaziland will be no more, due to the overwhelming increase of AIDS. Roughly 80% of Swazis who enter the hospital will never be released.
This morning I was reminded what Jesus said in the last verse of Matthew 10—He gets the glory when we offer a cup of cold water in His Name.
Please pray with me for the people of Swaziland. That God would bring them to Him through Jesus. That they would be freed from this bondage of AIDS. That they would then rise up and spread the Truth across all Africa, even all nations.
