This past week was PVT or Parent Vision Trip. My Mom had the opportunity to fly all the way to Rwanda and spend a week serving and loving others alongside me and my teammates. She arrived Sunday night and the reunion was beautiful. The tentative schedule for PVT was ministry Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Our ministry was partnering with locals in their village to build a much needed road. Monday we had the opportunity to visit the Genocide Museum and learn about the history of Rwanda. Tuesday morning as we ate breakfast and drank our coffee, I was nervous but excited to see how my two words would collide. My heart was in an expectant place for God to move. I desired for my Mom to see and understand my love for missions and my heart for this beautiful country and its people. I’m sure many of you know, but God never disappoints. He always comes through and most of the time in more ways than we ever thought he would or could. As we began digging the trenches on the road, my mom loved on the babies. She hugged and kissed them and loved them so well. As we played with the children, my teammate Lindsay came over and told me she had found a little boy that had a severe infection on his arm and wanted me to look at it. I grabbed my first aid kit and quickly went with her to meet our new little friend. What I discovered was not an infection, but rather a third degree burn covering his hand and the entire length of his forearm. I quickly knew that there was nothing I could do with my limited EMT skills or resources. I quickly went to get my friend Luke, a nurse, for a second opinion. After examination we decided that the young boy needed a doctor very soon. We spoke with our host and he communicated with the boys family and within 20 minutes we were in a taxi and on our way. Luke, Baby Jimmy, his mother, a translator and myself were off.
Luke, Lindsay, and I checking out Jimmy’s arm.
Jimmy and his smile even with his injury.
The extent of his injury!
Jimmy’s first car ride!
We arrived at a local clinic and were seen by a pediatric doctor who transferred us to a bigger hospital with better tools to treat the severe burn. We proceeded to drive to the next hospital. The entire time Jimmy never stopped smiling. As we drove he stuck his good arm out the window and waved, laughing the entire time.
Jimmy at the first clinic.
We arrived at Kanombe Military Hospital and were directed to the emergency surgery wing. We waited at the hospital for approximately three hours before we were seen or spoken to. We played with little Jimmy, entertaining him with a blown up glove as a ball. During this time there were times when I would notice the pain in his eyes. Despite the smile and laughter, I could see the pain. He attempted to ease the pain by blowing on his arm to cool it off. This is what truly amazed me. He was brave and strong and was only two years old. The pain eventually overcame his ability to cope and he began to become upset. As we held and comforted him, he fell asleep. Finally the doctor called us into a room, not allowing Luke and I to accompany the family. After he was seen, we went into the room and the doctor reentered. He explained to us what was going to happen. After explaining to us the need for a debridement or cleaning under anesthesia he asked us how long we had had little Jimmy. We quickly realized that he thought Luke and I were his parents. After I answered and told him about four hours, he laughed. We then explained the story of finding the boy in his village while working on a road. He thanked us and was in awe of our willingness to help. We then asked if we could come into surgery with Jimmy and he agreed without hesitation. We exchanged phone numbers and left the family to return to the squad. As we left, Jimmy began to cry and speak. We asked the translator what he was saying and he told us that Jimmy wanted to know why his momma and papa were leaving. This broke our hearts.
The sweet doctor entertaining Jimmy while we waited.
Jimmy was upset that his muzungo mama and papa where leaving.
Later that night after an eventful day, we received a call that Jimmy was going into surgery. Luke, Lindsay, my Mom, and I quickly hopped into a taxi and took off. We knew the reality of us being allowed into an African operating room was slim, but we also know God is big. As we began to leave the hotel room we ran into a woman who told us of the difficulties of getting into a hospital at that time of night (9:00pm), especially a military one. After discussing with us that we were disrespecting the culture by going and assuming they will allow us in she became angry. We attempted to explain o her that we had been invited but she persisted. Eventually he hotel manager told us to ignore her and get in the car. It was quite a weird experience, but as we drove we realized that it was just the devil trying to get in our way. We prayed and gave it all to the Lord. As we drove up to the hospital the guard said hello, we explained Dr. Leon had invited us and he let us in with no questions asked. After we entered the hospital, we left Lindsay and my Mom in the waiting room and proceeded to the surgical wing we had been in earlier. We told them who we were and what we had come for, and without hesitation, they escorted us to the operating waiting room.
We met Jimmy and his mother there and waited with them. As we waited we asked permission to enter the operating room. We were told “no” probably four times. When we were about to give up hope on getting in, a man named Dr. Paul came out of nowhere and asked if we were the two American scrubbing in with him. We quickly answered yes. He asked if we had scrubs and we said no, so he proceeded to look for some. He came back out to tell us that he could only find one pair. With the biggest puppy dog eyes, Luke looked at me and asked if he could go, so I said yes. After a few minutes, Luke—fully dressed in scrubs and a hair net—came to tell me he had found me a pair. I got dressed and then they escorted me back to meet Luke. We then proceeded to walk into an African operating theatre.
Luke, Dr. Paul, and I all ready to go!
I want to take a moment to let this sink in with all of you. We walked into and operating theatre in Kigali, Rwanda, Africa, with no proof of who we were, where we were from, or anything for that matter. God saw our desire to help and our love for this little boy and granted us the honor of standing next to him during surgery. He allowed us to be a part of His much bigger plan. We stood through the operation which proved to be much more difficult for us to do than we expected. Both of us have medical backgrounds and aren’t weakened at the sight of blood or gore, but the sight of that precious baby on an operating table, knowing the pain he must have been in, weakened us. The moments when I could no longer look at him because I was sick to my stomach made me realize just how fond I had become. This gave me a deeper understanding of God’s love and grief for us when we are in pain. Just as I hurt for Jimmy, God hurts for us when we are hurting. After a quick cleaning and bandaging, Jimmy was taken to recovery. The doctor informed us that if we would have not brought him to the hospital, he would have lost his arm.
Jimmy after surgery, in recovery.
We left and informed his family that it went well. As the week went on, we continued to call and check on Jimmy daily. Saturday after our parent left for America, we went to visit him. Day reunions are the best, but when an African baby with the cutest, most perfect smile, and is no longer in pain runs and leaps into your arms, it is so much sweeter than words can describe. Jimmy was happy and joyful. We played soccer again with his glove balloon. We also were able to bless his family by covering the medical bill which was approximately $150 USD. This included surgery and hospital care for 5 days. He was released from the hospital and after many hugs and kisses we sent him home with his family.
Jimmy is recovered!!
This story is the story of God’s plans being so much bigger than ours could ever be. We had planned to build a road, which we did do, but God also planned for us to help change the life of a sweet baby boy who will one day play on that road. Maybe he will be able to play with a real ball instead of an inflated glove.
Thank you so much for reading this miraculous story. Thank you also to the people that financially and prayerfully supported this small boy and his family. Thank you to my sidekicks, Luke and Lindsay. Thank you to all of the doctors and nurses. Thank you Jesus for your great plans!
Love,
Gabbie
Ps. I am currently in an airport in Chile on my way to Bolivia. Third continent in seven months, wohoo!!
