Last Tuesday was our first day at the hospital. The second room on the right holds Sojourner. A 13-month-old baby ailed by tuberculosis. He wears nothing but a diaper and oxygen tubes run through his nose. He lies in bed with his Gogo (Grandmother) by his side. She doesn’t speak English, but distress covers her face. When I visited him on Tuesday with Christin, our new squad leader, Sojourner’s skin was almost translucent. You could almost see his eyes through his eyelids. His breathing was super rapid and they couldn’t keep the oxygen tubes in his nose. Heartbroken, we asked his Gogo if we could pray for him. Chrin placed her hands on his little tummy and began to pray. I laid my hands on Chrin and prayed in agreement to what she was saying. As we prayed Chrin sang the song, “I breathe in, what you breathe out” over and over him. He lay in his Gogo’s arms limp. You could tell he could hear us, but that was pretty much it.
Thursday, we went back to the hospital. Jamie and I went to visit Sojourner this time. He was lying in his bed. The tubes were secure in his nose and his skin was more full of color – what a "Praise Jesus" moment. Jamie asked his Gogo if we could pray for him again, and as she prayed, I kept my eyes open and watched him breathe. I felt like the Lord was beckoning me to lay my hands on his tummy. As Jamie finished, I walked past her and told her how the Lord was burdening my heart. I laid my hands on his tummy as he fought to open his little precious beady black eyes to see me. And as we made eye contact for a brief moment, the song that Chrin had sang a few days before popped into my mind. And so then, I began to sing: “I breathe in, what you breathe out”. As my eyes welled up with tears I prayed that Jesus would heal his little body, that the bacteria would evade his lungs in Jesus name, that his lungs would function properly, and that the Lord would allow all this to happen before I leave Swaziland.
Sojourn means, “to stay temporarily”. The Lord gave me this name for him as I was praying about this blog. Sojourner is a fighter. His stay at the hospital is temporary. The Lord has so much more in store for him in this life. His lungs are going to open up and allow him to take in the first real breath of his life, he will breathe in what Jesus breathes out, in Jesus name.
There is life in this place. People don’t come to the hospital to die in this land. They come to find life. Jesus has strategically placed us in this specific place, in this hospital, this month to bring the light that initially brings life. Pray for our ministry there.
Jamie and Sojourner.
