During my time in India a couple of months ago, we had some freedom in our ministry options & I immediately felt a calling to the hospital. I had never prayed for strangers, but I felt the Lord telling me I could bring some light to this dark and depressing place. So, I stepped out in faith and obedience, showing up to pray for sick children or play worship music quietly on my guitar. The Lord moved in big ways, and I could feel Him working directly through me during those hours. I felt that I was walking out a specific calling on my life.
So, I was thrilled to hear that our first ministry opportunity here in Kenya would be hospital visits. I felt that the Lord had great things in store for us and for the patients we would be ministering to. Although we did experience some cases of healing, we were met with many cases of injustice, neglect, and death—images that are etched into the forefront of my mind, scenes and smells I have to pray against as I fall asleep at night. I have to fight daily to continue with a heart of joy and thanksgiving, to not let the pain and darkness that I’ve seen overpower God’s light.
We’ve had at least 5 patients pass away due to lack of care at the district hospital. Claire, the infant I mentioned in the previous blog was brought in with malnutrition/ inability to feed because of a cleft lip deformity. For the hours we were there, Claire laid motionless on a table ignored by the nurses & never being seen by a doctor. By the time we reached her for prayer, she took her last breath & we had to request a nurse to come take her pulse. By this time, it was too late for her. She never even had a chance. No one at the hospital even cared enough to fight for her… no one but us. But God placed us there just in time. Claire felt Jessica’s loving human touch & was ushered into the gates of heaven by this prayer warrior fighting for her.
During our next visit, I went to check on Lillian, the badly burned young girl that we saw on our first visit. I was told that she had also passed away. I am convinced her death was due to the improper way the nurse was cleaning her wounds. The trauma of the scenes I saw play out during her bath were worse than the burns themselves that she had endured. I am not medically trained, but even I knew that the “care” this nurse was giving was more like torture. I can only hope that she felt some comfort as I held her feet and through streaming tears begged God to take her pain.
The same afternoon I learned of Lillian’s death, we visited a 3-year-old boy named Edwin who had a bone protruding from his shin. He had been sitting in the hospital in this condition for a week, with nothing but a dirty shirt covering his open wound. I went into territorial mama mode, asking the nurses why a doctor had not seen him yet and why his wound was not covered. Apparently the doctor was out of town (yes- there’s only one doctor in this unit, so when he is away no one receives care!) The nurses claimed that it was the mother’s fault that the wound was covered with a dirty piece of clothing, and they did not want to dress the wound because of infection! I was infuriated, but I calmly requested that the wound be cleaned and loosely covered with gauze until the doctor returned. Four days later, I returned to check on Edwin who had still not been operated on (they would have to go to another hospital for the proper care) & was still sitting in this hellacious hospital because his mother lacked the $4 needed for discharge. After giving the mother some money, I begged her to take her son to the other hospital to get the care he needed, but chances are this boy will end up with a deformity, infection or worse… all because the care he deserves is not available at the government hospital and is unaffordable for the poor at the private hospital. I wanted to take every patient away from that death-trap of a place. I wanted to load them all up and take them to a better hospital, where the doctors and nurses were properly trained and compassionate, or better yet to America where patients have rights and malpractice laws & health codes are enforced.
One of the youth who has been accompanying us for ministry & serving as a translator shared some stories of her own loss and heartbreak due to the poor medical care here. This 22-year-old girl has lost three sisters: one to malaria (17 yrs), one to kidney problems that went unidentified by the doctors (25 yrs– leaving behind 3 young children), and the youngest (10 yrs) from complications after being caned by her teacher at school. It is very possible that if there was better medical care this girl would still have her three sisters and three children would still have their mother.
We were also told that the doctors have been in conflict with the government for the past two years regarding pay raises, so they have purposefully been giving poor care to prove a point. The nurses also see patients as a nuisance and inconvenience, especially when they are in poor condition that requires more care. So, nurses withhold care or even give medication to cause death. The hospital morticians are pleased because they see sick patients as an opportunity for income, benefiting from each and every death. How can I listen to these stories without feeling helpless and infuriated? I am faced with a battle that feels impossible to overcome. All I can do is continue to fight in prayer for these helpless patients, these children of God who can’t afford the care they deserve. Please join me in fighting for their care & healing, as well as for conviction and compassion in the hearts of the nurses and doctors.
I’ve learned that it’s possible to maintain a heart of joy, even while experiencing such travesty, but it’s a daily struggle to stay focused on the good. This week we have a full schedule of traveling crusades and revivals—oh boy! There should be some good stories on the way—hopefully some a little more uplifting than these! I’m sorry to always share such sadness and despair, but I need all of you prayer warriors back home fighting for the people here who live in such hurt and hopelessness!
If only the signage were accurate…
