He is Sovereign, Even in Africa

“Sometimes working in a Third World Country makes me feel like I am emptying the ocean with an eyedropper,” Katie Davis writes in her book Kisses from Katie. I have felt that same way over the past few days while working in the peds wards at the hospital. We’ve come across so many children who suffer from illnesses that we are unable to adequately treat due to a lack of proper medication, or who are unable to be diagnosed since most diagnostic tests that we’d run in the States are unavailable here in Rwanda. I have felt rather discouraged and melancholy for the past few days as a result.

We’ve seen a 5-month-old little girl with a congenital heart defect, which will kill her soon if it is not surgically corrected – and there’s no pediatric heart surgeon available in Rwanda. We’ve seen an 8-year-old boy who’s large and small intestines are riddled with worms (his abdomen was surgically opened in an attempt to fix his suspected bowel obstruction but was promptly closed up when the extent of his parasite infestation was learned) and whose heart is extremely suspicious and odd-looking on chest X-ray. We have no idea what is wrong with him – no idea why he’s breathing funny or why his heart looks like an abnormal basketball lodged in the center of his chest. Since we have no way of diagnosing him, we don’t know how to treat him. These are just two out of several cases I’ve been sad about this week.

The extent of the illness and poverty we’ve seen here at Kibogora in the past week and half is enough to discourage even the most enthusiastic and passionate person. And yet I pray that the discouragement would last only for a little while. I hear God saying, “Keep going! Keep loving! Keep praying!” He loves me. And He loves these people. He has promised to never leave or forsake us – not even. And my work over here IS important, even if I feel that I’m not making any significant contributions. When I spent a few minutes praying with the young lady in the surgical ICU, whose hands were burned so badly after having a seizure and falling into a fire pit that she required several finger amputations, I begged the Lord to reveal in her heart the promise that He made to us in Revelation 21:5 – “Behold, I am making all things new!” This world is not our home and these transient, broken shells are not our permanent bodies, amen!

I wonder why so may people are born into poverty and into a poor country where “basic” medical care and treatment are unavailable? I think about all of the resources that we as Americans have at our disposal, and all of the people here in Rwanda and in other parts of the world who don’t have access to certain treatments for their illnesses, or who can barely afford to feed their families each night. I KNOW that God did not create too many people and neglect to provide enough resources for His children. So I guess that most of the guilt for a lot of the world’s poverty lies on our shoulders...

And yet, in the midst of all of the poverty and illness and neglect, God is sovereign still. Even in Africa. He ordained the times and the places that each of us would live, before the beginning of the world (Acts 17:26). He is our Shepherd. Not “was”, not “may be”, not “will be.” He IS. “Is” in America and “is” in Rwanda… I’m not a failure if I can’t fix every child’s problem(s) while I’m here for the next two weeks. I’m not here to eliminate poverty or to eradicate disease or to put a stop to people abandoning babies. I’m just here to love. And to be able to do that, to show Christ’s love to a hurting baby or an anxious mama, is such an incredible blessing. And it is enough, for now. Come for Your bride soon, my Jesus. She is ready for you.  

Britni

“Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal,” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

“There will be times in life when it will appear as though His promises fail you; they don’t seem to be answered in accordance with your expectation. During these times of testing, your faith must rest in WHO He says He is rather than your understanding of what He has promised. You are best served trusting His character.” – Walter Henrichson