Rwanda, the Beautiful!!

Today was our second day working in Kibogora Hospital here in Rwanda.  I have been working on the internal medicine wards, while others are on surgery, pediatrics, maternity, and physical therapy.  I have been overhearing stories of horrendous traumas, children with genetic abnormalities, and complications of illness that we would probably never see in the US.  This country is such a dichotomy of beauty and sadness.  When we first arrived a couple of days ago, I was blown away by the beautiful foliage and the stunning view we have in our backyard.  I knew Africa was beautiful, but it is entirely different when you get to experience this land for yourself.  After settling in overnight, we woke up the next morning to get a tour of the hospital.  This is what we came here for.  Although the land here is beautiful and we are blessed to have the opportunity to experience God’s creation on the other side of the world, we came with the purpose of serving the Rwandan people.  As we are walking through the operating room, wards, pediatrics, neonatal intensive care unit, and maternity ward, I became overwhelmed with the reality of how fortunate we truly are in the states.  Our patients back home complain about having to share hospital rooms or being a little too cold at night.  But here they feel fortunate just to be able to sleep on a bed, even though they are sharing a room with up to 30 other patients with only one fan – and many of the patients are sleeping 5 feet away from someone who may be very contagious.

It has only been 2 days and this is not my first time in a third world country medical setting, but it never fails that each time I experience something like this, I am truly humbled by how lucky I really am.  God has truly blessed all of us with health and material things, and the people here live on about $200 per year.  It seems unfathomable until you see it for yourself, but these people have so little and yet, they are some of the most joyful people in the world.  So, today I have been praying that God would continue to open my eyes and heart to the people of this country.  I am asking Him to work in every one of us here to take advantage of this opportunity we have to allow God to radically change our hearts so that we will forever remember these people and continue to do the work the Lord is giving us – whether it be to work hard and be fortunate enough to be givers to these opportunities in the future, or even that God would provide a way for us to continue to be goers.  Please pray for the team that this experience will not end when we land in the US in just 3 short weeks, but rather would hold a permanent place in our hearts that would encourage us to continue to serve the Lord by serving others.

PS - I apologize for the lack of pictures.  There are 2 photos that I really tried to upload to this post, but the internet here is not allowing that.  So....I guess y'all will have to wait with bated breath to see the pictures until we return.

~Shannon