Feeling better
Dwayne: Since the last post I had to take a second malaria treatment because the last one did not cure me completely. I was not sure if the second one worked but after much prayer the Lord gave me relief and I am still feeling good.
Eric also came down with malaria and is just getting back to himself. He said he often wondered just what these tropical diseases were like from reading stories of missionaries and how they described it. Now he knows firsthand and can appreciate the dedication of the missionaries that we all read about.
This last week has been busy and blessed. We were planning on putting on several day-clinics for a couple of PFM projects this week and then spending Thanksgiving down here in Brooke’s with Eric and the new couple, the Hensons. Things did not turn out quite as we planned.
On Tuesday morning when we were getting ready to leave Kamantian someone showed up to tell us about a lady that had been sick for awhile and needed to be seen but could not walk. So we made a stop on our way to Brooke’s with the helicopter and treated the old lady.
Not long after we got to Brooke’s Point we got a report that there was a very sick baby that was needing to go to the hospital, so that afternoon I went and picked up the baby and the parents and took them to the hospital where Wendy met me and took it from there. The baby was just about dead because the family had waited for a week before they came for help.
The native people here wait till a sick person is at death’s door before they come for help, which makes things more difficult to deal with. I struggle sometime in having compassion for people who don't seem try and help themselves. I have to remember that usually it is ignorance and the Devil’s influence through the witch doctors that cause the delays in seeking treatment for the sick.
One of the girl missionaries for PFM across the mountains from us got really sick with malaria and typhoid. On Tuesday her companion took her out to Rizal, the closest town, to seek help at a clinic there but there was no doctor in for a couple days so the help was very limited. Brooke’s Point is the closest hospital, so I planned on flying over on Wednesday morning to bring them back to Brooke’s for treatment.
The clouds were hanging too low for me to get across the mountains and heavy rain showers were coming in so I had to come back and wait things out. Several hours later things seemed to be clearing so I took off and headed north to get around the mountains since I could not get over them. I ran through several rain showers but was able to get to the other side of the island with no problems and picked the missionary girls up and brought them back to Brooke’s.
The next day I had to get another boy and take him to the hospital for a blood transfusion. A note on getting blood over here, there is no stock of blood so you have to go find donors who are willing to come in and donate and who meet the requirements (normal blood pressure, good hemoglobin, etc.). Much time was spent by many people trying to find type B blood for the PFM girl. God provided in the end without having to pay any donor for their blood, and all patients are doing much better now.
Wendy stayed busy at the hospitals overseeing the patient care and looking for blood donors for the several people that were in the hospital. Friday we flew over the mountains and visited a New Tribes Mission project. Wendy was a great help there because she can speak the dialect and they had a stillborn baby that night and Wendy was able to check the patient out and speak more with the family about it. We will be trying to help their work, in whatever way we can.
God has been timing thing right so we are in the right place at the right time for helping with the helicopter. We thank all of you for making this work possible with your prayers and support.
God Bless, Dwayne & Wendy
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