We had the privilege of welcoming several visitors/partners over the last month who traveled here to share their lives and hearts with the people we work with and serve.  They’ve been beautiful.  We often say that one of the great privileges of what we do is meeting and getting to know those who visit and join us in this work.  It seems only the best of the best choose to travel to Cavango.

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Brian Van der Ark is a leader with AGA and SIM from the US and he gave several seminars to our staff over a week about how we can better care for those we serve from a spiritual perspective.  His words were embraced and his teachings reinforced our long-standing emphasis in Cavango – caring for those we serve. It has become a trademark of our work.  We have stories return to us almost daily of how patients and families leave Cavango and, whether the outcome was pleasant or unpleasant, they share with their communities that they have never experienced care like that they received in Cavango.  In a profession/service with 100% mortality, it is pretty beautiful to be a part of such a team where we can legitimately (and commonly) improve health, delay mortality and impact those we serve in such a way.  Beauty from ashes… I often describe Cavango as an awful, beautiful place.  So many arrive in such an “awful” state and receive the most beautiful care in the midst of their suffering.

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Shivangi is a graduating medical student from the US who visited us this month and has been a light every day for everyone with whom she interacts.  Her joyful, warm embrace and acceptance of everyone has caused all to warmly embrace her and enjoy her delightful presence immensely.

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Jordan is a missionary Nurse Practitioner from the US who lives in Huambo (3-4 hr) and works with us periodically.  While we were in the states and, after the DeSouzas left for their sabbatical, Jordan ran the hospital for several weeks without a hitch.  In a busy, rural, low-resource hospital, this is a major challenge and she was up to it.  She is “light”, dearly loved, respected by the staff and her medical expertise is beyond her few years of experience.  So many benefitted from her supervision and care. 

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Vianne is an Angolan medical school graduate from another part of the country who is with us to learn and contribute for two years.  Her gentle care, hunger to learn and friendly interaction with everyone has influenced our hospital culture for the better.

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Danny is a also a missionary from Huambo who visited for a couple days and interaction with him always leaves us edified.  His sober and mature love for Jesus is clear and contagious in every encounter.  He is a trainer of leaders and always a learner who is impacting many in Angola.  His insight is always beneficial to all of us who face many of the same challenges.

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Aurelio is in his mid-twenties and from another part of Angola and has been to Cavango many times.  He is trained as a dental assistant and would like to move to Cavango and serve those here with dentistry (there is no dental service available to these rural people).  He is mature beyond his years, loves Jesus, and is a gifted teacher and servant.  He would also like to learn to fit people with glasses who are near-sighted, a service/product not otherwise available to these rural people.  We have provided reading glasses to thousands of people over the years, but we’ve never been able to help those with compromised distance-vision.  Some beautiful friends from the US are bringing the tools and materials in June to teach Aurelio to provide this service which will benefit countless people who live every day with this type of (often debilitating) compromised sight (one in five people).  Anyone who benefits from vision correction knows what a gift this will be for so many!

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Ten-year-old Alfredo arrived minimally able to move his extremely tight limbs, his face taut in what appeared to be a fixed smile and, on exam by one of our nurses, could not flex his neck which was held in a position of extension.  His father described him as a normal, active kid, usually barefoot, and he had several small wounds on his feet.  He had been worsening at home over several days.  Alfredo had generalized tetanus, a hideous disease that is invariably fatal if untreated or treated too late in its course.  We were able to hydrate him intravenously, provide antibiotics and muscle relaxants and, after a few days, he was able to sit up and eat and drink a little.  It has now been two weeks and he is eating well and walking but still unable to speak. He will recover.

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We also just finished a measles epidemic in the region which killed several kids in our hospital and, likely, many more who never came to Cavango.  Tetanus and measles are hideous diseases that, along with many others, have been all but eliminated in those parts of the world who take advantage of the incredible vaccines developed and refined by many over the past century.   A large part of the Angolan population is still unvaccinated, especially in the rural areas.  We provide free vaccines in Cavango but, as this epidemic and Alfredo’s illness verified, not everyone takes advantage of the program.

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Alfredo will survive because so many of you cared for him with us. Many kids with measles in our hospital survived the pneumonia that often follows measles because of your sacrificial concern in supporting this work.

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Sixty year-old António, an amputee from stepping on a land mine as a child during the 30+ year war, arrived almost comatose after watching his “health” and energy dissipate over the past month, surviving several “fits” (passing out).  He was gray, he wasn’t breathing well and his blood pressure was not measurable.  António’s heart rate was over 200 beats/min and irregular.  Because we received a heart rate monitor (a beeping machine in Cavango!) from a generous and interested supporter who made the great effort to get it to us from the other side of the world, we were able to identify his heart rhythm as atrial tachycardia and treat accordingly.  We lowered his heart rate with medications over several touch-and-go days and, after two weeks, António’s heart rate is now regular and stable, he is wandering the grounds and he will return home today.

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Ana is a forty-six year old, mother of eight and was carried in by her family.  She had vaginal bleeding for three months and, over that time, she had seen her husband leave her because of the illness, she had been to the local shaman (every village has one or more), she had visited the government health post and two hospitals in cities many hours from her village.  Like the woman Jesus cured with a similar illness, she had sought help in many places. Her devoted family had removed her from the second hospital where she received minimal care and became comatose.  They hired a three-wheeled motorcycle, loaded her lying down in the small “bed” of the bike and drove her six hours (!) over dirt to Cavango.  She arrived with no blood pressure, a minimal pulse and her hemoglobin was four (normal 12).  She had malaria and her pregnancy test was positive.  She was in heart failure and had excessive fluid in both chest cavities and in her abdomen.  Some people might be tempted to think that a simple hospital in the “bush” sees simple cases…  Ana received five units of blood over two days, she was treated for malaria, she recovered a healthy blood count and blood pressure and her heart function improved dramatically.  She is walking, eating and sleeping well.  The rest of her diagnosis and treatment will continue over coming days and it looks likely that she will recover and return home.

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Like the One we emulate/follow/serve, we tell those who recover that their faith made them well.  Like those who came to Jesus for healing, Alfredo’s dad, António and Ana’s family chose to place their God-given faith/trust in the right place.  As with Jesus’ encounters, it wasn’t only their faith that made them well but they, and/or others (including many of you), made choices that resulted in their healing…  Four friends chose to make quite a ruckus to destroy a house, interrupt a meeting, and lower a man through the roof to Jesus; many chose to arrive where Jesus was present; one chose to obey Jesus and washed in a pool; a father chose to risk his reputation and boldly approach Jesus to heal his servant, a mother chose to plead on behalf of her daughter; Simon chose to take Jesus to his mother in-law; two men chose to scream over the crowd for Jesus’ attention; an official risked his status to choose to plead for Jesus to go and heal his son; Jesus raised a widow’s only son from death; some chose to bring their blind friend to Jesus; some lepers chose to go to the priest after Jesus told them to do so…  Those many who recover daily in Cavango decided to listen to wise counsel and travel here (at great cost and effort).

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Those who know me know that, when I write, I write to myself as well as to those who might read.  As flawed human beings living in a beautifully created but tainted world, we (I) need reminded often to choose to embrace what is true/real.  The many, ever-present, and destructive lies thrown at us every day from so many philosophies, principles, perspectives and those in power can destroy us and, if we are not diligent in our “fight” to prioritize what is true, our errant decisions can harm ourselves and/or others.  The bible uses the term “sin” to identify our chosen, independent wanderings from what is true/good/right/healthy (instructions given and preserved for us from our wise and caring Father) and, both discerning what is from Him, while also recognizing our propensity to follow errant philosophies, perspectives and actions, are paramount to making wise choices.

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One of the most significant moments of my life involved my initial decision to reject the “ideal”, wishful thinking, and what I desire, and to resign myself to embracing what is true and real.  It is a decision I must repeat often as I am drawn to pursue what “promises” to be comfortable, easy and pleasant.  I do what I do in Cavango because I could not ignore the (real) suffering of so many around the world.  We all face the same choices every day and our lives/actions, more than our intentions/desires, determine our priorities and who/what we serve…

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Every one of us is a seed-scatterer, an influencer.  We scatter seeds in every conversation and interaction with our words and actions.  With intention and without, we scatter true and untrue, healthy and unhealthy, edifying and destructive seeds.  Every person is an evangelist via their every action and word.  We can think “evangelism” is unique to Christianity in the same way we think that only certain people have “faith” and “love”.  Rather, we are all evangelists but we choose, in our behavior and words, what seeds we “scatter”.  We all have faith but, in our actions, more than our words, we choose in whom/what to place our trust.  We all love but our actions, more than anything we “feel”, demonstrate what or who we prioritize/love…

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This week we remember the singularly unique events of centuries ago in a small, remote region of the world that literally changed the course of history.  Many years ago I began to read and study about this man, Jesus, and a sense of wonder was birthed in me.  Perhaps you have experienced something similar?  My sense of wonder and awe about Him has only increased. There are many paths to relationship with Jesus, but it isn’t His words or the stories about him that truly transform but, rather, actual relational connection with Him, who lives still, transform us and “ripple” to those with whom we interact. 

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Anything that happened more than a few minutes ago requires faith/trust in the information and/or the source, and those who have accepted/believed Jesus’ stories and words, and then personally connected with Jesus, have experienced, without exception, a transformation impossible to accurately describe but always a paradigm shift in their life’s meaning and purpose resulting in a life (and choices) motivated by immeasurable (and transforming) gratitude in contrast to choosing to be motivated by pursuits which “promise” personal improvement/satisfaction/fulfillment.

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We hope for you a refreshing time of profound gratitude with your Father this weekend and with others who know Him, in a way that draws you ever closer to Him and His purposes for you…

He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.  We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way.  He was despised and we did not care.  Yet, it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down… He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed. 

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all.  He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.  He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.  And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth.  Unjustly condemned, He was led away. 

No one cared that He died without descendants, that His life was cut short.  But He was struck down for the rebellion of my people.  He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone.  He was buried like a criminal; He was put in a rich man’s grave. 

But it was the Lord’s plan to crush Him and cause Him grief.  Yet when His life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants.  He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in His hands. 

When He sees all that is accomplished by His anguish, He will be satisfied.  And because of His experience, He will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for He will bear all their sins.  I will give Him the honor of a victorious soldier, because He exposed Himself to death..  

– Remarkably written by Isaiah (53^rd chapter of his “book”) centuries before Jesus lived, died and lived again… to impart His life and heart to those who would choose to “resign” themselves to surrender to Him and His ways (truth)…