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| Jensky Age 13 months |
This is little Jensky. He is 13 months old and only weighs 12 pounds. He is malnourished and anemic and now is also badly burned. He can't walk, but on Saturday morning, he crawled over to where a big pot of hot cereal was cooking and pulled it down over on top of him. He was hungry and wanted some food. His parents brought him to the clinic right away and we have been treating him every morning. He has 2nd and 3rd degree burns to his face, chest, arm, leg and buttocks.
Thankfully, his parents do know the Lord and are very concerned for him and had sought treatment earlier for his anemia. Mom can hardly watch while we care for him and she cries as we have to scrub him. Today, we gave them a Creole bible (they only had a small New Testament) and she sat and read Psalms as we treated him. Please pray for healing for little Jensky and minimal scarring, so he can continue to grow and learn to walk.
On a more personal note: We know that God always meets our needs here as we serve Him and that is evident in so many ways. Last Wednesday afternoon, Sheryl suddenly developed a large lump on the right side of her neck that was painful and very visible. She talked with one of the doctors and started antibiotics and anti-inflammatories right away. The lump decreased some, but it was still there Sunday and she felt more evaluation was necessary. She was told that a oncologist/hematologist had just come in with Samaritans' Purse and he was able to examine her and give assurance that it wasn't lymph nodes and was probably a thyroid cyst that had bled. this would need ultrasound confirmation, which would mean a trip into town. Monday morning, Sheryl was informed that North Carolina Baptist Men had a radiologist with them for the week and he would be happy to ultrasound her. Mission of Hope kindly allowed us to go over and borrow their ultrasound machine and the radiologist was able to confirm the thyroid cyst and that everything was benign and it would absorb and dissolve on its own. How thankful we are for God's provision and at the right time. It is very seldom we get oncologists and radiologists here to work the mobile clinics, but God allowed them both to be here to assist with this need. We do praise Him every day for His goodness to us and how He provides in all things!
We are finally creating a blog of our life and ministry here in Haiti. We have lived here since 2003 and we are not as technologically savvy as some of our friends (although our teenage son Josh is very much so), but we are going to do our best to keep this updated with posts and pictures.
It seemed fitting to start today on the 1-year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. It is an event that changed our lives and the lives of all Haitians and foreigners who lived here or were visiting here on January 12, 2010. There was so much sorrow and tragedy, yet we have seen how the Lord has used this for good in the past year. Our hearts are heavy today and we have already shed many tears, but there is joy and thankfulness and healing as well in our tears.
Today we will commemorate with a prayer service at our church in Titanyen and also a memorial service in our chapel on the compound later this afternoon starting at 4:30. The earthquake hit at 4:53 pm on that late Tuesday afternoon and we will be praying and remembering that time a year later. We will be praising God for sparing the lives of all those who were on the compound that day (about 200 people), we will be remembering those who lost their lives, and those who lost limbs and were permanently injured, and we will be asking God for His grace and mercy to be on this country and the people of Haiti. May His word continue to pour forth and lives continue to come to Him as the result of all we have gone through as a country this past year.
