New Light

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned”
Isaiah 9:2

I just returned from Brazil last Monday. We had so much fun using the gifts that God has given us…whether they were doing medical work or doing construction or working with the children, we all worked hard!! It was a life changing experience to see they way that these people lived. To see the conditions that they thrive in, and that in so many ways the desires of the heart are universal. Every mother wants to protect her baby; every teenage want more than what their parents have. Every body needs to see the Light of the world.

One lady in particular that I remember really stole my heart. She came in and sat in the three hour line to be triaged. When it was finally her turn to be triaged, she came up and sat beside me. My translator, who had learned my routine, asked her why she had come to the clinic that day. She gave vague answers, reluctant to tell us much. She complained of an occasional headache, occasional joint pain. As I was writing down her vital signs and her complaints, she finally started to open up to me, and told us her story.

She has two daughters, both were married. Her youngest daughter’s husband left her and their 3 children, leaving them penniless and without anywhere to leave. So, they moved in with my patient. Her oldest daughter had also been married. Her husband murdered her and then disappeared, leaving their 9 children essentially orphaned. The grandmother, my patient, had taken them all in within the last year. She was unable to care for all of them on her own, so she gave the youngest three up for adoption. She doesn’t know where her own husband is, so she is doing this on her own. As she is telling me the story, I could nearly palpate the strain of the load she bearing. Everything she had hoped for her daughters had been thrown to the wind, and she is doing her best for her grandchildren. But, she felt like she was failing them.

I sent her back to the advance practice nurse that was with us. Before the patient got back there, I told Charlotte the story to prepare her. Unfortunately, nothing could prepare us for everything else that she shared with us. Not only is stressed to the max, but she is also depressed and suicidal. All of the women wanted to hold her in our arms and cry for her and with her. Instead, we called Alana, the missionary we were working with, over. Together we talked to her about God’s love for her and how he can be the salve to the wounds she’s been experiencing. We got her address so that the local pastor and his wife could call on her to check on her and the children. And the, we did the only thing left…we prayed for her. We prayed for her calmness, and for to be able to call upon God everyday, and for the healing of her and her family from all the tragedies they’ve experienced over the last year. While, there was very little we could do for her physical ailments, I am confident that we helped cleanse some of her spiritual wounds.
I think about this petite, stoic woman often. I pray whenever I do that God would give her strength to carry on the good battle. I pray that she would see the Light that is around her