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Hospital Central Amina is the third of 7 sisters. Her 3 youngest sisters live in our center. Her sister just under her lived here for a year, and now lives at home with the older girls. And Amina came to live here for a short time while she was being treated medically.
Yesterday she came to the center feeling quite sick. The nurses in our clinic decided she should spend the night here, and in the morning we would take her to Hospital Central (our main hospital here in Maputo). Last night while we were having our missionary's home group, the dorm mother's came looking for me and the nurses, saying Amina was having a seizure. It turned out she was sleeping in a bed, and suddenly started having a seizure-- eyes rolling back in her head, salivating, and shaking. The nurses quickly arranged a vehicle and took her to the hospital. As they arrived at the hospital, she went into another seizure. She had no fever, so we are not sure what brought this on. She was admitted to the hospital late last night.
This morning I was at the hospital with one of the boys, for abuse counseling which we have just started taking a group of kids to. I and one of our Mozambican educators, wanted to take a change of clothes, and some fruit and hygienic items to Amina. We found the ward she was in, but the guard said it was not visiting ours and we could not go in. I pleaded with them, explaining I just needed to drop off these bits, and I would not stay to visit. Finally he allowed us to go, being careful to explain this is not normally allowed.
Tia Sidalia and I went up the stairs to the third floor. There was no one at the help desk, so we just walked down the hall way, which was crowded with nurses pushing carts of medicine, and doctors checking over their patient list of the day, and looked into each room to search for Amina. Her room didn't have any free beds left, so she was on a mattress on the floor. She had vomited in the night, and still had the dirty sheets on her bed. Her stomach was still hurting, but she looked much better than yesterday. A nurse was attending her, but the doctor hadn't made his rounds to her bed yet, so we didn't get a diagnosis. We didn't wait around long, because we didn't want to get in trouble, and the doctors were busy checking the patients in that room.
As we were leaving, and walking down the crowded hall way again, I saw a small room with a light on. On the floor was a mattress, with a body wrapped in a white sheet, of some one who must have just died, and they put the body there until someone could come take it away. That really shook me up seeing that!
Our hospitals at home are so nice. The nurses and doctors are usually nice, and are there to help you. One of the doctors I had to deal with this morning at this boy's 7:30 appointment was so disrespectful of me and tia Sidalia. I have been praying that with going to these appointments so often (I have been 3 times in the last 4 days with 9 children!), that we would be a light of the Lord to these counselors, who are not Christians. And I felt like today I had to decide how to respond to this lady. She doesn't know Jesus. She doesn't know His love. She doesn't know she was talking to two daughters of the King of Kings today! But I believe God will open up the doors for these doctors to come to know Him. And if I am to be an ambassador of Heaven, I want to represent well my Father!
It was a rough morning. I came home and spent time with the Lord. I felt very heavy and unsettled about the events that took place. I chose to forgive the doctor who spoke down to us. My devotional this morning was about being humble. Pride always goes before a fall. The Bible says over and over how the proud will be brought low, but God will raise up the lowly in Spirit.
I can be proud and shove off what people say and leave no room for God to teach me or use me. Or I can choose to humble myself, turn the other cheek, and walk on in the grace of God. It's a lesson I think I shall never finish learning until I walk into the gates of heaven.

That was my morning at Hospital Central.
Posted by Josiah and Anna at 6.11.08 4 comments: 

Who I am and what I do