Face to face with reality...by Tamra

The last 24 hours has been filled with emotions, both high and low. This could be a bit long, but please bear with me. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

Kim thought to take a picture of the kids
 and I while we were at the pond.

Yesterday was so long and slow, I think I went on a walk at least 5 times. Floyd worked in the office on some computer stuff and I know I walked their 3 times for sure. Kim and I took the kids on a long walk all the way to the pond. About 1.5 hours before dinner, Kim and I were discussing that time was moving so slow. Since Troy is such a people person, we asked him if he knew anyone from whom we could borrow a volleyball. His response, "I might know a guy." (I could not make that up, Kim and I were quite amused.) Sure enough, he went off down the road and in what couldn't have been more than 15 minutes, he was back with a volleyball. We started out just practicing serving and bumping, as the kids had never played before this trip. Next thing we knew, we had a full team on both sides and plenty of spectators. We played for quite some time, even being late for dinner.

After dinner, we received quite a blessing. A group of the youth were leading a night of worship. We went to join in and it was wonderful! It went until just after 10pm. I've got to tell you, I had a few moments of concern as several bats were flying all around, just over our heads. It was sort of surreal in the sense that I'm not used to worshiping with bats flying here and there, and yet the worship was not disturbed in the least. There was a mix of Luganda and English music and it was awesome!

The youth leading us in a night of worship.

At one point, I looked over to my right and my heart was touched, yet again. You see, our family, the Pacific family, has children from 6yrs old to 20yrs old. They are all children who, for one reason or another, are orphans, yet they now have a family here at New Hope and they know their Heavenly Father who loves them greatly. So, to my right, I see the oldest-a 20 year old young man who's got to be at least 6'3" or more-standing up, praising God and seated next to him is the youngest-a tiny 6 year old girl. She is wearing a sweatshirt with the hood on and sitting on the bench with her feet dangling. What was so touching-as he stood there praising God, he was holding her hand. I thought for sure she'd fall asleep at any moment. She just sat there listening to the music with his hand holding hers. Try to picture that. It's Saturday night and instead of being out doing who knows what, he is there holding the hand of this little girl who is his sister, but not by blood. A bit later, the worship leader asks everyone to stand and I happen to look over again to see her standing in front of him, not even coming up to his waist, with his hands resting on her shoulders, with such love. And shortly after that, I see him lift her over the bench in front of him, then climb over himself, and they walk out into the dark, hand in hand. She may never know her earthly father, but she is loved and cared for, both spiritually and physically. I know she's been here since she was a baby and he's been here over 10 years, so they've both gone without the love of biological parents, but because of Christ, through New Hope, they are loved and have learned how to love.

This morning we went to church here at New Hope and it was wonderful. By the 3rd line of the second song, I was moved to tears. I'm not really sure what came over me, other than the Spirit of The Lord, but it's been a while since I've experienced worship like I did today. If you'd like, listen to the song HERE on YouTube.

After church, we had lunch, then we decided to play volleyball one more time before we ladies went for our Chapati making lesson and Troy returned the ball (the person had told him to bring it back this afternoon). The game was great fun. Kim, the kids, and I against Floyd. At one point, Floyd and I had a small collision. The ball was coming just over the net, so I went up and spiked it over to Floyd's side. Of course, he was prepared, so he went up to return it. Unfortunately, he came down on my big toe in a horribly awkward way. We're not really sure what happened, other than that it seriously hurt and he knew it had happened. I thought I'd look down and see blood because it felt like my toe nail had been ripped backward. Alas, no blood, but it was pretty sore. We went on with our game and then headed off for the rest of the day.

Kim, Raegan, and I had made plans with a young lady from our family to teach us how to make chapati. (We'll blog about that separately because it was quite an experience and we have pictures.) When we arrived, the family had not eaten lunch, so we were just sitting around, visiting as they prepared lunch. Just as it was time for lunch, another person from New Hope came up to ask a question. Now, this is where the emotion reaches a low. He had come to ask if anyone had A- or O- blood type. A women had just given birth and was bleeding excessively. Unfortunately, those of us who knew our type did not match the blood type, and most people did not even know their blood type. Also, it was shared that the woman's condition was such that it was too risky to try to take her to the capital, Kampala, for help. We all immediately joined in prayer for her.

As I sat there, I decided to go double check with Floyd because he always knows our blood type (we have the same) and I frequently forget what we have. I would have seriously regretted being wrong. As I walked to the house (limped, really), I was praying the whole way and found myself filled with emotion. The reality of life in a third world country had hit me head on. While women can have problems giving birth in the US, there is so much help readily available. There is no blood bank here, no 911, no care flight, nothing. Here we sat, willing to help, but with no physical way to do so.

I got to the house and asked Floyd, "what's our blood type?" He responded with what I had expected, but for once I wanted to be wrong. If only my memory was off and we were A- instead of A+. Of course, he wanted to know why I asked. I couldn't even answer before I just burst into tears. I was overwhelmed with emotion. As I limped and prayed for this woman I've never met, I imagined the sadness of the situation and possible outcomes. Floyd kept his patience as I cried and tried to tell him the situation. Once I regained control of myself, I grabbed the IPad to post on facebook. I didn't have the blood she needed and could offer no other physical help, but I could send a quick message to all the prayer warriors I know. Prayer is our greatest asset and I was going to call out for as much of it as I could get.

Many of you have prayed, and I ask that you continue to do so, because as of 8pm, we have not heard any update on her condition.

Now for the final part of my story. By the time we finished our chapati making, my toe was significantly swollen and has a lovely array of blue and purple. It was significantly harder to walk, even with a limp. Of course, we always hear that toe injuries can't be helped anyway, so just to live with it. In fact, I've broken more than one little toe myself. However, we've also always heard that the big toe is different; that its more important. So, I made it to the guest house (which is not where we're staying, but half way from our family group location to the house where we are staying). Fortunately, the boys were at the water tower helping some girls pump water, so I was able to request their assistance. Troy ran to let Floyd know that I'd just be staying at the guest house until dinner, since that's where we eat, because walking was too difficult. He also brought me back some reading material. Now, I did manage to get some pretty cold water to soak my foot and there was a freezer pack in the guest house that was only partially thawed out, since power has been out for a while now. We thought that would help with the swelling. At this point, the hypothesis is that I've broken my big toe, or at best, severely jammed/dislocated it. Once again, I'm faced with the reality of a third world country. My big toe could be easily examined and taken care of at almost any clinic or hospital in America, but here it is a totally different story. As of now, we're planning for me to go to the clinic and see what they say in the morning. Perhaps they'll know what to do. So, either I'm looking forward to some pain as they potentially put my toe back in place tomorrow, or I could be looking at some issues when I get home in August if it does have something wrong and heals incorrectly, or doesn't heal by then.


The toe, for those of you who might want to see it. :)


You get the top and the bottom. Isn't it lovely.

So, I'm not saying that America is a better place or anything like that. But of course, there are many conveniences that everyone takes for granted. Of course, we might say that hospitals and emergency assistance are are not conveniences, but whatever you might call them, they are a blessing that we should not take for granted.

Today I was slapped in the face by the reality of life in the bush of Uganda and I know that for many the reality is even worse than a troubled child delivery and definitely worse than a broken toe. Believe me, I don't live in denial or in a bubble, I just had some reminders today. While we are spoiled with electricity and clean water at least part of the time, that is not the reality of every day life here for those we come to serve. While we may experience great joy and abundant love here, there is also great suffering.

Please don't let our fun updates let you forget that we are in Uganda for a reason. That reason is to share the Gospel wherever we can and to be the hands and feet of Jesus, showing His love to all of his children-especially those that may feel forgotten.