Working with AIDS patients

The beautiful ladies who care for patients and clients at PIH clinic

Do you sometimes get stuck in your routine and lose sight of how God is working in your life--in big and small ways? I sort of had a mini-revelation about that today. I was at Bible Study and Beth Moore was sharing in her study, Stepping Up, about her desire to work with HIV patients and how she had the opportunity to do just that in South Africa sometime back. I found myself thinking about what a wonderful and life-changing experience that must have been for her. And then it sort of hit me--every day I am at clinic I have the opportunity to minister to patients suffering from HIV and AIDS. It sort of boggled my mind, that each and every patient we care for in Moyo clinic has the HIV virus. When I stop to think of that it is staggering--and the Enemy can come in and make me start judging patients decisions that led to them contracting HIV or maybe I will get overwhelmed at the problem of HIV and the many barriers out there to stopping the spread of this deadly virus. But I forget that God is bigger than all of those obstacles, and that God loves each and every one of these patients enough to send his Son to die for them. And then the routine of my job becomes a divine calling--to demonstrate the love of Christ through caring for their medical needs. You might be thinking, "Isn't that obvious? Isn't that why you moved to Malawi?" It is true--but we, or at least I, too easily fall into routine and sometimes lose sight of God's greater purpose for my daily schedule. May you see God at work in your life today too.

The Azungu (foreign/white) staff at PIH: front row--Amanda Fielder, me, Mike. Back row--Jon Fielder (new doc), Jessica McMillan, Brenda Jansen, Perry Jansen, Becky Lengle(a visiting nurse). We were all celebrating Amanda's b-day

Presidential Elections

Yesterday was election day in Malawi. This is only the 4th time Malawians have had the opportunity to vote for president. Isn't that amazing! Here is a picture of the queue of voters. It was thankfully a quiet day--no rallies or political unrest. But keep praying for peace as the results are released today or tomorrow. If you want to read more about the election, you can click on this link. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8046766.stm

Thanks for you prayers!

Mother's day

Last Sunday was Mother's day in the US. It would have been easy to forget in Malawi, because there are no advertisements from Hallmark reminding us of this important day. Mother's day is celebrated in October here--and even then, there are no commercials to remind you. But I have a sweet family and husband who celebrated with me last Sunday. As you can see, the kids put together a little spa, while Mike cooked breakfast. I received fingernail tattoos, a foot massage and a back rub, all in the comfort of my own back yard.

Happy Mothers Day to all of you moms. Hope you felt loved like I did.

Bible Study ladies

One of the things I will miss most when we leave Malawi is my weekly Bible study. Before I go on, most of you reading this blog have heard that we are leaving Lilongwe in June of this year en route to Ecuador. When we were back in the states last fall, we became aware of the need for doctors at the Shell hospital in rural Ecuador. God provided us the opportunity, as did my parents for watching the kids, to go visit the hospital--and we have decided to make the move. It will be a good fit for us--a chance to use all of our family practice skills and training.

We have enjoyed our time in Malawi and have learned so much about HIV medicine working at Partners in Hope, but we feel that it is time for us to move on. And God has confirmed this decision in our hearts.

So back to the dear ladies in the above picture. We meet every Wednesday morning and these ladies have become such wonderful friends and encouragers. We have a variety of nations represented--Canada, US, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya--but despite our varying backgrounds we are all sisters in Christ. We just finished an amazing study on the Love of God--and it was really life-changing and challenging for all of us. I am so grateful for this group. And I hope that all of you reading have a group like this where you can pray together, laugh together, study the word and encourage one another. What a blessing--especially when troubles come.