her suffering was significant...

Joana Jose was a Mozambiquen lady who suffered for many years. In order to get to her house we had to walk through about a mile of mashambas (fields) higher than my head with her house set in a clearing amidst the fields. There was nothing much to her house...just a circular shape made of sticks....and one's eyes could still see through the walls. This was all Joana and her husband Chimoio could afford. Every Tuesday we would sit on pieces of wood while Joana laid in pain on her grass mat...Im sure she was wondering how much longer she would suffer like this. Her husband Chimoio would share how the last week had been..that she hadn't moved from the mat, yet was able to eat and barely talk. He often voiced how they longed for relish (onions, oil, tomatoes, beans to make a sauce) to eat with their staple food called masa (ground corn). It brought us great joy to see the Lord provide money so that they could buy relish and even to recieve a blanket for the cold winter months. After hearing Chimoio share, then I would sit on the grass mat next to Joana, assess her aching body, feel the painful tumor in her abdomen, administer medication and then close my eyes and commit everything about her to the Lord.

I will never forget one Monday evening I sat talking to the Lord about my patients.. especially Joana. The next morning as Ginna drove us to our entry point to the bush to visit Joana, my volunteers shared that Joana had passed away the day before. In no anticipation of this news I just silently wept as Ginna held my arm as she was driving. My spirit was grieved to hear this news....yet I had hope. So we set forth once more thru the mashambas to Joana's hut in the clearing. There were many there...all mourning for the loss of life. Joana's husband Chimoio approached us with a grieving face and heart. He held up his hand and set it perpendicular to the ground..explaining where the sun was when Joana took her last breath the day before. It was at this time that the Lord led me to intercede for her the night before. How great is God! I have hope for Joana because weeks before she had whispered with all the breath she had that Jesus was her Lord. So I cling to these words...knowing that her home is no longer in the stick hut amidst the mashambas..but now in glory with the Lord Jesus.

How wonderful to know that although the death of Joana was not posted as breaking news or heard of around the world...she was and is so very significant to the Lord.

merely an eyewitness of his majesty...

It has almost been a week since Ginna and I landed on US soil. What a mixture of emotions it was to come "home" after Mozambique was very much our home this past year. The day after arriving home, the Lord and I began to reflect together on this past year...how lovely He has been. And as I have shared with many...the greatest miracle of all was the miracles that took place in my heart and spirit while away. I have such a deeper understanding of the Lord's love for me...this is not to be taken lightly. Its only in truly recieving this love from Him that I am able to love others in a way that honors Him. I am convinced that even in taking my last breath during this lifetime, I still wont fully grasp God's amazing love.

As I anticipate continuing to share with others of the Lord's goodness this past year in Africa...I think of what the Lord reminded me of this morning as I sat amongst wild flowers. I was reminded in 2 Peter 1:16 that I am merely an eyewitness of his majesty. This sums it up...the Lord was so faithful....I was an eyewitnesses as God loved, provided, healed, saved as He does so well.