Overwhelming Love: Something Will Come Up

On Friday I asked Will how he was feeling about the wide open weekend we had ahead. I asked if he minded that we didn’t have much going on for a couple days and wondered if he had anything specific he needed to do. He responded with a simple, “I’m not worried about it, something always comes up, this is Africa.”

I thought back to the past few weeks and quickly realized how correct he was. First, we were about to leave for a language lesson and and realized the car battery was dead. Then, we fixed the battery only to have it die again the next day. The next week, we ran completely out of water in the house. The cistern was empty and we had to figure out how to have a truck deliver water, while also contacting the city water company and asking them why they haven’t sent water for several months (a pipe was broken and still is not fixed even though they are “working on it”).

So, when Will said, “Something always comes up”. I simply agreed and wondered what in the world would be ahead. Then came Saturday morning. Justin woke up with a pain in his back and sides. This quickly turned into body aches and a fever over 102. For those of you who have been too/ lived in Africa, these symptoms quickly make you think, “Ah, that sounds like malaria :(”. Per the suggestion of our nurse friends here, he started on malaria medication right away. With the addition of new symptoms and a really rough of not being able to keep liquids in, our friend suggested we get him to the hospital for testing on Sunday morning.

The amazing thing about our friends here in Arua is that they don’t actually just “suggest” things, they said, “He needs to go to the hospital, we’ll be there in an hour to pick him up and take him there”. We are so grateful for this kind of support (esp. because the car battery I mentioned above was still not working at this time, so we were immobile). Our friend Heather came to get Will and Justin and brought them to the hospital for testing.

The private hospital room

“Testing” quickly turned into needing to stay overnight so they could push more fluids and give more medicine. Justin was put in a private room... in the pediatric unit :). They were grateful to have their own space, but let me try to convey, this is not a luxury suite by any means. Justin had this own bathroom attached to the room, but there was no running water, so it only had a squatty potty (not fun with GI symptoms). It also did not come with toilet paper, so I had that sent to them (seems mandatory to me, but I guess I’m spoiled…). They also only had power part of the time. The power came on in the evening, but the lightbulb in the room was dead, so they sat in the dark for over an hour until someone finally replaced it.

Will's tent set-up outside of
Justin's window

They also learned quickly that nurses are there to give medication and that is all. They are NOT there to make sure you are comfortable, have food to eat or anything else at all. It is simply for medications. Will ended up sleeping outside Justin’s room in a tent and the nurses were upset by this because they wondered who would “take care of Justin”. When they came for his 11:00pm meds (at 11:45, of course), they asked who would give Justin food since his “friend” was not around. Will yelled through the window from his tent and told them where the biscuits were. Still, they were not satisfied.. hehe.

Justin was able to leave the hospital on Monday afternoon. They returned to the house and he has continued to recover here. Two missionary nurse friends have come to the house to give the rest of his IV meds. We are beyond grateful for the support we’ve had here! From friends to give rides to the hospital and arrange for the doctor to be there when you arrive to nurses who will come to your house to give medications, it has been amazing to see the mission community in action! We were also clueless on what you needed to bring with you when you stay in a hospital here, but our friend Heather packed her car with bed sheets and pillows (they do not provide these in the hospital), jerry cans of water for “flushing” and washing hands, and drinking water. She also told us to bring a bucket (just in case) and lots of food and more drinking water. We would have been clueless without her assistance (and Justin would have been laying on a sheet-less bed).

So, as always, Will was right. Something did come up for the weekend, but we are grateful for the community and for God’s healing. Justin is starting to feel much better and even be able to eat a little bit again. We think he has malaria and some kind of stomach infection. He has been taking it easy this week and we are hoping he will make a full recovery soon. We feel so grateful for hospitals, doctors, good friends and God’s healing in the midst of the unexpected weekend plans.