Prayer Request - March 2005

16 March 2005

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

As I walked out of our house headed for the hospital last Saturday morning our yard worker Henry pointed to a box and said, “Someone left that for you.” Thinking it potatoes that Amanda had ordered, I replied, “Mama will take care of it.”

Upon entering the hospital, a guard named Juma Pili (“Born on a Sunday”) stopped me. “Mama Fielder sent something to you.” Some of our friends may remember Margaret and her child, named after your own missionary. “Oh, is that who sent the box?” I asked. “Yes,” answered Juma Pili. “It is a turkey.”

I was stunned. Not so long ago we had had to give food to this family because the child was suffering from tuberculosis and early Kwashiorkor malnutrition. “Bata mzinga!”--meaning turkey in KiSwahili--was my stunned exclamation. “Yes, bata mzinga!”

And so, after help from missionary kids who had grown up in the Zambian bush, we had the next night a wonderful treat. We were able to delight in a rare turkey as well as a bond extending across a cultural divide bridged by faith and friendship. This family of five children held together by two HIV-infected parents had given us an extravagant gift, humbling us with their generosity. I could not help but think of the widow’s mite. When we Westerners give, we often do so out of comfort. These people had given out of their poverty.

A support group for HIV-positive persons has been meeting at the hospital. Organized and shepherded by a humble nurse named Esther (who received her palliative care training at Selian Lutheran Hospital in Tanzania), the members, now 45 strong, have taken ownership of the effort. Because it has grown so large, the group agreed that it split to meet in several places in the community. At their final Kijabe gathering, speakers stood up to share, “Our own families have abandoned us. They do not visit us. But these Kijabe people have loved us. They come to visit us in our homes.” As St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary use words.”

The support group members exhorted each other, “At least we can help others. And we can never miss our medicines.” Additional support groups are springing up in churches and other venues all over the region. As my Kenyan friends like to say, “God is doing something.”

Yet so many remain mired in shame and despair. Today I met with a young woman who had accompanied her friend to a treatment preparation seminar (a class we hold to educate patients about HIV). She wanted to be her friend’s “guardian,” the one who takes responsibility for the patient and looks out for him or her. She (call her Mary) entered my office and almost immediately started crying. Last month she learned that she too was HIV-positive but had yet to tell anyone. We talked at length. I asked her if she is a Christian. “Yes,” came the unsure reply. She continued by saying that she was divorced, that her parents had died, and that she had lost her job. I asked her a very simple question, “Do you know that Christ loves you just as much as He loves anyone else?” From the stunned look on her face, it was clear that she had never heard such a radical thing before.

Please pray for Mary, that she may know the love and peace of Christ; for Margaret and baby Fielder and their family, that health and nutrition needs may be met; for the support groups and their members, that they be a light in a dark place; and for Amanda, that the pregnancy continue safely.

Grace and Peace,

Jon and Amanda