Everyday this past week we were blessed with the opportunity to visit the local hospital here in Busia. I have prayed the past few months for God to prepare my heart for everything I may encounter while in Kenya but nothing could have prepared me for this.
My heart raced before I entered the first unit and, of course, my group was assigned the children’s ward. As I walked into the open and poorly lit room, I felt a heavy burden lay upon me. The nursing student inside of me immediately started pointing out everything I wanted to fix and do for the patients. Some beds had up to 4 children assigned to it because there simply wasn’t enough room for every child to have their own. You heard crying coming from an infant’s discomfort while their mother tried to console them. You saw hope in each child’s eyes as you passed their bed. You felt warmth from all the hands of the patients as everyone reached out to you.
The first couple patients I saw had a common denominator to their diagnosis: dehydration. I must tell you that earlier, before stepping foot into the ward, I prayed a quick prayer of simply “break my heart for what breaks yours” and, at the time, I had no idea what I was asking for. With the help of a translator, I spoke with the families in hopes of gaining more information into their story, but the more I inquired the more my heart broke. With each patient, a little piece of me was left behind. My mind just kept questioning Why couldn’t it be me? This is not their portion. Why can’t I be sick instead of them? My heart ached to do everything in my power to help these families. Though it was incredibly hard, I kept myself together during my time in the ward. Once outside, though, a woman from the church came up to me and asked how my time was in the unit and I lost it.
I was reminded by a teammate of how God designed my heart for this specific purpose. The Lord has made my heart big enough to care for each patient and big enough that it can break for each patient and He can put it all back together.
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:58
