It’s a Small World After All

For me to attempt to narrow everything down that has happened this past week would be nearly impossible, so I am going to share a couple of events that have shown me more of who Jesus is than I can tell you, but I am going to do my best to try.

One of the ministries we are involved here in Busia, Kenya is going to the district hospital and praying over the people there who are sick, having surgeries, giving birth to African babies who have white skin when they are born (that really threw us off), and needing encouragement. I have learned to really look forward to going to the hospital every Tuesday and Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. to pray over God's people who are desperate for His healing and comfort.

Last Friday, while we were at the hospital, my co leader, Darryl, came up and informed me that there was a lady in the surgical ward who was from Colorado. To put this into perspective for you, whenever my team and I see a mzungu (white person), we are always delighted and somewhat shocked to see someone with the same color skin as us because it is so rare. To meet someone from America is crazy, considering that there are so many other countries in the world that have white peeps a.k.a. people for those of y'all who aren't as hip as me 😉 totally kidding.

I went into the surgical ward and failed to see the woman Darryl told me about, so I ran out the back of the ward and spotted her heading towards the entrance of the hospital to leave. I booked it over to where she was, cutting my foot on rusted barbed wire in the process (glad I got my tetanus shot before I left), and reached her side. I think that God just decided to blow my mind at that moment because in about one minute I found out that her name is Kelly, she lives in Greeley (the city where I went to college), she is the leader of the Uganda ministry at Christ Community Church (the church I attended when I was in college), she used to be a professor in the agriculture department at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling (the school where my sister, Hannah, attended for two years), and she knows Hannah personally!

I instantly got chills and couldn't believe that two people who had sat in the same row at church (we found this out too) could not even know that the other person existed while sitting a few feet away from one another and then officially meet halfway around the world in a Kenyan hospital. The way that God guided our paths to cross at that specific moment in time was completely divine, and He revealed to me that His family knows no bounds or borders. No matter where you go, you will find brothers and sisters in Christ who share a passion for the Lord that binds us together in unity. Jesus is awesome, y'all!

I walked back to the ward in complete awe of what had just happened, when God decided to bless me once again. I walked over to a girl around my age,who was lying in a bed, looking as if she was pregnant. I learned that her name is Debora, and she has a significantly swollen colon, which makes her stomach expand greatly. It was difficult for her to breathe because the swelling in her torso was affecting her lungs and diaphragm. I was able to pray over her that God would perform a miracle in her life and heal her swollen colon. She has a relationship with Christ and knows that He has the power to heal her. I made an instant connection with her, and she asked me to come back the next day to see her. Of course, I couldn't wait to see her again, so I went back to the hospital the next morning.

On my journey to the hospital, I was spending some time in prayer for Debora, and God clearly told me three words, ''She needs blood.'' When I arrived at the hospital, I asked Debora and her mom, Immaculate, how she was feeling. They told me that the swelling in her feet had gone down but that she needed blood in order to have an operation to remove part of her spleen. My first thought was to donate my own blood because I am O positive blood type, the universal donor.

I was unable to donate blood on the weekend, so I had to wait until today. Five of my teammates also went with me to the hospital to donate their own blood to be used in saving lives, some for the first time. We decided to make a game out of it and see who could pump a full bag of blood the fastest. The score went from ten minutes with Darryl and Mary, to six minutes for me, and then five minutes for Zoe! You know you're in Africa when…

With all that to say, God is using my team in huge ways. We have been told several times by many different people that we have been an answer to prayer and a blessing to them since being here. However, we feel the exact same way about the people here. It's going to be extremely difficult to leave Busia in two weeks, but I know that the impact we have made here will not diminish when we leave because the Lord has orchestrated it all.

I saw Debora again this week, and she will soon be moved to a different hospital to have her operation. Please be praying for Debora's healing and operation, that God's protection would cover her completely. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to go to her home as she begins her recovery and be able to witness along with her just how miraculous our Father is.