Sitting Down and Waiting For Death

Imagine this harsh reality for a moment: You could potentially die if you don't get to a hospital soon. But, there is no such thing as dialing 911 because there is no ambulance that will come. There is no hospital close by and no vehicle to take you to a clinic. Not in the bush of Kenya. You have no money to rent a vehicle and the roads are too poor for public transportation. Walking to the closest clinic will take precious time and energy that you do not have to spare. Even if you do manage to make it to a clinic, you have no money to see a doctor or pay for the medicine. So when an emergency life or death situation arises, what can you do? Here's the answer: Sit down and wait. Wait for death, wait for life, wait for something to happen with the sinking feeling of helplessness. This is the sad reality for people in the Pokot tribe and countless others in third world countries.

During our second week with the Pokot tribe, a local woman got bit by a poisonous snake. Her circumstances were exactly like the ones described above, except that God used us to intercede on her behalf. We found her at her home forty-five minutes after being bitten, just sitting down and waiting for death. With potentially fatal bites on two places on her left hand, all she could do was try to bleed out the venom. A non-Christian, and one of the tribal people who didn't accept Christ during door-to-door ministry, God used this bad situation for His glory. At the other tribes, we didn't have a vehicle at our disposal except during travel days. But for this tribe, Pastor Simon decided to leave his truck.

Several hours after being bitten, a small group of us took the snake bite lady in Pastor Simon's truck to the nearest medical clinic: Pastor Musa and the driver up front, the woman's husband in the truck bed, and the woman, Margaret, Nikki, and me in the back row. Being aware of the emergency situation, we sped up rocky hills much faster than was safe. On the half an hour journey, the woman lost all feeling in the bitten arm, became extremely nauseous, and began to have breathing problems. As we bounced along the road, I prayed hard for this woman, for time, for medicine, for a miracle. I held her 10 month old baby, thinking of the possibility of the woman's death, and what this might mean for her baby and other children at home. By the grace of God, we got to the clinic on time. Over five hours after being bitten, the woman was finally able to receive medical care. At a small clinic with one nurse, the woman received medicine that “helps most people.”

In the days that followed, the woman made a full recovery. One of the happiest moments of my life came a few days later when the woman sat down in front of me at church. Before a non-Christian, she gave her life to Christ after coming home from the clinic. She was lucky to be alive, and we all realized this too. Not only did we miraculously have a vehicle to take her to the clinic, but we got her there in enough time and the medicine worked. Had we not been with the Pokot tribe during this accident, she would have died. God not only saved her mortal life, He saved from eternal damnation. God took a horrible situation and made it for His glory. Sitting there in church, with her baby in her lap, I could easily see God's hand at work. Praise God for this miracle!

God provided a way for the snake bite lady to live that day. But what about all of the countless others who have died of snake bites or other accidents in the Pokot tribe? What about the other 42 tribes in Kenya, the countless others throughout the world? Many things became clear to me on the drive to the clinic. First, this injustice should not still exist. Why should some people have to die of preventable causes just because medicine is far away? The bill came out to 150 Kenyan shillings, or $1.50 to save a woman's life. What about her baby that could have been left without a mother? Second, I can make a change. In my future, I can be that miracle so many people need. Here came decision time, and I made it. The rest is just about moving forward in obedience and going where God calls me.

See. Understand. Listen to God. Decide. Study and train. Go!