They Bless Us

I haven’t written much about the hospice program that I am working with, so I thought I would give you a window into what we do here through hospice ministry. Strong Hearts is a wonderful and Christ centered ministry in Korah that I was exposed to on my first ten day trip to Ethiopia. There are a wide variety of things offered through Strong Hearts, including an academy for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary, micro-financing and skill training, street kid’s center, coffee farming, and hospice.

I began working with the hospice program when I first came to Ethiopia in August. When I started Phase 1 in Amharic school, however, I no longer had the time. I have chosen for Phase 2 Amharic to have a tutor instead. This significantly freed up my schedule so I was able to return to Strong Hearts and rejoin their hospice team. I work with them on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings. I praise God for the opportunity to work with this staff and serve the people of Korah in this way. Ironically, it is largely a blessing to me. On the team, there are three nurses, a pharmacist, and many spiritual encouragers. (In the picture with me is Elilta, the pharmacist and my dear friend. Oh, and I'm the really white one. ;) )

We sing praise songs – well they sing Amharic praise songs and I listen ;) – and pray each morning before going out. There are 25 patients at one time permitted in the program, all of which are infected in some stage with HIV AIDS, tuberculosis, or cancer.  We go in groups of three or four into patient’s homes to assess their physical, mental, and spiritual state. Much of the medicine for these patients is provided by government programs, so we provide over the counter medication, counseling, and palliative care.

We give them emotional support and spiritual encouragement by listening to their concerns and praying with them. Their concerns are many. A typical response is worry for the provision of their children when their illness has finally beaten them. “Who will care for my children? Will they go hungry? I have no husband. Who will pay the rent?” Questions every mother would ask. I am never unaffected when we ask them what their current occupation is and they respond, “Beggar”.  

I think of a new patient who has tuberculosis. Her beauty strikes me every time we visit her. Although we wear masks in her home, she covers her mouth with the scarf on her head to shield us from her breath. I can only see her eyes most of the time, but they are deep and dark and tell a story of pain, of hardship, of soul. I sit beside her and listen to her breathe with my stethoscope. God gave her that breath whispering in and out of her sick lungs. Sometime in her life, she made a poor decision, or someone else made a selfish decision that cost her her health. I grieve for these people, who helplessly and hopelessly wait for death to come. It is our privilege to tell them the hope they have in Jesus. We prayed with a patient who received Jesus last week! Praise God!

There is a mother and daughter who are both patients in the program. They both have HIV AIDS, and the daughter has a ten month old baby. Neither woman has a husband. To whom will the baby go? What will happen to him?

 I can’t answer all the questions, but I fall on the God who can answer and does every time. I praise the God who clothes the lilies of the fields and feeds the birds of the air. It is not my or anyone’s responsibility to despair for these people, although it is so natural to do so. It is our responsibility as the church to see them, hear them, and not ignore them, but to pray with them, for them, and tell them about this wonderful God with all the answers. The most difficult thing is His answers are not always what I would have chosen or what I think seems fair. I can only trust that He is sovereign and knows exactly what we need. Igzabeher yimesgen.

Please pray for the hospice ministry and those of us involved. Pray that we would be encouraging to the patients in their desperate state, and that the Lord would open their ears to the mystery of the Gospel. Pray for the safety of the staff as we enter dark homes with tuberculosis in the air and HIV in their veins. Pray for us that we will be led to the patients God has for the program, as all patients are referred to us by others.

The Lord is abundantly using the hospice ministry in Korah. I am so blessed to be a small part of it. I love walking along the paths of Korah and voices from many corners yell, “Kela! Kela!” They know my name, and I know theirs. When I think about HIV AIDS and TB victims of the world, I have many faces attached. They are not statistics in my mind anymore. It is the most humbling and the most amazing thing to kneel by the sickbed of a dying woman, take her stained weather-beaten hand in mine and pray. They bless God and bless us as we leave.

How true it is that they bless us.