Jesus loves me this I know...

Wow has it been a long time since I've updated!  Sorry for the lack of updates lately.  Life has become a little crazy the last week and a half but I have finally find a moment to type up an update. Currently, I am sitting in our classroom in Choma...just finished up some homework for the day and about to head to bed to prepare for another adventure on the horizon.  Tomorrow afternoon we will head to Zimba where we will enter another hospital new to us.  We will be in Zimba from tomorrow evening through Sunday afternoon.  During this time we will be going to the hospital each day for clinicals and then visiting an orphanage in Namwianga.  This orphanage is home to children under 5 years old and from what I hear it is quite an amazing place.  But before I get ahead of myself, I probably should tell you about what the last week has held.


Last week Sunday (October 16) our team traveled to Macha where to stay for a week and work intensively in the hospital.  Macha is about an hour ride from Choma which we had been making 3 days a week for 2 weeks previous to this trip so we kind of knew what to expect and had our bearings in the hospital and with the staff.  I believe I kind of told what this hospital was like in my last post, but if not, the hospital is quite a wonderful place.  It has a men's, women's, tuberculosis, AIDS clinic, Maternal-Child clinic, pediatric and maternity ward, and an outpatient clinic.  The time spent in Macha Mission Hospital was one of trials and joys rolled into one exhausting and rewarding week.  You might be thinking to yourself, how can one week bring all of this choas of emotion, and I sit here today and wonder the same thing myself but somehow I sat on the bus on this past Friday and was so overwhelmed by what I had experienced that I didn't quite know how to describe it in a blog post which is why it has taken me so long to write this.  I would like to share a few stories with you about my time in Macha...some are joyful and some are difficult.


One of my most memorable moment in the hospital has been with my favorite little three year old boy who lies in a bed with his legs strung up in traction—Coasta.  When I first arrived on the pediatric ward at Macha Mission Hospital, I had no idea what to expect but it was as if the Lord pulled me right to Coasta’s bedside.  His little eyes held a depth unlike I have ever seen before.  One could tell that even in his three years of life, he has experienced more than most.  As I began playing little games and giving high fives, I began connecting with him which I was so thankful for because of the communication barrier that is present here in Zambia.  When I first met him, he was not put in traction yet.  He had sustained a femur fracture caused from being in a plow accident at home.  While I was on the ward that day, the physical therapist came and placed him in traction and I was able to assist.  I did not even get to do very much with Coasta as far as nursing care but I did my best to visit him every day we were at Macha Mission Hospital.  What was so neat that over the course of the next 2 1/2 weeks in Macha, I was able to visit Coasta each and every day...I made a point of it.  Some days, he would recognize me and be all giggles and smiles, and some days he would cry the second he saw me--you know, if I was a little three year old laying in a bed unable to move around whenever I wanted and a giant white person came and towered over my bed, I'd probably cry too.  But none-the-less, the Lord blessed me with a beautiful relationship that was formed in such a short period of time and I miss seeing him and visiting him so much...more than I would have guessed.  I'd like you to meet Coasta...this beautiful little one that captured my heart is pictured below. 

 Another thing that touched me deeply at Macha was the opportunity to work a night shift on the pediatric unit.  I worked with my dear friend Kathryn. I have been incredibly close friends with her since our first semester of nursing school so if there was anyone who I would've wanted around during this difficult night, it was her. As we assisted the nurse (who was an amazing servant leader to say the least) passing medications and performing all of the assessments on all of the beautiful but painfully sick children, we came across Ocline, a 2 year old little girl who had burns over approximately 40% of her body.  Burns are something that are very common and common health concern seen often in Macha Mission Hospital.  I had heard from many of the students about their experience with having to perform and assist with wound debrieding and how challenging this was because pain is not treated at all the way it is treated in the States.  If a child at home was burned over 40% of his/her body they would be put under general anesthesia in order to tolerate wound debriedment but here, that is not an option because Macha doesn't have the resources or the staffing to do such things.  So as Kathryn went into Ocline's room and took off her blankets, this beautiful child created by the Sovereign God laid under a metal cage (to hold the blankets up off of the skin but allow her to stay warm) looking up at me with eyes that were afraid and uncertain of what was about to come.  I was not there to cause any more pain but just to check her status as far as her heart rate and respirations.  It is one of the worst things in the world to walk into a child's room who I knew was in an incredible amount of pain and discomfort and also knew that I had absolutely nothing to give her.  Nothing that I could give to provide relief.  In that moment it took every fiber of my being to be strong enough not to break down weeping, knowing how little a chance of survival she had but knowing without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord is still Sovereign.  As I put my stethoscope on her little chest the only thing going through my mind was a song that my mom used to sing to me when I was little -- Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me...the Bible tells me so.  As I finished assessing her, I began singing these words over her trying with everything within me to believe the words I was singing.  It was a holy moment unlike I have ever experienced before.  I was so thankful for these words from the Lord because I had nothing to offer in that moment but the sweet words found in this children's song.  I will continue to believe the words of this song as I finish out this journey and I am eternally grateful for the way the Lord has broken my heart for the things that break His.  

Not every part of the week was this challenging -- many members of our team delivered babies, scrubbed in on surgeries, and had other great experiences.  I assisted in two deliveries and after one of them I was given the blessed opportunity to weigh a brand new baby, assess the baby, and welcome him to the world.  This was such a special moment--there is nothing like brand new life and it is an experience I will probably not forget as I wrapped him in a blanket and welcomed him into the world, praying over him that the Lord would bless his life and bring him to the throne of the Most High.  

I am so thankful for the opportunities to learn more about nursing and continuing to see how the Lord has truly called me into nursing.  I cannot begin to describe how at home I feel in my role as a nurse.  I love the joys and the sorrows found within health care and how the Lord intersects each of these in the way only He can.  

Maternal/Child Clinic

maternal/child clinic

A twin who was born almost a month early

4 nursing students -- doesn't matter if you're Zambian or American...clinicals are always fun!