Bring on the Rain

Signs that the dry season is ending are beginning to appear! The first couple of weeks we were here, seeing clouds in the sky was uncommon. Over the past several days, however, we have been seeing more and more of them! They aren’t white and puffy, nor are they dark storm clouds. They mostly just cause the sky to look grey and hazy. Apparently this indicates that the atmosphere is filling with water. Also, many of the plants here turn bright green when they expect rain—and we sure have seen that happening! There is a small tree in my front yard that looked dead when we got here. It’s prickly (we nicknamed it the Jesus tree because of its crown of thorns!) and was very brown. Recently, though, its color has changed significantly; it now has lime greenish leaves!

Yesterday, Mr. Gregersen, a missionary living here at Namwianga, gave a devo comparing the dry seasons in Africa to the dry seasons – times of hopelessness and apathy – in our lives. He took a few of us to visit the hospital in Kalomo, and the patients there have definitely experienced their fair share of dry seasons.

Kalomo District Hospital is a very sad place. If the sign out front hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have recognized it as a healthcare facility. It is small, and there is no form of security and no apparent organization. Patients lay on thin mattresses amongst rotting food and dirty bedpans. On good days a doctor is present to oversee their treatment and care, which generally falls to a family member instead of a trained nurse. Rather than being a haven of hope and healing, it is a place in which death and pain are rampant.

We visited four wards: men’s, women’s, children’s, and maternity. We saw patients with burns, broken limbs, and TB. We saw a woman likely suffering from a bad reaction to her AIDS medication. She was moaning in pain and probably will not live much longer. We saw a newborn baby whose spinal fluid and part of the cord had accumulated in a sac at the base of her backbone and was therefore suffering from paralysis in the lower half of her body. She did not appear to be in pain but will probably die within the next few days as well. It was agonizing to know that many of these people could be helped if they only had transportation to a more advanced medical facility. Instead, they lay in a stinking pit of filth and misery, waiting for whatever treatment is available.

Those who are at the hospital caring for their loved ones stay in a shelter out back. We visited these caregivers and had a short worship service with them. It was evident that they are eagerly awaiting both the rains in Africa and healing rain from God.

In these situations it’s easy to question God. Why doesn’t he prevent such circumstances? What have these people done to deserve so much pain? Why has he chosen to bless Americans with superior healthcare, education, etc.?

The Old Testament author Habakkuk asks, “How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen, or cry out to You about violence and You do not save? Why do You force me to look at injustice? …the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.” God replies, “Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For something is taking place in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it.” My thoughts align with Habakkuk’s: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!” (Habakkuk 1:2-5, 3:17-19)

Edit: The rainy season has arrived as of a few hours ago! We had a nice thunderstorm this evening and haven’t had power since. It was a big surprise because usually rain doesn’t come until late October or early November…