I am writing this
blog at the risk of sounding like a stalker.
I have twice, on this blog, given you a hint of or a reference to a
young girl named Sabina or Sabrina. Let
me tell you the story about her, and forgive me if I sound like some sort of
deviant.
When I first went to Uganda, in January of 2011, with a
men’s group from Henderson Hills Church in Edmond, we did work in and around
Jinja, with Pastor Henry. This was not a
medical trip, but a teaching trip. Most
members of the group had biblical topics, but I taught about HIV and AIDS. We taught in Jinja and in 2 smaller villages
some distance outside of Jinja. One of
these villages was Kiranga. I was in
Kiranga 2 days while on that first trip, and while I was there, I saw a girl
with a beautiful smile, and a large umbilical hernia. I was told that her name was Sabina, but it
turns out, her name is Sadiah (say dee uh).
Her beautiful smile and her medical need were frequently brought to my
mind as though the Holy Spirit wanted me to make her need my business.
 |
| Sadiah is the girl in the center. |
I had a plan to go to Kiranga and try to find
Sadiah in some free time that we had at the end of our trip to Uganda last
year. In fact, one of my biggest
disappointments in needing to leave early last year was that this special
project was postponed.
I spoke with Pastor Henry and he traveled to Kiranga and
went with the local pastor, Grace, to find Sadiah, and offer her the gift of
surgical repair of her umbilical hernia.
When the two pastors found her home, she was writhing on the floor in abdominal
pain. Her family initially agreed to
allow Due Unto Others to facilitate a surgical repair of her problem, but then
they became fearful and backed out. When
we scheduled our itinerary for this year, I included 2 days in Jinja and then a
full day to have a special project to drive to Kiranga and try to find
Sadiah. Pastor Henry graciously gave up
2 days of medical clinic at his church and scheduled both days of our clinic in
Kiranga with Pastor Grace. When we first
arrived at Kiranga, I sent out an APB on Sadiah and told the local leaders that
I wanted to talk with her and her family.
Sadiah came to the clinic the first day, but her parents were not
available.
I talked with her and
confirmed that despite 30 months passing, she still had the umbilical hernia
that needed surgical attention. She
assured me that her parents would be coming the next day.
As we were preparing to leave on the final day, my heart was
heavy as I had not seen Sadiah or her parents at the clinic. As I was making my way to the pit latrine
before our bumpy ride back to Jinja, Pastor Henry told me that Sadiah’s parents
had arrived! He had a Luganda
conversation with them. Henry told them
that I was concerned that, if not corrected, this hernia could continue to
cause her pain and could be quite problematic in her child bearing years. Once they saw my concern and thought about
her current and potential problems, THEY AGREED TO WORK WITH DUE UNTO OTHERS to
finally see a positive end to a long term problem! I am so excited that God has worked this out.
Please keep Sadiah in your prayers. I will be finding out a price for this
procedure and post it later. If you
would want to give towards this project, please let me know.
Jay
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