A Letter From Africa

Thursday, April 28, 2016


 Hello everyone, today I'm going to be sharing an update from the missionary we support in Africa! His name is Albert, and he has a brain tumor that is causing him to lose his eyesight. Nevertheless, God is helping him and his family, and this is some of the work he's been doing in the last few months.

Dear brethren,

Greetings to you all in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. I am recovering from the sickness I had gone through last week, due to your prayers. I am now able to some work.

The beginning of this year was rainy season up to the end of April. I mentioned in January that I will concentrate the work at Chimwemwe clinic in various departments, preaching and teaching health lessons.

              We have touched many lives during this season. I thank God, who is making it possible for the clinic administration to allow me to conduct lessons without any problem.

              The departments I was given to conduct lesson are; HIV/ AIDS, Tuesday to Thursday are the clinic days for the adults who are HIV positive. The topics are based on behavior change, positive living, modes transmission and prevention, nutrition and to give them hope and show them that Christ died for all of us if only we believe and trust in Him.

     Every Friday is a clinic day for children below 12 years and teenagers and these are brought by their parents or guardians. These are the children who are born from HIV positive mothers, and those who are defiled sexually by their relatives and unknown people. The topics are just the same as the adult but I always spend time with their parents, telling them how they should take care of their children. One big challenge which I found in this group is that most of this children are not aware about their HIV status they just come for review and to get medication. Those who discover that they are HIV positive, and that they got it from their mothers, hate their parents and stop the medication and finally they die. So I have been counseling many to help them accept and understand their condition, and to give them hope that one day all these illnesses will come to an end, because Jesus loves the children like them.

  I want to take you 10 years back in 2006 report about Miriam story. She is now grown up and it was during the Friday clinic for the HIV children when she approached me and said she was the Miriam I counseled some years back. I did not believe her, because I had even forgotten about her. Thank God that she is still alive and she was an encouragement to others below are the photos and the story.          



HOME BASED CARE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE LOOKING AFTER THE HIV/AIDS ORPHANS REPORT IN CHIPATA TOWNSHIP

We are now at the time when the diseases which the Bible talks about are fulfilled; this is the time when we have to go out as medical missionary workers to evangelize souls.


             
            In Kitwe there about twenty-five home based care centers for people who are HIV Positive and I took time to visit this centers and share with them the word of God, and the importance of Nutrition, and the laws of health to people who are HIV Positive. So far three centers responded quite well. I started preparing lessons, writing on the Flip Charts as you can see in the picture to the right.





I wrote about ten copies, and on Friday I went to meet the group. I was helped by the community health workers who were wearing Green skirts. Upon arriving we had a group photo as shown below. I am standing on the left holding the charts in the hand and books, and behind is the building, we booked for a day workshop, which is used for people with Mental problems.


The group of thirty-seven is made up of old mothers who had children died of HIV/AIDS and they have left with Grandchildren and most of them are widows and some are infected with the same disease. The children they are looking after mostly are double orphans. During our seminar we covered a good number of topics and these were:



·       DOES GOD CARE  

  • NUTRITION
  • FOOD PREPARATION AND PRESERVATION
  • FOOD SAFETY AND IMPORTANCE OF LOCALLY GROWN FOOD THAN WESTERN TYPE OF FOODS
  • LET FOOD BE YOUR MEDICINE
  • SECOND COMING OF JESUS AND THE END OF SUFFERING



Below are the pictures taken inside the building during the seminar. 


           We started at 9:30, and food was prepared for the group since the law states that when you call for such a meeting, food should be given the people. As you can see there is food ready for the group, it is called Inshima, and is made from corn meal as you can see in the plates and dishes. 

          When the seminar came to an end people were given chance to say something many people appreciated for the seminar. These women you can see said a lot of things, they were requesting more such lessons and it has been a blessing to all of them. They were even requesting have a joint meeting with their grandchildren.

        At the end of the seminar a woman approached me because of what she learnt and after hearing that I am a counselor, she explained the story of her daughter by the name of Miriam.



THE STORY OF MIRIAM


She is third in the family of 4 doing grade 7 and she is 14 years old. She is an orphan.

The father died when she was about 9 years old. Life was so hard because the father who was the breadwinner in the family died. Her mother had to support all the children. At the age of 11 years her mother got married to a certain business man and life seemed to improve at the time when step father came.

After 6 months the step father became sick and went for medical treatment and it was discovered that he was HIV positive. The mother of Miriam also went for testing, and it was discovered she was also positive and she put on ARV.

One day the mother of Miriam went to buy some food in the market, and upon arriving back at home, she discovered that Miriam was raped by her stepfather. It shocked the all community, but rumor said that if a man or a woman is HIV/AIDS and he or she have sex with a child then the virus will die. Others said it a way of getting riches by having sex with children, this is what they are told by witch doctors but all this is a myth.

The man was reported to the police and put in a cell this time he is serving 15 years in prison. Now, Miriam was taken to the hospital due to injuries and finally discharged. At the age of 13 years she was taken to the hospital for HIV test due to her poor health and it was discovered that she was also HIV positive. The mother hid it from her, because she was fearing that Miriam may commit suicide. Thank God she came for the seminar and she explained the all story to me, so the task was the way of breaking the news to her and thanks be to God, the counseling was successful. When she came to know her status she wept so bitterly, and finally she recovered, to the right is the picture in the counseling room.



The goodness of the counseling we had was that when we shared the word of God, Miriam accepted. The mother and her are hoping that this problem we are going through; one day will be no more. They have accepted Christ as their person savior and they are looking for that day when He appears in the clouds. I advised the mother to go to CD4 count so that we can start the treatment.

Brethren, if we go in the bible a certain lawyer came to Christ, asking him what he can do to enter heaven Luke 10:25-37……The story goes on by telling him to love his neighbor, and he said who is my Neighbor? The Lord is expecting us to help people who have been beaten and left half dead. Can we come down from our donkeys and bandage the wounds of people who are left on the roadside?

What am I trying to say is, your support and prayers that you can send to us can be blessing to many people. Without your support and prayers, I was not going to see this woman and her daughter. Truly this is our neighbor and your neighbor too. For more information about Miriam please write to me and tell me what you intend to do. May you continue supporting this work there are four programs remaining before the end of this quarter in the Home Based Care Centers.

The other departments are antenatal and Under five clinics, this department lessons are based on Child guidance, nutrition and food to eat and avoid, children diseases, hygiene and biblical lesson.


              The other department is TB clinic, we always look at the modes of transmission, prevention and the types of TB. We also look at TB in the old times and what God said about this condition and the way it can be prevented.

May the good Lord continue to richly bless you. Because of your support towards this ministry, we are able to meet and reach many lives. We want to inform you that in May we will conducting a crusade for two weeks your support will be highly appreciated.

God bless.

Albert and the family.

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