Hi there! This is Lisa Hauter speaking. I wanted to share a
beautiful testimony of the Lord with you all and I pray that it encourages and
touches each person who reads this post.
It all started on Monday morning. Kara and I were placed on
the pediatric ward for clinical. We were there for a total of seven hours and
were excited to work with children. The ward was very full when we arrived and
there were several patients who were in critical care. There was a child who
was being ruled out for meningitis and tetanus, one with sickle cell disease, another
with cardiomegaly, three with severe malnutrition, three covered from head to
toe in burns, and one new admission who was HIV+, had TB, anemia, marasmus and kwashiorkor’s
disease (extreme starvation), one child who had a foreign object impaled
through his leg, and eight children with broken bones. Needless to say, there
were many crying children that day.
I walked around the ward to get oriented and introduce
myself the best I could to each patient despite the language barrier. When I came to one specific bed, I found a
mother who was tending to her baby boy. He was a little over 1 year old and
weighed 10 pounds. He was suffering from severe malnutrition. One glance was
all it took for me and my eyes pooled with tears and my heart ached with
compassion. The baby’s skin was wrinkled and saggy and you could see every bone
in his body. He had no strength to lift his head or arms, yet he nuzzled in his
moms arms and glanced up to her with such love. She explained that when he was
6 months old he became sick and started to refuse food. She ended up having
complications and was unable to breastfeed afterwards. A loving mother in
poverty, struggling to maintain the life of a child. She clearly wanted the
best for her baby boy and would do everything she could to help him, but there
were many things working against her. Even though she was suffering along with
her baby boy, she had a warm smile. Kara and I were asked to sing a song and
decided to sing one that we had learned during our time in Zimba. It goes,
“Yama, Yama, Yama kumanza atamani…” In English it means, “Leaning, Leaning,
Leaning on His everlasting arms.” The mother sang along with us and I saw her
glow more than anything I’ve ever seen. Kara and I left with an aching heart,
but were reminded that we can only place our hope in God’s arms, not in man.
That afternoon, our clinical instructor Anna comforted us
with an image of the Lord as the Good Shepherd who holds not only us, but the
mother’s and family members, the doctors and nurses and all of the children who
were suffering. His arms are big and strong enough to hold every one of us and
He cares about each and every detail.
I ached for the baby boy who was suffering with
malnutrition. That night I wrote in my journal, “I wonder what this little
one’s purpose is in his life, and why You chose to place him in this country,
town, family, hospital and current circumstances. Nothing You do is in vain,
Lord. I pray that every person that interacts with this child comes closer to
you.”
The next day I was scheduled for a night clinical along with
seven others. Sarita, Dee Dee, Christy and I were in the maternity ward and
Kate, Kasie, Natalie S, and Sarah were in the pediatric ward. Before we left,
our team had a meeting with Anna. She stated that she was surprised that we
haven’t experienced a death while we have been in Zambia. She said to be
encouraged by this and to understand how much the health system is improving,
but to always be prepared because other teams have experienced a lot of death
in the clinical setting. When she said this, many of us who were scheduled for
night clinical got a feeling that we might be experiencing something that
night. Some of us felt like we should bring a Bible with us, others felt
resistance and did not want to go at all, and some even felt the Lord telling
them that we would experience a death. The night was a night full of prayer and
support from one another. Whenever we needed a prayer, a hug, joy, or
encouragement we would walk to the other ward to be together. We even had
people at home lifting us up in prayer for the night.
Night clinical began at seven in the evening. We walked
around the ward and introduced ourselves to the room full of mothers who had
either recently delivered or who were patiently waiting to deliver. My eyes
went directly to a woman who was laying on the ground and was concerned for
her. She looked like she was in great pain, so I went to the head nurse and
asked her if she would come assess the situation. The nurse stated, “Oh, don’t
worry about her. She has been doing that all day… she doesn’t handle pain
well.” Later on in the evening we were doing vitals and giving medications and
when I approached this woman who had been on the floor, I noticed that she had
a Bible tucked under her arm. I picked it up and started flipping through it
and asked if she spoke English. She said that she did very well. I opened the
book to Romans and found two pages that were stuck together. The Lord spoke to
me and told me that the verse I was supposed to read was there. So I started
reading out loud to her, without a clue what I was about to say. The scripture
read,
“We know that the
whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, right up to the
present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the
redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen
is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for
what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit
helps us in our weakness.” Romans 8:22-26
Here I am with a young woman who is pregnant with her first
child and waiting patiently to meet her baby. She was scared and groaning in
pain and had no one by her side to comfort her except the Bible under her arm.
This scripture showed her that the Lord understands her pain and her weakness.
He understands that she is waiting eagerly for this baby. But even more, as she
waits for the Lord to come and redeem us and our bodies and to call us His
Child.
Hours went by and we had yet to see any mothers in active
labor. While we were waiting, we attempted to do some homework in the nursing
station and we ate some snacks to keep our energy up. We heard a noise and
looked down the hallway and saw the pregnant mom walking with one hand holding
up her chitenge, the other hand clenching her stomach in pain. I walked up to
her to guide her to the delivery room and one of the girls grabbed her bag. She
seemed afraid, but she was still capable of smiling and laughing every now and
then.
The night went on as we waited with her to deliver. She was
restless and anxious, but Dee Dee grabbed her hand to pray which comforted her
greatly. Throughout the night I would get up and check on her continuously and
would always make a point to encourage her. It was a struggle, but we all were
together. She had four compassionate nursing students cheering her on and
supporting her. There were many times in the night where we would hear her
thrashing around on the bed or complaining of her tiredness, but we always
reminded her how strong she was… At one point I took her hand and told her to
depend on the Lord. She may not feel like she has the strength it takes to
deliver this baby, but the Lord will help her through it. He knows her
weakness. I also reminded her that when the baby comes, she would be filled
with so much joy and love that she wouldn’t even remember the pain she once
went through.
Around this time, we got news from the other students in the
Pediatric ward that one of the babies was quickly declining. It was the 1 year
old boy who I had worked with and met the day before. Dee Dee and Christie were
also able to interact with him a week prior. We each felt such deep sorrow,
especially the girls who were in the Pediatric ward. The girls were each so strong
and present throughout the entire clinical. They took action, Natalie comforted
the mother, and they each had compassion on the baby and prayed unceasingly.
The nurse and doctor did everything they could to help save the baby’s life. At
one point, it became painful for them to watch the baby get poked by the IV
needle numerous times and see the medical staff fail to insert it every time
due to dehydration. It was painful…but the girls continued to pray. One of them
prayed and asked the Lord to give the little boy strength. She stated later
that she didn’t know she was praying for him to go to Jesus and find his
strength in His arms, where his body will be redeemed. Over a period of time,
the baby ended up going to Jesus peacefully at 4:45am. The baby’s family
gathered around his bed with tears. The father held his head in his hands and
couldn’t bare looking at his son. When I heard this, I was reminded of the scripture that
speaks of Jesus’s crucifixion. In Matthew 27:45, it states that darkness came
over the land right before Jesus’s death and Jesus cries out, “My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?” God had to hide his face too. He couldn’t bare the
sight of his son suffering such a death.
Kasie turned to me at one point and said, “Lisa, go be with
new life and celebrate the gift that the Lord has. The Lord gives and he takes
away, but He is always good.”
Around 5:15am, the baby girl was born. The mother knew in
her heart that it was a girl and when she found out, she was filled with great
joy. Christy, Sarita and Dee Dee helped deliver the baby alongside the Nurse. I
stood by the mother’s side and held her hand, encouraging her with every push.
When the baby came out, we couldn’t help but notice the sunrise that peered
through the window. It was a beautiful image. The mother turned to me with a
giant smile and whispered, “I’m so happy……! I don’t remember a single amount of
pain.” I faintly heard the nurse ask what the baby’s name was, and the mother
turned to me and asked what my name was. I told her and she said, “The baby’s
name is Lisa.” The greatest amount of joy rushed through my heart and I was
filled with so much thankfulness. The Lord used each of us and was with us
through every moment of the night shift. Like Anna said, He is the Good, Good
Shepherd. He leads and carry’s each of us.
The Scriptures that rushed through my mind were in Psalm
30:4-5, “Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy
name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but
rejoicing comes in the morning. And in Lamentations 3:22-24, “Because of
the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your
faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will
wait for him.”
Even though no life can replace another life, I believe that
the Lord worked everything out that night so that we could understand a glimpse
of his faithfulness, love and power. The Lord does not inflict suffering, but
he heals and receives his beloved into His everlasting arms to give fullness
and freedom. Each person that interacted with the baby boy throughout his year
of life was blessed and honored to be with him as he went to Heaven. Each person grew closer to God because of
him. It didn’t take long for the little boy’s greatest purpose in life to be
fulfilled. He was received into God’s arms and He said to him, “Well done my
good and faithful servant.” We all are amazed by the Lord’s goodness.
