Lessons from Zambia
As many of you know, I recently had the opportunity to go and be a part of the amazing work that CURE International is doing through the Beit Hospital in Zambia. CURE International is an incredible non-profit organization whose mission is to bring healing to the sick while proclaiming the Kingdom of God to those who may not know His love. CURE specializes in serving children who have conditions such as clubfoot, bowed legs, cleft lips, untreated burns, hydrocephalus, osteomyelitis, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and many other conditions. While patients are being treated and cared for, CURE makes sure that not a single patient leaves without hearing the message of God’s love for them.
While this was not my first mission trip, and I figured God had something incredible in store for our team, He truly exceeded any expectations I might have held before heading into the trip. I am overwhelmed by how God revealed more of His character to me through sweet moments and interactions I had with people throughout the trip, and I’m even more amazed by how He continues to bring to light new and different aspects of my own character that I never knew I had. I thought I would take a moment to share a few highlights and stories from my trip that personally changed my heart and opened my eyes to more of God’s amazing plans.
Simple Love: One of our first days of ministry at CURE was spent in the Out Patient Department. Myself and my teammate Bronner were sent to be in the front waiting room where the moms and kids were waiting to be called back to the doctors office. At first it was extremely awkward and uncomfortable, not gonna lie. The kids didn’t speak English, we didn’t speak Nyanja (or any of the other 7 languages spoken in Zambia), and there were no translators to help us. The moms just sat and stared at us as we tried to encourage the shy kids to come and color with us. Bronner and I kept exchanging nervous glances at each other, not sure what to do. I kept praying that God would break down the wall of hesitancy that seemed to be preventing us from fully enjoying our time together, when finally, a sweet little girl slowly came toward the table and sat in a chair a little ways off. Little did I know that this sweet girl, Faith, would teach me so much about love in such a short amount of time. Faith looked to be around 5 years old and she had this in-explainable joy about her that drew more kids over to join us at the table as she laughed, talked, and sang while making crafts. She kept leaning over to me with mischievous eyes and whispering in my ear that she was making all of the crafts as a surprise for her mommy. What really hit me was when I asked Faith why she was making all the crafts for her mommy. She simply replied “because my mommy loves me and I love her. She does lots and lots for me so I want to do lots and lots for her.” I realized then that Faith loved with the same kind of simple love that God shows each of us on a much grander scale. Often, I find myself forgetting how much God truly loves me. Yes, I know God loves me, but I honestly don’t give it much thought in a day. Faith made me see God’s love in a more simple way and realize that because God loves me, He truly wants what is best for me. I may not be able to see or understand His plans, but I need to rest in the peace of knowing that because He loves me, His plans will ultimately be a million times better than any of mine. For such a small girl, Faith’s heart was already so big and she just overflowed with compassion for others.
Limitations: After a while of coloring, laughing, and listening to the cute kids, something caught my attention and I noticed that Bronner had left the table. I looked out the window and saw him surrounded by too many kids to count, with a massive bottle of bubbles in his hand. I then noticed that every single one of those kids had some sort of medical condition or physical disability, but nothing stopped them from running around chasing bubbles and laughing hysterically when they caught them and they popped in their faces. For some reason I was overcome with emotion and it took all of me to not break down and cry in front of all of the moms and kids. I think that so often, I limit myself and my abilities. I find myself holding back on so much because I think I’m not good at a certain task or that I’m the wrong person to do it. But watching these kids, it made me realize that it doesn’t matter how “qualified” or talented I feel that I am. If God calls me to do something, I need to fully trust that He has already prepared me with everything needed to carry out the task and follow what he has asked me to do no matter what I may believe my abilities are. If I always live in fear and limit myself, who knows what incredible things I may be missing out on? As I continued to watch the kids pop bubbles and run around without any hesitancy or limitations, the kids inspired my heart to throw off any limitations I may have held and run full speed into the next task God was calling me to take part in, ready and willing no matter my abilities.
Joy: While at CURE, I had the opportunity to be a part of a clinic and a support group for families of children with cerebral palsy. As many of you know, I work as a teacher aide for children who have special needs, so being a part of this clinic was one of the most incredible experiences and was the perfect fit! In the clinic I got to shadow a physical therapist who performed stretches and exercises that would eventually help the kids learn to sit, crawl, stand, and walk. During the support group, I started out sitting in the back and just listening to a woman named Sandra give her testimony. She shared that she was a mom of three sons, two of which had special needs. Her youngest, Papaya, was born very premature and because of this, he was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. After hearing about CURE and the therapy they offered to patients with CP, she started bringing Papaya to CURE three times a week to receive therapy and to be around other moms who had children with CP. After a while, Papaya was suddenly diagnosed with meningitis and he passed away shortly after because there was nothing the doctors could do. While I can’t even imagine the pain and heartbreak Sandra must have gone through, she used her testimony to create the Papaya Kay Foundation as a way to support and encourage other families with children who have CP. As I sat in the back trying to collect myself, I hadn’t noticed that all of the families had stood up and started singing. I was completely caught off guard. Why would they be singing after hearing such a heartbreaking story? Then I realized that they were praising God. I couldn’t believe what was happening. These families were going through so many hardships, yet the first thing they do is stand and praise God for His goodness and steadfast love. Their unexpected joy brought me to tears as I sat listening to their praises. I learned that true joy is a choice, and these parents were choosing to see the good even in the hard times. True joy is gratitude and thanking God for the good he has done in my life. Most of all, I learned that true joy means trust; knowing that God is greater than any trials or difficult circumstances I face and still trusting that He is great enough to guide me through every step of the way. I admire these families and their incredible joy and perseverance. They taught me so much about perspective, choosing to see the good in life, and making a daily decision to be joyful in the things I have.
