Today was my fourth day at Nabo Jibon. As always, I was blessed to be there, however there were several new challenges. Both came from talking with one of the brothers there. First, he pulled Todd and I aside to talk about the TB patients. He warned us about several that we should be particularly careful about being around because they have unusually resistant strains of it. When he pointed them out my heart dropped. One of them was a man that I had really been working to build relationship with. I really enjoy his company and he has started asking when I will be back again. I don't feel like in good faith I can just pull away from him when he sees me interacting with the other men. What does it mean that his TB has been particularly resistant to medication? Am I in danger of catching an incurable case of TB? Please pray for Todd and I as we struggle with these questions and search for ways to greater love the men in the TB ward.
The second hard thing is what the brother showed us. He led us outside to show us a new patient that they had just brought in off of the street (Twice each week they make trips looking for men dying on the street that they can bring to Nabo Jibon). There were several men around him operating on him. I saw just enough to know that I didn't want to see any more. There was a large open wound on the back of his upper right thigh. In the wound there were maggots crawling around. Flies were swarming around him. Todd and I stood at a distance, both of us feeling a bit weak at what we had seen. The brother saw it in our faces and reassured us that he was like that originally too. Over his years of service at Nabo Jibon he has learned to get past the wound to love the wounded.
I am very grateful that Nabo Jibon exists and that there are men there that have dedicated their life to God's service in this way. Please pray for them and pray for Todd and I as we learn how God is calling us to serve the men there.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment