February 2011

Who would believe that we have only been for one month in the Lower Banta Chiefdom of Sierra Leone and already Mokanji feels familiar?

 Just walking down the main street I hear “Jilo, Jilo!” sounding from all
sides and then the question “Where is Jibao?”  - Together with various North American well drillers as well as the help of African Nationals, Jibao, as Charles is known here, was able to complete four water wells.

As for my part, I will tell you one of the highlights of this past month.

During the middle of January a medical team arrived in Mokanji to provide primary care to the people of the area.  Many people were attended to in the name of Christ.  However, one mother and her baby are standing out in particular.

Abby, a twenty year old mother, brought her five weeks old baby boy,
Mustafa, to be attended to.  Mustafa was weak and listless and hung like a rag doll in his mother’s arms.

We were told that the baby had been born prematurely.  Abby also mentioned that after the baby’s delivery the nurses of the government hospital they had advised her, to just go home and leave the baby at the hospital to die because “it is too small”.  But, praise the Lord, Abby loved her baby enough to ‘defy’ the advice of the ‘health authorities’.  She took the baby home with her instead of leaving him at the hospital to die.

Yes, indeed, Mustafa was under weight (2 500 g, barely 5.5 lbs).  The
pediatrician of the medical team inserted a feeding tube through the baby’s nose and thus every three hours we began to “feed” with the help of a syringe formula for newborns.  Initially Abby brought Mustafa every three hours to the place where we are billeting when we stay in Mokanji.  However, over the course of time, I taught her how to prepare the formula and feed Mustafa.  It is encouraging to see the baby’s progress.  Within one month he has gained  1100 g or 2.42 lbs!

Praise the Lord for that progress!  Mustafa’s whole appearance is healthier.  His skin shines and is no longer dull as before.  His cry is hearty and no longer just a weak whimper.

Praise the Lord for the impact this makes on the Abby’s life!  Her gait is upright and she almost walks with a skip in her step, instead of being burdened under the weight of worry for her baby.  She laughs and her face is full of hope for her baby’s future, instead of her forehead showing deep furrows of concern and pain.

 Most of all, praise the Lord for the openness this and similar situations create to share Christ’s love with the people.   Loving and caring for each individual we meet throughout the day gives validity to the words we speak.

Yes, it is hard to believe that only after one month, Mokanji  and its
people already feel very familiar.

Serving the under-served together with you as our support team,

Charles & Petra Wirrell