The Fruits of Your Labor

In one of our previous journals we asked for help with bible donations and you responded so overwhelmingly that we know the Holy Spirit is leading and opening hearts.  One recipient of these bibles, I will call her Mary, has been especially blessed by your generosity.

Mary’s young son was just recently admitted to the hospital suffering from malnutrition.  Baby Samuel, not his real name, was put in the teaching hospital in Zambia where so many other babies are admitted but so few are ever discharged.  Samuel was put in “Bay 1” of the emergency ward, the place where they put the babies who are most likely to die.  At the time I did not realize this because all of the babies were in one big room; separated by rows, called “Bays”.  

On one of my visits, Mary commented how discouraged she was that her baby was not gaining weight and babies were dying every day all around her.  She was also afraid that her baby would become infected with some other disease while in the hospital because he was so weak.  

Just before the baby’s hospitalization we handed out bibles to our Thursday night bible study group. Mary was one of those recipients, and although she said she had already accepted Christ as her savior, she was not attending church or gathering with other believers at that time. “Surprised by God’s People” kept running through my mind. Mary has a spiritual gift of encouragement and she would be put to the test.  She told me, “Everyday babies are dying around me so everyone asks to use my bible when the babies die to encourage one another.”

The topic we had been studying in our Bible study group since January is “The Purpose Driven Life”.  I emphasized in our studies how every one of us is created for a purpose, using the illustration months ago how even little “Samuel” who seemed healthy at the time, has a purpose in life.    

After about 3 weeks, “Samuel” was well enough to be released from the hospital but it seemed like he still was not gaining weight like he should. He also had contracted a really bad sore throat (thrush) and had malaria type symptoms.  I tried to call Mary at least every other day but on one of these calls I finally asked her the un-askable, “Have you and Samuel been tested for the HIV virus?”  Surprisingly and calmly she told me the doctor wanted her and the baby to get tested that very day and she would know the results the following week.  The following week at the Bible study, she asked me to stay behind to talk.   She proceeded to tell me both she and her baby were HIV positive.  She had also gone to another clinic to get another test done just to be sure and that test came out positive also.  I told her that with good eating habits and positive lifestyle changes, the “positive” diagnosis was not a death sentence and did not mean that she should stop living and wither away.

Even with this diagnosis, she is very optimistic for herself and her baby.  Please pray with us that the Holy Spirit would continue to strengthen believers here, and us, and help us encourage others to hold fast to their faith under these difficult situations.  You as the body of Christ have blessed us so much and we thank God for your prayers and financial support.  We are still in need of many more bibles- and we thank God that there is such a hunger for his Holy Word in Zambia.

In His Service,
Sarah and Charles West