We have watched the progress over the past several years of
the construction of the church next to the diocese office. The main part of
Mjimpya is now 90% complete and boasts seating for about 400-500 on the lower
level and a balcony for additional seating for about 200. The tower that will
ultimately hold the bell is still under construction and will have two levels
for rental to generate income and a level for use as a conference room. (Pictures
of the church were posted in our first set of photos on this blog.) Mjimpya is
the home church for our Tanzanian liason, Tabitha Kilatu, who invited us to
join her for worship on Sunday.
We arrived just in time for the start of the 7 am service
and were ushered up to the front row. Bishop Mameo was also visiting and was
dressed in his formal Bishop robes and mitre and carrying his staff. He made an
impressive sight!
Three different choirs contributed to the worship and their
choreography, blended with their syncopated African melody, had us swaying and
tapping time with our toes. One of the highlights for the team was when the
strains of “How Great Thou Art” began swelling over the Swahili and we were
able to sing the beloved words with our Tanzanian brothers and sisters.
Bishop Mameo preached on the passage from Matthew 7:15-20 about knowing the tree by its fruit. Kilatu and two of our
other translators were sitting among the team and whispered the translation of
the sermon to us so we were able to follow the message.
After the two and a half hour service we were treated to tea
in the pastor’s office which included chai, coffee, bread, hard boiled eggs and
braised liver. Little did we know how important this morning snack would be to
us.
It was about 11 am when we headed to Mazimbu to do rounds
and check on Ben. Doug was finishing up and making notes in his charts when he
became curious about an 11 month old baby on the desk getting a blood transfusion
through a scalp IV. Doug, Cindy and Nancy reviewed the baby Raina’s chart and
were worried when they saw the hemoglobin was 1.8, barely sustainable for life.
Normal is 10-12. Notes in the chart stated the baby fell a week ago and had
been bleeding out of the mouth. As they were reviewing the chart, the IV blew
out and the transfusion was not able to continue. The staff asked Cindy and
Doug for help starting another IV. As the hours wore on, the team was praying
while Cindy, Doug and Nancy struggled to get an IV started that would hold.
Because the baby was so little and was dehydrated, her blood volume was so low
that even the tiniest needle could not enter the vein without piercing through
the back wall. At the second hour, the power went out and Doug continued work
with a head lamp. At about 2 and a half hours, Dr. Swai arrived to do rounds
and joined the team to assist. At about 3 and a half hours Doug asked who was
in charge of praying because either they got the IV in place or the baby would die.
Nancy replied that we were all praying. Numerous small incisions were made to
identify a vein into which we could insert a stable IV. At about the fourth
hour, Doug decided to retry one of the previous sites, the left groin. As he
shifted to this area, Doug stated “I ellt good about this” and got a successful
IV right away. Prayers were answered! To ensure it would stay, he sutured it in
and fluids were immediately started. The baby revived within a few minutes and
began looking for her mother to nurse. Shortly after that, a bag of blood was
transfused. The team offered up prayers of thanks for this gracious gift of
life.
So the afternoon waned and the team was able to leave the
hospital at 5:30. We headed to the Morogoro Hotel for dinner. As we were sitting
around our table, enjoying conversation about the day, we were greeted by one
of the managers, Robert, who saw us that morning at Mjimpyia. We shared
greetings and stories and well wishes.
As we have finished our first week, we are humbled and moved
to see God at work in our mission every day. From the smallest things like
meeting Robert at dinner after being in the same worship to the big things like
being at Mazimbu at the right moment for Ben and for Raina.
It's amazing to hear all the wonderful things you all are doing in Tanzania. It reminds me of the wonderful and life changing time I had last year. I'm excited to see the work continue for the rest of the trip!
ReplyDeleteWith love,
Courtney Giebel
Will share your comments with the team and especially Lance and Eileen. Staff at the hospital send their greetings--they asked about you!
DeleteWow...what a challenging day. Im so glad prayers were answered and Dr Doug was successful, saving baby Raina's life. God is so faithful. Great team work!! Please say hello to everyone at the hospital.
ReplyDeleteEmily
Will pass your greetings along. We miss you! But we know family is keeping you busy right now. We all send our congrats and best wishes!
Delete