A Tough Week

View from the Guest House, Tenwek Hospital

Heidelberg Catechism

Lord’s Day 1

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong body and soul,

 in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

This has been a tough week.  There has been a lot of sorrow.   When a mother dies it is particularly sad.  The mother of the twins that I have been caring for passed away on Wednesday.  Miraculously she had rallied on Monday and we were all encouraged.  She asked to see her babies and we brought them to her the next morning.  She was able to see them and know that they were doing well.  That night she took a turn for the worse and there was nothing more that could be done for her.  She had endured 5 operations, ventilators, immeasurable pain, and her body finally gave out.  How she fought to stay alive for her children.  

Let me tell you about her.  She was a poor woman who lived in a rural village about an hour from Tenwek.  Her sisters tell me that she was a good woman with an enormously big heart always willing to help others although she had little herself.  She was a single mother of four in addition to the twins.  Recently she had married an older single man as he needed care.  Her life was on a good course.  She had a cesarean section for premature twins at another hospital and developed an infection.  She had been healthy up until then.  When she arrived at Tenwek she was very ill.  She was carried for by multiple teams of caring, Christian physicians, nurses,  and respiratory therapists.  

Now the family will meet to discuss her funeral plans and the plans for the children.   Thankfully she has a wonderful extended family and they will make the best decision possible.  Taking on the responsibility of newborn twins and four others is no easy task.  Please, keep this family and the children in your prayers.

Our hearts are heavy but we rejoice in the good news that this Christian woman is with her Savior.  

Miriam