Wow, another blessed day in the Lord! This morning Joseck got everything set up for the Luanda Food Distribution (thank you donor for making this a reality!) where women young and old came to receive their 10 kg of rice, 10 kg of beans and 2 liters of cooking oil. I don’t think I’ll ever not be amazed at how these women will carry such heavy loads on their heads. Also thanks to Emma for helping out with the distribution. Several of the grandmas shook my hand, praised God for His provision and were very grateful for everyone who has helped make this happen.
Love her attitude!
This mama was the one C4KK Benevolence helped get surgery for a prolapsed uterus. She is walking (and carrying those beans and rice on her head) and feeling better….praise God!
The community water project is also alive and well. These two kids made about 10 trips getting water. Their mother is unable to walk so when they are not in school they are fetching water. With the new community water supply they only have a few meters to walk instead of kilometers to a dirty river which used to be their source of water. Another Yeah God!
Then we headed over to Okemi and Ruby’s to check on them and give them another jigger treatment. Their feet are looking so much better and Okemi (and Ruby) are so happy and walking around! We are also having Mercy, a young woman with children and without a job, visit Okemi and Ruby once a week to help wash clothes, clean the house and help them continue treatment on their feet. We are thankful for Mercy and her tender care with our grandma and grandpa.
As usual we drew a crowd but at the end of the day everyone got a sweet (they queued very nicely too) 🙂
During the treatment of Ruby and Okemi a man came with his nephew, David. David’s mother and father have both died and he is living with an elderly grandmother. During the weekend he comes to visit his uncle who lives near Okemi. The uncle had seen what was happening with Okemi and Ruby so he brought young David for us to check. Poor David, who is in class 5, has jiggers on his hands, feet and elbow. Chuck and Joseck used the disposable scalpels Doctor’s Edward and Raphael gave us to work on his hands and elbow. The elbow was a large lump of jiggers and really had to be dissected to get all the jiggers/eggs out. We are thankful Joseck kept his lunch down because he isn’t good with the whole blood scene either (again I was trying to hold it together to get these photos). Joseck worked on David’s hands while Chuck worked on the elbow. Tomorrow Doctor Rafael will come with us to check on David and do further treatment on his feet. If you are squeamish be aware there are a couple of bloody photos.
I put this picture in to point out the man squatting to the right. David has no shoes, the uncle doesn’t have extra shoes so this man took his shoes off and gave them to David. Such a small act but it made my heart skip a beat.
Now for the cutting of the elbow.
Hydrogen peroxide foams over the open wound
But while we were handing out food I did see several eagles. The verse from Isaiah kept running through my mind:
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
The Lord is definitely renewing our strength every day and we are soaring on wings like eagles. Thank you for your prayers and support…speaking of if you’d like to become a partner with us in C4KK Benevolence please visit our donation page for instructions. Thank you for your consideration and please share this post with your friends and family so they too can see the Glory of the Lord is in this place!