Praying for Agnes

This is a picture of Agnes and 3 of her 4 daughters, taken a couple years ago.

Agnes has not been feeling well for probably at least the last month, maybe longer. As most of the people here do, she put off going to the doctor. Paying the medical fees is always an issue and so they postpone it as long as they can. But they also seem to put it off because they believe that the cause of their sickness is problems or sins in their life. In this case, I think many people think that Agnes is sick because her teenage son has been causing problems lately (living the party life) and to some extent Agnes herself even believes this to be the root of her sickness, or at least a part of it. (And of course to a certain extent stress does cause physical problems.) But for many it seems as if they think that somehow they've upset the spirit world through the problems and therefore the sickness has been brought upon them. This causes a lot of fear and also means that most people try to deal with that problem first before seeking medical attention. When Agnes did go to the doctor, she was told that she had severe malaria for which she was given quinine. Anyone familiar with this medication will know that it has horrendous side effects. Agnes endured these and finished the course of medication, but still was not feeling much better. We decided on Sunday that since her condition was not improving that it would be best to take her to the private hospital, where we had the best chance (but still no guarantee) of getting a clear diagnosis of what she was dealing with. This wasn't a decision we made easily as missionaries because the number of sick people who need proper medical attention are endless. The needs are overwhelming sometimes. Especially when we are faced with the pathetic health care system in this country. People are often misdiagnosed and mistreated. People die from illnesses that could've been prevented and should've been treated. We know this is happening and yet we cannot start taking every sick person we know to the private hospital (can't afford it!). Yet, we take every situation as it comes and in this case, Agnes needed to be further assessed. So on Monday morning Natalie went with her and her husband Andrew to the private hospital. The tests there revealed that she has typhoid fever and she was given the needed medication for this. Still, she had a terrible night last night--her husband actually thought at one point that she had died, and as he told Ian and Andrew, he pinched her big toe to prevent her spirit from leaving her body (another of their beliefs). In desperation, I think, he finally threw ice cold water on her and that revived her, but still she had a tough night and was having a tough morning when Natalie and the other women from the literacy class went to see her. But then she was a bit better again when Ian and Andrew were there this afternoon. Seems to be up and down.

Thankfully our God is the Great Physician! We're praying that He will heal and strengthen and encourage her. She needs to get her strength back and rehydrate her body while she keeps taking the medication for the typhoid. Please join us in praying for Agnes and her family!