Unexpected blessing from the least expected places

I was preparing myself all weekend for today, because I knew it was probably going to be my hardest task yet. I was told on Saturday that I would be given the opportunity to travel with the Palliatiive Team (Dr. Ravi, Beefina, and Viayashlee), and so I did. I got to sleep in a little more, and have a longer time with Jesus this morning, because they did not plan on leaving until 9:00. However, it is typical of Indian culture (and much of American culture as well) to never leave on time, so we did not end up leaving until 9:45. Before we did, sister Viayashlee said a prayer. She prayed for all of the sick people and their families, and prayed for them to have hope and for salvation! It definitely got me fired up!

Being here alone, I have not been able to go outside of the hospital grounds much. Yesterday was the first time, when I went to lunch with the Woods. So, it is always an exciting experience. Good thing I have been in African traffic before, because otherwise I would not be able to handle the hectic, yet organized in its own way, traffic here. Also, there are cows in the middle of the road or just grazing through the trash, men using the restroom wherever they please, something being sold on every corner, and I even saw 4 people riding on a motorcyle (I hear the record is 7).

We visited 5 patients today, most of them with cancer of some sort. To those who are unfamiliar with Palliate Care, it is care for those who are in the last stages of life, living at home. Some just refer to it as "comfort care". Now, you might see why I was expecting this day to be the hardest so far. I found it interesting when Dr. Ravi told me that they normally do not let the patient know their diagnosis. If the family wants them to know, then we tell them, but otherwise, it is just between the family and the team. We stayed two whole hours at the first house. He was a new patient, and so Dr. Ravi had to gathger all the information about the patient that he could. This family cared so much about the patient and you could tell they were doing everything they could to make him feel more comfortable. They were so grateful for us coming by to help them (and really, I did nothing but observe, but they kept thanking each one of us SO much). Here families are quite involved in their family member's care, knowing dates and exact symptoms, because they don't have the luxury of having records in a computer somewhere, like we do, and they are also just so close here. It is not uncommon for more than one family to live under the same roof, even if it be a small roof.

The next couple of patients that we visited were hard for me, because not much English was spoken, and I was starting to get tired. I have noticed that no matter how much sleep I get, I still get tired. I am always trying so hard to focus on what they are saying, and my mind is CONTINUALLY full of thoughts, prayers or taking notes on everything I see and experience(not to mention just trying to remember how to pronounce the names of all the people I meet!). The exhaustion is worth it though. I am not going to be in India forever, so I am trying to take in as much as I can, and give of myself, the same.

THEN, we came to Sajamma's house!!!! She was BY FAR my favorite patient to visit!! When we entered, we had to wait a little while in her living room, full of little stuffed animals and scripture, but then we were called back into her bedroom. At first sight, I fell in love with her. She was an 80 year old woman, unmarried, no children, but as peachy as could be! At first glance, you would never know she had anything wrong with her. She was wearing this bright yellow dress with polkadots (a woman after my own heart! Haha!) and a back brace. She welcomed us in her room with such a sweet smile. Dr. Ravi intorduced us, and she began asking me all about ME, even though we were there to see HER! She wanted to know everything about me, and when she asked why I was in India, I told her that I just love travelling, and the LORD had led me here. Her eyes lit up when I mentioned our sweet Jesus. Then, I said, "Well, tell me about you!" She commented, "I am so glad you mentioned the LORD! I can tell that you have a heart to share about Him, just like me!" Then, she bagan to tell a story that you could easily see she had told MANY times before, "I will tell you a story about my life. Let me ask you a question first, though. Have you ever heard of supernatural healings?" And, I said that I had and I very much believed in them. I told her of the little boy who was cured of cancer at my church in Lubbock, and it was a rapid healing. She started up again, "Well, that is so good to hear. I have received a supernatural healing from the LORD, but mine did not happen so quickly". This is where I am not sure that I understood everything she said, but I got the main parts. Fourteen years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She did not seek treatment, because the LORD had told her, "I am going to heal you. Trust me. I want to use your story to bring faith to others." So, she decided against telling anyone about this illness. It kept getting worse and worse, but every day she read from Isaiah 53:4-5. Through this the LORD would promise her every day that He was going to heal her. SEVEN years later, she went to the doctors, because her wound was starting to open and all of the skin was necrotic(dead). She just needed to know how to clean it. When she arrived the doctors told her that she could clean it, but there was no way to treat it now. They couldn't even operate. She said something I wil never forget though. In her words, "They told me chemotherapy would not help. But, Jesus told me His blood would be poured in me and act even better than chemo. They said radiation would not help. But, Jesus told me that HIs Holy Spirit, His firey Holy Spirit would come down on me, and kill off any cancerous cell. They told me they could not operate. But, Jesus told me that He had given me His Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword, and He would use it to cut off any dead or bad cell in my chest"....WHAT INCREDIBLE FAITH?!?!?!? I sat, speechless, in awe!! The doctors (SEVEN of them) told her she would have anywhere from 3 days to 3 months to live. She went home, and just as she had done before, prayed over Isaiah 53:4-5, placing her name in it. Since the doctors thought she would not last long, they came every day, and just cleaned her wounds...3 days went by, then 3 weeks, then 3 months. The next day, she woke up and looked at her wound, NEW SKIN HAD STARTED TO GROW!!!....In case you did not know, necrotic skin is DEAD! There is no way to make it better, it can only be cut off. The fact that new skin began growing was a MIRACLE, and ONLY JESUS was to be praised for it! The docotrs could not believe their eyes, and they stated they had never seen such a healing in all of their practice. One of them, a Hindu woman commented on this healing saying, "It must have been from her God. Nothing else could have done this. I was even able to see the healing WITH MY OWN EYES, and I was amazed! Only a scar left, but no necrotic skin, no bone weakness or pain, nothing! As I said earlier, it has been 14 years since her diagnosis, after 7 years they gave her 3 months, and her 3 months turned into 7 plus years, and all this was because of her faith in the ONLY one who could have made this possible! I could not stop smiling, and even the nurses commented afterward about how they could tell it encouraged me. It seems as though, the more difficult the tasks the LORD sets before me, the more grace and joy He gives. His grace is TRULY sufficient to keep me going strong! I got a picture of her, too, because I told her I wanted to share her story, and she was SOO excited!! When I showed her the picture, she just said, "See, I don't even look sick!", and then the Viayashlee said, "Yeah, if you took a picture of us, WE would be the ones looking sick!" Hahaha! I also did not go into this day expecting to share such laughter and happiness with the nurses inside the patients' houses. Sajamma was cracking jokes, and then they would talk in their language and just crack up, and even though I had NO IDEA what they were talking about, I joined in, because the joy of the LORD was so thick in that place! Before we left, Dr. Ravi asked if I would pray! What a privilege!! I prayed with such joy in my heart, and then after, Sajamma wanted Viayashlee to pray too. Then we all said our goodbyes.

The last house we visited was a Muslim home. It was crazy to me how nice it was, because from the outside, all of the houses look the same. This man was in his late 70's, and his son was doing most of the talking for him. He was quite a stubborn man, very weak, with some sort of cancer. We were just doing a check up. Throughout the whole visit, I was praying for the hearts of him and his family! Such a sweet family, but still so lost. His daughter-in-law had made us sweets and tea. There was one more than there were people, so we all had one and drank our tea. But, this man was so persistent that I have another that he got up, walked over the tray where they were, and brought it over to me. I took it and reluctantly, but thankfully ate it (my stomach hurts a little now, but it is worth it to make him feel better). Afterward, we were saying our goodbyes, and when he grabbed my hand, he said, "I hope to see you again and again and again!" In my head, I was saying, "I pray I see you again too! In heaven for all of eternity"! I kinda wish I had said it out loud, but something held me back. Then, we started to walk out the door, and he followed us. His son was surprised and commented on how he has never felt this well to walk as much as he was in a day and even to follow a guest outside was shocking. Oh, I pray the LORD changes that sweet man and his family's hearts!!!

So, overall, a day full of exhaustion, hard situations to handle, but more joy and grace to cover it all! All glory to my precious Jesus who is the ONLY One to bring such unexpected blessing from the least expected places.