Prayer

There is a little boy in Uganda who needs your prayers. Ojuko is a 12 year old boy who was the first patient Dr Jess and I saw in the clinic this morning. He limped and walked with a walking stick and was in great pain. His right leg was very swollen and draining from an open sore. It looked REALLY bad. His mom said it started about 3 weeks ago. They had taken him to a local "clinic" where they just kept giving him Tylenol.

The minute Dr. Jess looked at him, she knew the infection was probably in his bone. The only way to tell would be to take him to a hospital for an X-ray. The mom said that she had to go home and ask the dad if it was ok for us to take him, so the poor child stayed with us at the clinic because he couldn't walk, and we gave him a shot of strong antibiotics, some pain meds, lots of love, and 14 stickers (I know because he and I counted them together several times!) They seemed to work because we had a smile right before his father came back to go with him to the hospital.

Hospitals here are free, but you have to have an adult staying with the patient, and you have to provide all the food (including for the patient), and the medicines. (you can buy them from the hospital pharmacy or get them cheaper at a local pharmacy-- everything is over the counter here-- you just have to be able to get there and pay for it.). An X-ray confirmed that our doctors were right and that the infection was in his bone. They transferred him to Jinja hospital to be admitted and put on an iv antibiotic, and on Wednesday will send him to the hospital in Kampala where they will do surgery to try to cut out the infected part of his bone and drain and clean the wound.

Please pray for this child and his family. They have a long road ahead of them. We are planning to leave them with money to cover all hospital costs, and the pastor here has agreed to follow up with this child for us.

Had this kiddo not come to the clinic today, he would not likely make it because the infection was metastatic, which means it would soon move to his bloodstream and heart or brain. Please pray that he gets the proper care at both hospitals and at home afterward. Pray that his family will feel the love of Jesus and the provision of God through this. Please pray for complete healing for Ojuko. He is absolutely precious. God has big plans for him, I know.

Pray too for the people all over the world who are injured or sick who weren't fortunate enough to have a medical team come to their village today.

We have a team member whose wife had emergency surgery after he arrived, and another whose father had a stroke today. These are the times when we really feel the distance from our families, and I am grateful for all of your prayers and emails of encouragement.

Sometimes, because of distance, circumstances, and our own inadequacy, the only thing we can do for someone is pray for them. Always we need to remember that prayer is not "all" we can do, it's the best we can give someone, and is truly a gift.

Thank you for covering a little boy you'll likely never meet this side of heaven in prayer.