Hannah’s birthday was this past Thursday and it came with
such excitement and joy until we got to Engikaret. We arrived there in the morning to get the
class set up for nick and for the girls and I to get settled to be able to help
with an American team that was coming out to see Engikaret and help with a
clinic. Once we got out there a young
lady came up with her mother-in-law and it seemed there was something in her
hands underneath her shuka (the cloth they wear). My mom was there as well and asked what is
going on. They got there very early for
the clinic and we were wondering why.
Slowly the young girl, who is maybe 13 or 14, pulled her shuka back and
I gasped. I had never seen anything like
I had seen that day. A day that had started
out being so full of life for my family as Hannah was turning 5 became a day of
complete sadness in my heart. I stared at a little baby that looked as if he
had already gone to be with Jesus. I
have never seen a baby so small and helpless in my entire life.
My heart sank and
the overwhelming emotion was showing on my face so I left to compose myself to
once again go out and talk with the women.
As I joined them again my mom felt the babys chest to see if he was dead
but she said she felt a pulse. An
urgency arose in us and a desire to do something but once again looking at the
baby I had to leave the room, take deep breathes and come back. I knew if I showed
what I felt it would scare this young mom.
I continued to try and get the story from them and they claimed the baby
was born 2 weeks ago and had been unable to suck. The mom then didn’t produce a lot of milk so
in the 2 weeks since he had been born, he had been unable to eat anything. He had literally been starving to
death. I was so surprised he was even
still alive. At that moment some more
staff came around and started asking questions.
I retreated back to the place where my girls were playing and just
looked at them. The most overpowering
feeling of love and thankfulness for my children surrounded me and I wept. My heart broke for the young mama that sat
helplessly with her baby in her arms, so unsure of what the future would hold
for her baby. As I ventured out again to see what the progress
was I saw Nick talking with her and getting his keys out of his pocket. It is so hard living here and trying to
figure out when to help someone get to the hospital, when to push the husband
harder to pay for the trip and the stay at the hospital… but this time there
was no question. Nick was ready to go
and put the young mama with her sweet baby and her mother-in-law in the car and
drove off in a hurry. The first hospital
with an incubator did not have electricity so Nick got back into the car and
drove another 30 minutes to another hospital with an incubator. They brought in the baby and Nick sat in the
car to wait. We have learned that no
matter how badly we want to accompany someone to the hospital, for their sake
it is not a good idea. The fees for the hospitals service goes up when someone
sees a white face.
This happened last Thursday and we haven’t heard yet if the
baby is still alive or not. We have
heard some rumors about what happened and what is happening in that Boma of
Masaai out in Engikaret. This young mama’s
sister-wife is one of my good friends out there and we asked her why she didn’t
help this young mom go somewhere. There
was just silence. There is something
going on, some knowledge they have that they are trying to keep secret from all
of us. Please pray for the truth to come
out, for the base to know how to approach this boma and the problems happening
in it. There are some very influential
people in that boma and we are praying for safety and wisdom among the leaders
there. Please pray for the young mama as we don’t
know the outcome but no matter what this is a hard time in her life. Please
pray for our hearts to continue to break for God’s people and for wisdom to
know how to help those around us.
Thank you so much for praying
