It started with a speedboat ride on the choppy Nile River to
the State Capital. Prayers that they
would have enough fuel, and that paddling against the current would remain
unnecessary, were answered. From the
docks to the airport, to board a flight that would bounce about in rain-filled
clouds to the Nation's Capital. It's the
kind of journey that stimulates nausea even in stomachs of cast iron. Another flight, this one lands in Kenya's queen
city. It "mercifully" ends with a perilous taxi
ride on streets as wild as the touristy game parks. One of our friends recently traveled hundreds
of miles and crossed an international border to have a root canal. And while my details might be slightly
embellished, I'm not sure which was worse, the journey or the procedure. Other than the obvious fact that dental care
in South Sudan is so limited, it struck me just how desperate it was for this
friend to get treatment.
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Under the
microscope, a specialist in Nairobi examines micro-organisms to trace a
previously undiagnosed illness. She
holds a PhD in medical parasitology and offers diagnostic and consultancy
services. To those who serve faithfully
in South Sudan, she may be as necessary as fuel in a car or oxygen in the
lungs. One does not function properly
without the other. Her patient today is
another friend of ours who has suffered for weeks with a parasitic intestinal
infection. It's truly amazing to consider
that such a small organism, beyond perception in our natural vision, could inflict
such harm. If left untreated, it could
certainly kill the host. It struck me
again how desperate our friend was for treatment.----------
The flood plains to
the West of Blue Nile State are overwhelmed with displaced people. And while UN tarps protect most from the frequent
rainfall, they do not prevent the other ills of rainy season. Patients move from clinic to clinic, infected
time and again with sickness beyond their control to prevent. Shortages of food supplies and medicines
create desperation among people who are normally very tranquil. Basic supplies are simply unavailable. Children die of malnourishment. Organizations move to stem the tide, but seem
only to tread the waters of this massive human need. And again it strikes me, the great desperation
for treatment. But in contrast with the previous
accounts, it strikes me in a much more profound way.
The frailty of the physical human body is shared among all
those who live. It is the common
experience of cancer patients, car accident survivors, Olympic weightlifters, blue
collar and white collar workers, missionaries in South Sudan, and everyone else
who walks the earth. We are
all extremely weak. But this comes as no
surprise to the Biblically literate. We
are told that “all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of
grass” (1 Peter 1:24). We wither. We fall.
But the same passage tells us that “the WORD of the LORD endures
forever.” Beyond dental procedures, above
microscopic investigation, further than mere physical provision, this WORD of
God is the only lasting supply for a world so desperate for treatment. This is our hope for all who read, all who
pray, and all who endure such trials.
May the Living Word be your sustenance today.
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