Building A Bridge

She had no idea where this journey would take her or how it would end.  But she really had no choice.  She is a single mother with a six-year-old son living deep, deep in the village buried in the northern part of Uganda.

It was late that day.  Just as it normally is when people eat their dinner in most East African cultures.  The food would be consumed mostly in the dark.  Dark for two reasons: the sun goes down every day around 7:00 PM and there is no electricity.  Dinner has to be prepared in the dark because daylight is for working.

Food would be determined by what the earth could produce rather than purchased.  Field corn had been converted to flour and the flour into porridge.  The fire beneath the pot yielded a thick substance common in the diet of the people of Uganda.

The circumstances could easily result in the disaster that happened and which began her unknown journey.

Six-year-old Emma's father had died leaving him with his mother.  No one can explain how he fell backward into the boiling pot of porridge.  Children getting burned like this is not an unusual story.  It is too common.  But, the porridge was extremely hot and it stuck to his skin and burned deeper and deeper.

There was no other option than to attempt to save his life and he was rushed to Ishaka where Kampala International University Medical School has a teaching hospital.  He was admitted but received no treatment. 

In transit to Kampala

As God would have it, the medical school was on break.  But one of the students registered in the school never takes a break from the mission of loving God in the hope that love will connect people to Jesus.  My daughter, Rebecca, and the niece she cares for, Olivia, were using the break from school to take food to the hospital for those without.  This provided them with the opportunity to discover this burn patient who was not even receiving pain medication.

The medical care in Uganda is vastly different from the care we receive in the United States.  If there is no money to pay for care there is no care.  Each day without medical care only increases the bill for the bed and that bill has to be cleared before any attention will be given the patient.

Rebecca fell in love with this little boy named Emmauel who was in so much pain.  She made his treatment and recovery her immediate mission.  Money was donated to assist her and she cleared the bill so that and Emma's treatment could began.

Skin taken from Emma's thighs

His burns were extensive and would require skin grafts, which could not be done in Ishaka.  Emma would need to be transported by ambulance to Kampala.  Fortunately, Next Generation Ministries has a long-time relationship with the best reconstruction and burn doctor in the nation.  He was contacted and arrangements were made to transport Emma.  He along with his mother began the long journey to recovery.

Excited to be discharged

Kampala is a long way from Ishaka and Rebecca couldn't stay in Kampala to give his care oversight.  She contacted me and I contacted Susan, the NGM Medical Manager, and a partnership was established for the benefit of little Emma.  NGM Medical arranged for skin grafts and a high protein diet for Emma stay in the hospital.  They also provided upkeep for Emma's mother indefinately.

Can you imagine the trauma Emma's mother experienced having never been to the capital city of her country and speaking a language that required an interpreter for the couple of months Emma was undergoing skin grafts?  I'm sure you are also aware that the danger of infection was high.

Rebecca comforts Emma

But the good thing is that Emma made it through that experience in Kampala and was recently returned to his small village after being gone for five months.  The NGM vehicle and driver, Meddie, transported them and picked up Rebecca along the way.  Their arrival was late at night, but the villagers were so excited.  It was a miracle to them that Emma survived his burns, but here he was back in their sight.  All the children gathered around Emma with lots of questions, causing Emma to have an anxiety attack.  Rebecca had to hold him and assure him that everything would be alright.

Emma's grandmother thanks God

Besides Emma's feelings of being overwhelmed, the rest of the village was in celebration.  His grandmother threw her arms in the air and began to praise God for all that He did for Emma.

Susan and Meddie had to return to Jinja, but Rebecca will travel to the village every few days with a medical clinitian to monitor the healing process and redress the wounds.  I am confident Emma is looking forward to those visits.  It was Rebecca that first saw him and loved him.  She was the one who took the initiative under God's prompting and set in motion a solution to a hopeless situation.

Rebecca & Susan

So ... that's the shortened story of Emma's miracle.

But there is another story behind the story.  It's a story about two young ladies and an organization that became a part of Emma's story because they all share the same mission.  The back story is that these kind of stories happen in response to followers of Jesus understanding that their mission is the same.  It's the same because it is God's mission.

Rebecca, Susan, and the NGM Team are on mission to change Uganda one person at a time ... to connect people to Jesus as they love people on behalf of God.  God's Son, Jesus, directs this mission.

• The motivation for the mission is love.
• The message of the mission is love.
• The means which accomplishes the mission is love.

Susan & Emmanuel

It was love that motivated Rebecca to build a bridge of love in feeding the needy at her hospital.  It was love that motivated Susan to partner with Rebecca.  It was even love that motivated Meddie the driver to join the mission.

Nothing is more fulfilling than participating in the mission of preaching the gospel in so many different expressions and making disciples of those who are committed to following Jesus.

How are you building bridges into the lives of others?