Hospital Visitation

This past Monday, Luke, Chiluba and I went to University Teaching Hospital (UTH) to visit and pray with some of the patients.  Luke and Chiluba have been going for a few weeks now, but this is the first opportunity that I have had to go.  UTH is a very large hospital with different wards for different needs.  We ended up visiting two different wards, and praying for several patients.  I have to admit, I wasn't prepared mentally for what I saw.

Adult Ward:

The first man we visited with was the victim of a poisoning.  He was in a bar in the northern province of Zambia drinking, when someone slipped acid into his beer.  The results were horrendous.  He has yet to get an x-ray or any other scan.  So the extent is unknown, but he has not had a bowel movement in 2 & 1/2 months (Yes, I said months).  Basically, he eats and hopes his body gets enough of the nutrients from the foods before he throws it back up.  He recently made a profession of faith, but please pray for this man.  Pray for healing.

The second person we visited was a teenage boy.  This boy was diagnosed with liver cancer and is visibly suffering.  The tumor is now the size of a bowling ball and his entire mid-section is distended.  As we sat there and prayed for him, I couldn't help but notice his heart beating in his chest.  He is so skinny because the tumors restrict his eating and you can literally see every time his heart takes a new beat.  Please pray for this boy.  Pray that God would work a physical miracle in his life just as He has already done one spiritually.

The third person we visited was an elderly gentleman.  I could barely hear what he was saying, because he was going in and out of consciousness.  But apparently he has issues with his kidneys and is very weak.  We prayed for him, and he fell asleep shortly after we walked away.

Pediatrics Ward:

The pediatrics ward was in a small building on the other side of the property.  As we walked in, I was blown away by just how many babies and small children were there.  The mothers were there caring to the needs of their children and often performing some of the nurses duties.   It was difficult seeing these little children, full of tubes, laying there helpless and then looking at the mothers struggling to disguise their emotions about the situation.  As we prayed, I just sat there at times thinking, "What if this were my child?  How would I be handling this situation?"  I think it made me pray all the more earnestly and I hope that we were an encouragement to them.

Please pray for this ministry.  It is in its infancy and desperately needs  your prayers.  Our desire is to see the Church here in Lusaka take up its responsibility and begin to minister to the hurting people in this hospital.  Pray for laborers.  Pray for a vision to ignite amongst the members of the different churches we are working with here in Zambia.  Pray that the Church would become mobilized.