So another midday thing they do on the wards here is praise and worship time. Yup, halfway through the morning around 10ish. And today, I got quite thrown when I (thanks, New City Fellowship) knew the words to one of the songs. They completely busted out in "Wamilele Wamilele mungu"..... and the rest of the song that I can't type the lyrics for to save my life, but got me double takes from the praise team 'cause I sang right along :-) Who knew!
Another ship (yup, in the Policies and Procedures) procedure; nurse walks her pre-operative patient to the O.R. waiting room (or, "theater" as my English friends here call it) where the pre-op checklist is reviewed with the next nurse, and then all heads are bowed and we pray for the surgery, for the patient, and for the "Papa God" to lead the surgeon's hands. Can't help it, I cry every time. I then bring my patient's shoes back to the ward, and place them under the bed until the patient's return. Reminded me again of the promise in Acts 4:12, and we claim it for all these patients. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given to men by which we must be saved." It is lovely to watch - a lot of the patients are very confused, don't know what we are doing, have never been in air conditioning before, aren't used to showers (and they've just been scrubbed down bigtime), definitely not used to 3 square meals a day. (Most of them try to hoard their eggs in the morning to take them home to their families later - we find lots of week-old eggs in their bags at discharge.) But they do know what it is to pray, and lift their hands to God before the surgery knowing he will walk through the doors with them. This they do know, and the bewildered looks cease.
And on my front, my personal bewilderment is abating, thank the Lord. I'm finding my way around the ship a little better now, I met a newer nurse than myself, and drew labs today! If you're wondering why that's a big deal, i'm no longer the newbie, and thanks to the IV and lab teams at Memorial, I hadn't stuck a vein in 7 years! Thank goodness this chap had nice, ropey veins. Whew!
6 comments:
Lycia, Praising God for your faithful obedient heart. Love you and will continue to pray for your ministry there. Sharma
That's lovely, what a beautiful way to tell your story....
The eggs are so special..
My heart is so glad for you, Lycia
Love from a very happy Mom:-)
Some of us Tuesday gals managed to get together tonight. We lifted you up in prayer all the way over here in Flintstone. We love you, we miss you, we are praising God for His presence with you and praying for your healing and protection, Seester. May He continue to bless you with His light to shine to others and may their light of Him shine into your life, too.
Lovely. Absolutely LOVE all these wonderful posts. God is ever present in your life and will continue to show Himself mighty in and around and through you, before and behind you, and in the lives of all you touch. I am so glad you are there!!!
Much big love
A
So glad to see you are on your way, and it was fun to hear that you knew "Wamilele."
Wish I could go on one of those tours...
Jim Ward
Your story about "Wamilele Wamilele mungu" reminded me of my first Sunday in China, at the International Church in Beijing, where a non-Chinese passport was required to get in.
That week a Swahili praise band was leading the songs. After I thought we were done singing, during a prayer, the keyboard player started playing some music, and then they broke into "Salvation Belongs to our God" in English. I was overwhelmed by the familiarity of the song in such a foreign context; the memory of leading my leading the song a week before at camp in response to a camper's testimony of salvation; and my longing for the day the song pictures from Rev. 7 when all peoples--including Chinese--gather together to worship God, no passport required but the blood of the Lamb.
by the way, thanks posting your picture on Monday: now we, your readers, have proof that you're there.
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