This past Sunday I went to Ward church (a church service held in the hospital with the patients and translated for them). Right now the vast majority of our patients are VVF ladies. These are women who have Vesico Vaginal Fistula.
Ok, for those of you like me who don't speak "doctor," this is a condition caused by abstructed labor, the the circulation is cut off in the blatter tissue causing it to rot away. This results in holes in the blatter, and constant leaking for the woman. Women who have VVF are treated as outcasts here. They cannot associate in regular society, because of their smell and the humiliation of being unable to control themselves. Many of their husbands leave them as well as family and they end up alone, hiding away. These women are barely considered women.
So, I was sitting in the ward for the service with these women patients and many crew also. We enjoyed african style worship with drums and local songs, and one of the day volunteers (togalese that hire on to help in different departments) gave a message. Then at the end, unexpectedly, they decided to have about six of the women who had been treated give their testimonies.
So for the next 45 minutes, I sat listening to their stories, with tears welling in my eyes and running down my face. In my mind I was seeing a picture of God's love play over and over.
These women had all been suffering for at least 6 to 8 years, living as outcasts, and now were praising God for healing them and allowing them to be women again.
One woman, I believe the last one to speak, got up to share her story. Hers stood out dramatically and again my tears came. This precious woman had been suffering from VVF for 35 years. Thirty-Five years! I heard myself quietly gasp at hearing this. She had tried many doctors to no avail. Finally, her husband left her. She continued looking for help until she had spent all her money in hopes of being healed. As I listened, I couldn't help but remember the story of the woman who had been bleeding, whom Jesus healed when she reached out to him.
So in the end this precious woman was living in a room in her father's house, he the only one providing or caring for her. She would rarely leave the house because of the humiliation. She had nothing left. Not even her womanhood.
Then she heard of Mercy Ships and there was hope again. She came to this big hospital ship as a last resort. There was nothing else she could try, she had resigned herself to living this way the rest of her life alone.
Now she has had the operation and it was a success. She is no longer leaking, smelling, or hiding. You could see the joy on her face, as well as the other women. She thanked everyone on the ship. and gave glory to God as they all did. She ended as many of them did, saying "I am so grateful! Now I have been healed. Now I can be counted among the rest of the women."
What a God we serve. He is a healer, a restorer, a giver of hope. I just keep thinking what an incredible love this is! How much he cares for these precious women. And what joy it brings him to see their lives and dignity restored. Just like the bleeding woman, Jesus' love and compassion has fallen again, on this VVF woman. And I can't help feeling such joy at how this time, He reached out for her. She couldn't reach anymore. Thank you for your love Lord!
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