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Monday, May 5, 2014

Medical missions on the ground in Kenya

dad, daughters, & neighbor girl
Jonathan Wanja, 50 year old  father of nine came to us nearly dead. Silas took him to the hospital where they diagnoses him with  malaria and pneumonia he was admitted to the hospital and administer fluids and medication by I.V. that saved his life.

We visited him in his home today with his two of his youngest children. He appeared to be on the road to recovery, praise God!

We learned that the mother of the children does not live with them. She apparently visits them once a month. So, while the tragedy of losing your dad is big, it becomes a even bigger  when he is a single father and even more so in a third world country! .

On the way back from his house we met 3 of his older children who were returning from working in the fields while their father is sick. You would not know those beautiful smiling faces had been working.

So praise our King Jesus for allowing us and others out there who are part of this ministry to be His hands and feet!!!!






Friday, February 28, 2014

Spiritual Warfare- According to JESUS

Dearest,

Is there  a battle going on in your mind? Satan ( also called the devil ) wants to keep you in confusion.  So let's see how we can start to
 defeat the enemy's confusion, 
by the power of  God and His son Jesus and the Holy Spirit!


Question:  What did Jesus do when confronted by Satan  with temptation?

Answer: He used scripture to battle the lies of the devil.


read Matthew 4:1-12 ( I have  it below or you can look it up in your Bible)


Satan Tempts Jesus

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4 But He answered and said, It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.


If Jesus our Savior and the Son of God, who could have called thousands of angels to battle for Him, used scripture to fight the devil, then we should too.

Dearest please look at what Jesus is showing us here. We can do battle and win against the devil and his evil dark forces, when we use God's word and Jesus as our example.

The devil is a liar and he is good at it. He even twisted scripture to try to trick Jesus. Jesus recognized a lie when He heard it, because He  knew the truth so well. We can too by following Jesus example in all parts of our life.


Mercy, Grace and peace in Jesus name.




Dear friends,
I know there are many scriptures in the New Testament that that tell us about spiritual warfare and how to deal with it, but we must always start with JESUS, the Author and Perfecter of our faith as our Teacher and Example to follow. Everything else in the Bible  flows from & follows Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega. HE is The KING of kings. 
He is JESUS the Anointed One from The FATHER. Amen

Monday, February 3, 2014

Abba Father help me to utilize the training that You have led me to these last two years....

The below Kingdom Driven Ministry (KDM) blog post really captures one of the primary the ways I think God will use us to minister in Jesus name to the poor in Kenya.

Food, or Medicine?

As we (the Carriers) have become at home in our village and slowly built relationships within our community, we’ve been better able to discern just exactly what the needs are and what direction the ministry here should take. Of course, Marc’s work focuses on teaching and training, and we have a fellowship that meets in our home. Beyond that, though, we have found that here in the villages, life can be hard and the needs can be great.
The average wage for those lucky enough to find work is approximately 300 KSH per day (about $4).  Tea is breakfast, sometimes there is no lunch, and ugali and greens (home grown on the shamba) are all that is available for supper. In this season (Kenyan Winter, which brings much rain), firewood is hard to get and expensive, which adds to the cost of daily bread. Though most families make it, when illness strikes, often a decision has to be made: food or medicine?
Case in point: just yesterday, a Mama came to our door carrying a baby on her back. She knew no English and my Swahili is still limited (I can make small talk, but understanding medical terminology is still beyond my grasp) so I was glad that my neighbor was here to assist us in conversation. The woman is a member of a local church (the pastor of which is another neighbor), and she was apparently recently widowed, with seven children at home. The baby she carried had put her hand in a pot of boiling water and had a severe burn. I assumed that the burn had just happened, and was surprised that the baby wasn’t crying. As it turns out, the incident had happened on Saturday morning. The Mama had done her best to cool the burn with water, and washed it with soap, but she became increasingly concerned and by Tuesday morning felt that her only option was to go see the wazungu and ask for help. When I saw the baby, there was no skin on her hand and there was beginning evidence of infection. Knowing that she needed more help than I could give, we organized to bring her to a local cottage hospital for treatment.
The wound was dressed and liquid antibiotics were dispensed, all for about $6 USD ($7, if you count transport). Since Sam, who assisted her at the hospital, owns a small produce shop, she hesitatingly asked if we would be able to help her with about 100 KSH worth of fruit (about four small mangoes, which were her choice). Of course, that was no problem.
And so we regularly see here the need for medical assistance, since daily bread often uses up a family’s meager resources. When an emergency arises, they have no “savings,” and nothing to fall back on. Those who know us, or know of us, come and ask for assistance, often as a last resort. Although some of the funds come from us, Kingdom Driven Ministries has been able to offer an increasing amount of financial assistance as well. It comes from YOU–people who faithfully give to KDM, so that we can not only minister the Gospel of the Kingdom but also serve “the least of these” in our community. For us, a few US dollars doesn’t seem like much–but (in the case of malaria medicine) it can mean the difference between life and death. It can buy not only healing for a child but a mother’s peace.
Our village is small, and word is getting around. The number of visitors seeking medical assistance is daily increasing. Today, we coordinated with our local chemist to dispense malaria medicine to a pregnant Mama and gave cough medicine to two other families (since it’s Winter, and cold season, here). We sent a sick baby to the clinic with Silas and gave an older woman with arthritis some ibuprofen (if that doesn’t help, we’ll have to bring her to the clinic). Marc also went to Kitale to take another elderly woman to the hospital. That might be the most we’ve done in one day, but it could be a new trend. Each individual need is comparatively inexpensive, but our total today (including transport costs) was about $20.
I can’t imagine being forced to neglect quality care for my child because I had to choose between that and feeding that child and her siblings. Any parent knows the angst that would cause. In the end, the woman who came yesterday thanked me profusely, and twice asked God to bless me. But I asked God if he would bless you instead, those whose giving has made blessing possible. Though you don’t see what goes on here each day “on the ground,” please know that your generosity is making a difference in the lives of many. If you feel led to give so that we can continue to meet these needs, you can make a donation in any amount to the KDM general fund at www.kingdomdriven.org/donate. If you would like, you can add a note at checkout to earmark the funds for medical assistance.

Abba Father help me to  utilize the training that You have led me to these last  two years.... help me to serve, live  and love like Jesus. And Lord work in and through me to care for the sick and help the poor. Use my hands for Your work. Lord I ask that the sick be healed in Your Son, Jesus holy and mighty name. May this bring You praise and  glory Lord.

Thank You Lord for You have lead me through Community Health Evangelism, Emergency Medical Training and allowed me to gain experience in volunteering at  Mercy Medical Clinic and working  in the Emergency room at UK Hospital, and now topping it off with the Missionary Medical Intensive in March. I have been blessed by You, now Lord please make me able.

I ask this in Jesus, my King & Savior's name

Amen

Thursday, January 2, 2014

2013 A Year of Preparation and Action!

At the request of a dear friend I am writing this blog today to catch friends and family up on what's been going on.

 I tend to struggle with how much I should post  because I feel/fear it could come across as it's about me. Truly it's not. It is about a loving merciful Abba Father and His Son, Jesus my Savior and King and the Holy Spirit working in and  through me.

Sooo where to start....

TRAINING

After leaving Semonin Realtors Dec 2011, I began training in both community health and emergency medical services in preparation for ministry in Africa.

As 2012 was winding down I was hired as a NCT ( nurse care tech) in the emergency room at University of Kentucky (UK)  Hospital, a level 1 trauma center. Prior to UK I volunteered at Mercy Medical Clinic where I served with some awesome people and learned a lot, but even more than all that I felt God's love flow through these folks to me and received an amazing amount of encouragement! 

REJOICING

Nov.   welcomed my youngest grandson, Boaz Zechariah Ray Sweazy!

2012  ended with my mom leaving this earth to be with Jesus and a new chapter in my sister Donna's life began as she learned to live with missing momma. if you don't know this from prior postings my sister and her husband Butch were two of the most awesome caregivers you can imagine! God surely took care of Momma through their loving and diligent hands.
Momma, LOVED AND MISSED
Donna & Butch

MISSIONS

2013 started with the Lord allowing me to go on another trip to Africa, this time to Kenya to fellowship and serve with the Carriers, who we will  be joining on the mission field soon, Lord willing. and my beloved  Ugandan  brother in Christ  Steve met me there from China, (taking a break from medical studies), along with his brother Ivan. It was a wonderful 2 weeks and I had a hard time coming back just like before.
The Carrier family
Ivan, Steve and me with Kenyan children

FREEDOM

 The house in Bagdad, KY sold in 2013 allowing me to be free from one more care of the world. And we, my youngest son Charlton, daughter in love Natasha and my two youngest grand children Ava and Boaz, to move to Lexington where we could be closer to work and also closer to brothers & sisters in Christ for fellowship.
Ava & Boaz
Charlton & Natasha













David & Deborah Bercot

FELLOWSHIP

If all that wasn't enough during 2013 we had awesome fellowship with dear brothers and sisters in Christ both old and new, some  we had known for years and others meeting face to face for the first time. Some were even beloved teachers that had feed and encouraged us for years








 MORE REJOICING

Michael, Angel, Hannah , Joey & Gabriel


 2013 has ended with my first born son. Michael and daughter in love Angel and my three oldest grandchildren Hannah, Joey and Gabriel, serving in Brazil on mission with YWAM! The year began and ended with missions for our family! What a blessing!


 DISCIPLESHIP

 WE ARE NOT ABOVE
OUR TEACHER JESUS

 
One patient, that I was telling about us moving to Africa on faith, made the statement to me "thats a good way to get stuck", I smiled and said being with God is never getting stuck. And this is very true, no matter the circumstances you are in, if you are an obedient, loving faithful follower of Jesus you can't get stuck. For one thing we are not expect a bed of roses, when our Savior and King did not even have a bed to lay his head on. When we imitate Him we to pick up our cross and follow Him, wherever that takes us and under what ever circumstances. He will provide what we need to do the mission He has called us to do. Faith is belief in action. It's when we get too wrapped around the strategizing that we tend to leave faith and start trusting in worldly wisdom. To bring this point home, I want to share with you that our Abba Father has already moved people to support us and His mission without us soliciting support! So He will do the prompting and providing, as long as we do the praying and trusting, but remember too, that we are not above our Teacher, Jesus, He was very humble and poor by this world's standards.

 

IF IT IS THE LORDS WILL WE WILL LIVE AND DO THIS OR THAT

Well, that brings me to 2014 and Lord willing I will travel to SC in Feb to hang out with my sister and Butch for a few days. In March hopefully I'll make it into a two week class call Medical Missionary Intensive, currently it's full and I am on the waiting list, but I am praying that I will get in.

You know it's funny I have noticed a pattern in my life the last few years, the odd years are action years and the even years are preparation years, however it looks like in 2013 & 2014 the two have merged.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD


  I pray you seek The Father and His Son Jesus  and the Kingdom of God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. They will be found! And God will give you His Holy Spirit to guide, comfort and strengthen you.

May His mercy and favor find you seeking Him this year...sooner rather than later for we are not promised tomorrow.

Wanda

Tuesday, July 2, 2013