Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.

Exodus 23:19

This is one of the S*bbath Laws stated in the Old Test*ment and here in Afric* is a law that is still practiced.  The first Sunday of every month a special offering is taken for the pastor.  This is an opportunity for church members to give to him and his family directly as a way of saying thank you for his service.  This was taken after the general church offering and a special offering for the choir…so I was thinking that it would be small, however I was mistaken.

The normal routine for the offering collection is that starting from the back of the church on the men’s side (men and women do not sit together) each person that wants to give gets up and files along the outside wall waiting their turn to place their offering in the basket on the head table.  The women follow in the same manner but when they place their offering in the basket each one curtsey as a sign of respect to G0d.  The same curtsey is done when greeting an mzee (older person of the community) as a sign of respect.  The verbal greeting from the younger person is “Shikamoo” (I am holding you feet…) and the mzee replies “Marahaba” (Good).  Kids are taught from a very young age here to salamia (greet) older people in a respectful manner.  Now I have adopted this practice.  Every time I give my offering or greet an older person I curtsey and say Shikamoo as my sign of respect for them.  Just last week I did this to an Americ*n that was here visiting…guess it is becoming my new norm!  It has made me also think about how I greet J*sus everyday…what do I do to show Him the respect He deserves?

The men went first giving only in monetary form (because they are the ones that care for the money) but then it was the akina mamas (group of women) turn to give and they brought their first fruits from their shambas (farms, which the women plant and work).  Corn, beans, mihogo (used to make flour); rice, sugar cane and even LIVE chickens were given!  The chicken was placed on the table right in front of my co-worker Mary and she did not know what to do!  It was flapping its wing and making a real ruckus!

This might seem kind of strange to you, to bring these kinds of things to the offering table in church, however giving these items here in Afric* is almost more sacrificial then giving money.  Money comes and goes but chickens are a source of eggs year around and when killed to eat is a great honor and usually only done when guests are coming.  Corn, beans, mihogo and rice are staple food items that take time to grow and the main source of nutrition.  Yes, they can get more but only if the rains come.  They gave from their family’s security.

It was a humbling experience…even those that have hardly any earthy processions did not want to miss the opportunity to give back to G0d from what He had given them.  They do believe that whatever they do have comes directly from Him watering their fields causing the crops to grow.  What am I giving to G0d?  What sacrifices am I making to show Him the respect He deserves?  What are my first fruits that He is asking me to bring to the house of the LORD?  I have much to pray over…

Now that I have my work permit (YEAH!) I am able to work at the local clinic here in K*hunda.  On Monday and Friday they have well/sick child clinic and Tuesday is pregnant lady clinic.  The other days of the week I am able to go up in the mornings and work as the laboratory technologist or just help out with odds and ends that need to be done.

So far this has been a good experience!  Not only am I able to do a variety of jobs to help out but I am getting my face and name out in the community. Now when I walk through the village local people say “Hi” and invite me into their homes…here visitors are seen as blessings no matter what time of the day it is!

One patient I took care of was a 7 year old little girl that had fallen out of a tree she was climbing to get a mango.  She came with a kanga (a piece of cloth used for many different purposes by EVERY woman here in Africa) wrapped around her head…I was not sure what I would find under it. Once I unwrapped her head and cleaned the laceration up a bit I saw that it would need a few stitches. So I had the patient lay down on the wooden table used for procedures and wait as I gathered up my supplies.  However it did not take me long to see this would not be a 5 minute task to complete.

I first had to go outside, get some water from the well, light the kerosene burner and boil the instruments I wanted to use for 30 minutes.  While this was going on I had to send the family to buy a razor blade to shave the little girls head and get a clean kanga from home to use as an outer dressing.  Then to prepare my dressings, I had to cut off my 4×4’s from a large roll of gauze and cut stripes of tape from a large roll.  By this time the instruments were ready for use and I could boil some water to use for irrigation.  Antibacterial agents are in short supply, so I am practicing the motto I learned when I was observing surgery once – the solution to pollution is dilution!  When I asked for sutures the only type available was dissolvable which had a BIG needle on the end! This was going to be a challenge!

After about one and a half hours I was ready to start…it takes just a little bit longer to get things done here.  The procedure went well and in the end the laceration was clean, closed and had a clean dressing on it.  I am not sure how long the dissolvable sutures will last but they are at least in place for now!

I am and going to be stretched in MANY different ways working here, but my goal is to show love and compassion to every patient I care for!