Staff Missionary Reports
Reports and Experiences of the Godspeed Staff
Africa, March 2001 - Malaria and Evangelism
Dear friends,
It is Wednesday afternoon in South Africa...we were able to get a good night's rest, so
are adapting quickly to the time zone change. And I personally am adjusting well to the
78 C degree weather, the sunshine, the tropical environment, the birds singing, eating
outdoors in comfort. God is good, all the time, everywhere, but I seem to feel His pleasure
more in temperate climates.
The team from Mozambique is an interesting blend of older members, with experience and
tradition, and younger members, with energy and enthusiasm. Their special blend is accented
specially by the presence of their Mozambican team member. While his recent bout of malaria
(he has lost count of how many he has had over the years) was the most serious medical problem,
all the members of the team report some physical problems and complaints of chronic tiredness;
the extreme heat and humidity, the smells and sounds which accompany living in a huge, densely
populated city with a high crime rate, minimal trash removal, and rampant poverty, all combine
to limit a normal sleep pattern. The bats outside one couples' bedroom don't help much, either.
So, our time here has some medical necessity: arranging for malaria prophylaxis for the
Mozambican team member and his wife (also recovering from a recent bout of malaria, she is
nursing their young son, so we are limited in what we can do), dealing with the various
gastrointestinal and orthopedic problems that are so common on the mission field, and even
practicing (boy, is that ever the right word) a bit of pediatrics as I try to assess what
the team member was told is an enlarged liver in his 8 month old son.
The individual team members report on their respective ministries. One lady tells of how one
Mozambican, in seeing a picture of Jesus on the cross, asks her, "Did someone try to hurt him?"
He had never heard the story of Jesus, knew nothing about the story and meaning of the cross.
Even though we have now had many opportunities to work with missionaries, whose work is to
bring knowledge of Jesus to those who have not heard of Him, it still amazes me each time I
hear of someone who truly has never heard anything about Jesus. I have grown up in a country
and a circumstance where one would hear about Him often. His name and His story became more
familiar than awe-inspiring. Not so this Mozambican, who when told of the meaning of the
suffering and death of Jesus, wept and wanted to know more; he soon turned his life over to
this Jesus whose story he had just heard. Ah, that each day I should appreciate Him with such
fervor.
As I finish this note, it is now Friday afternoon. Karen and I have had two and a half days
of work with the team, as a group, and meeting with each individually as well.We had been
invited to go with them today for a two day trip to nearby Kruger park, thousands of miles
of open land with all the animals one thinks of when one thinks of Africa. But, we received
a call that another missionary couple in a nearby country needs some to talk, and can come
to us this weekend, so we bid the team goodbye and will continue to work tomorrow.
Many of you have written; your notes are each one a source of encouragement and nourishment.
Thank you. We are very blessed and fortunate people.
Godspeed,
Barney M. Davis, Jr., M.D.
Executive Director,
Godspeed Missionary Care
|
