Healing

In the Great Rift Valley, the Kijabe hospital treats a steady influx of Somalis from the poorest of the poor to the wealthy and political elite. With over fifteen years of conflict, there has been a predictable brain drain of medical workers and specialists within the country of Somalia. Throughout this time, Kenya has been a primary destination for critical health care services.

This past week we met a friend of the Carlines, Yattani, a Borona chaplain who serves in Kijabe. Coming from a muslim background himself, he has a beautiful love and appreciation for the Somali people and a deep understanding of cultural nuances that we Canadians would miss. Of the sick and injured cared for at the hospital, 40% would be Somali refuggees coming from the warzone. One such patient is a man named Issac, who was brought in months ago and found to have cancer. Doctors preformed surgery removing his lower jaw in hopes of saving him from any further spread, but they were too late. Unable to speak and a world away from any friends or family, Issac's only company is Yattani who visits each day to play music and pray with him. Yattani knows that Issac will die in this hospital, and in some ways wonders if it would have been better for him to have died with the dignity of speach and the comfort of his family near him. And yet, he prays that perhaps this is part of God's plan for Issac's life. That the love of Christ and the hope of His good news might fill the life and heart of Issac as this life ends and he encounter's our Lord in the life to come.

We pray for Issac and people like him who are searching for hope in desperate times. And we thank the Lord for fellow servants like Yattani seeking to care for our Somali neighbours with compassion and grace.

Blessings,
Aaron & Erica