Perhaps many of us think that mission life involves a glorious experience in which souls are being saved daily and we ride on the high current of spiritual feelings. This certainly does happen, praise God! We may even think that dealing with physical needs is less spiritual than ministering the Gospel. Yet the point is not in whether one aspect is better than the other, but rather whether or not we are following the example of our Lord Jesus. In following His example, we are to be servants. During the entire time of His three-year ministry, He served others, even to the point of not having a place to rest His head or time to eat. I am certain that was His entire life pattern, even in the thirty years of relative obscurity. I believe the Scriptures teach that humility, compassion, and obedience were at the heart of His daily ministry.
Indeed, our dear Lord said these words, “Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you took me in, naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came unto You? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Truly I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me” ( Matthew 25:34-40, emphasis added).
Howdy! My name is Jonathan and my wife’s name is Lisa. We are newlyweds from southwestern Wisconsin, a beautiful place with many trees, hills, and curvy roads. About a week before our wedding, cholera struck Allegre. My wife and I were in the midst of our wedding preparations. Suddenly, we were without our best man, photographer, and another friend or two, who sacrificed being present at our wedding so they could meet the desperate need in Haiti.
After we had been married for a couple of months, we offered to be available in case of a need for personnel in the CTC. Three-and-a-half months later, the opportunity came. Lisa and I had just finished spending time eating out together, and were shopping for groceries when the call came from Darwin. We spent an hour or two discussing and praying together, and knew what our answer would be. I called Darwin and told him, yes, we could go. We finished our shopping and bought one-way tickets that night. It was Wednesday, the fourteenth of September. The next day, we settled some necessary household matters and packed for our trip. By Friday evening, we were on our way to Haiti.
We arrived at the mission compound Saturday evening, and by seven o’ clock on Sunday morning, Anita, Lisa’s sister, was teaching us to work in the CTC.
Working in the CTC will reveal a lot about your character and test it repeatedly. What matters to God is not who you seem to be, but who you actually are. It means dealing with attitudes that want to rise when someone messes their bed again and again. It means giving bottle after bottle of ORS to each patient. It means emptying buckets of waste, cleaning someone up, or getting up at midnight for your shift. It can all be done with a contented heart and a cheerful smile. It is not a glorious job that involves much skill but it is a lot of fun! It is very rewarding to watch patients leave who were weak and failing when they arrived, but are now on the way to full recovery.
One particular situation that I would like to share is about a man who came to us almost dead on September thirty. He is a man who is not well-liked at all; neither by his wife, nor his neighbors. His wife and a few others brought him to the CTC thinking he had cholera. According to them, he had been vomiting every bit of food and water they had been giving him for the last eight days, causing him to experience severe dehydration. It was so severe that when he arrived at the CTC, there was virtually no blood flow to his legs and his eyes were so dry you could pull his eyelids open and they would just stay and stick where you put them. Also, he had a temperature of one hundred and four. However, he did not have cholera, but a life-threatening body infection originating from his abdominal organs instead. We could not pinpoint the cause of the infection to a specific disease since we did not have the option of lab tests. Saturday evening he was in a hopeless state with only a ten percent chance of survival. There seemed to be nothing to do. So several of us prayed for his healing, his salvation, that God’s will would be done, and that God would receive the glory. Michael (who is in charge of the CTC) gave the man a number of treatments for infection and a fever reducer. He is doing better every day, praise God!
Finally, we would like to express our thankfulness for the privilege and opportunity God has given us to work with cholera patients, the natives, Steve and his wife (the field administrator), Anita who forms part of the backbone of the clinic, and others as fellow-soldiers in the battle against cholera: Nathan, Jared, Virginia, Michael, Myron, and Katie Jo. May God bless each one of you richly and may He give the land of Haiti respite from the dreadful scourge of cholera. Amen.
—By Jonathan & Lisa Widowski
