A word from the front lines... 11 (Lisa Zook)

Maryna Jalies

     "Hello, I am called Maryna Jalies*. I am 33 years old. I, my husband and our three children are from Kapierre. We had four children, but our 10 year old died on the 12th of January, 2010. I have been following Jesus for a long time, thirteen years or more.

Since cholera came, I always treat all my family's water with clorox. I never use untreated water for making food, bathing or washing our clothes. 

     One day I bought juice, but I didn't have any limes to treat it with so I just drank it as it was. (Note: limes are a proven preventative for cholera!) The next morning around four o'clock my stomach began to feel tight and then rumble and boil painfully inside. Soon I began having diarrhea and then vomiting. I became very weak and shook uncontrollably. My husband went to find men to carry me to the cholera treatment center, but before they came I collapsed and went unconscious. 

     He found only two men, but they carried me all the way to the center. (It is about an hour's walk under normal circumstances.) We arrived before 8 o'clock that same morning. I do not remember anything about that trip, or about being bathed when I arrived. The first thing I felt was the nurse searching for my veins when she was putting an IV in me. 

After that my legs and feet hurt very much, and my head ached. 

     My stomach kept hurting too. I still have diarrhea, and my legs still hurt now, but not as badly as before. I feel that I am getting better, but God knows if I will get well. He is helping me heal!

     I came to this center because it was close. I was so sick that I would have died if I could not have come here for help. If there was no center here to treat cholera, a lot of people would die."

*Pronounced: mah-REE-na jal-EES

     This is the story of our 61st patient, and she is still in the CTC. She is doing well, and should be able to go home in a day or so. It is only one of many stories that could be told by the patients that have come through our gate. Right now, our CTC is filled to over flowing and the sick keep coming. 

     The total patient count to date is 75, with more possible patients being observed for signs of cholera. Each one has a story, but more importantly, each one has a soul. 

     It is our prayer that as we give the physical help they so desperately need, they would be drawn to Jesus, and allow Him, the Great Physician, to heal their souls. 

     Please continue to pray with us for this, and that we could be "living, loving channels, bearing forth the Christ!"

~ Lisa Zook