5/27/98: A busy day of photography, hospital inspection, and a teaching opportunity for Ruth…
NOTE: The main photo above, is Ruth giving a lecture on infection control to the nursing staff at Karanda Mission Hospital.
5/27/23: When we first imagined taking this trip, we knew we wanted to serve missionaries and the people to whom they minister. But we, ourselves, had work experiences in the market place rather than in “ministry” per se. There was a temptation to doubt we had anything to offer. But through the planning phase it became clear that people wanted us to come and help in the actual ways we could. We learned that everyone has something to contribute, if they would only be willing to serve. We also learned, that the needs and opportunities on the mission field are so vast and varied, that there is a lot more one can contribute than their mere professional skills. It should not have been a surprise to me. For the Bible describes this integrated nature of the Church as a body with many parts distinct from each other, and yet each part with a purpose that benefits the entire body. Consider these excerts from 1 Corintians 12:
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good…
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body…
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable…
26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together…
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it…
We learned the joy of this lesson over and over on our trip, as we visited missionary projects like Karanda Mission Hospital. Traveling the world was great fun, to be sure, but it was also a great privilege and responsibility that we grew in learning to value.
We also learned some unexpected, but much appreciated lessons about herbal medicines on that day in Zimbabwe. Wednesday evenings at Karanda are reserved for a special Tea Service for all the expat missionary staff members who were not native to Zimbabwe and therefore not equipped with the same immune system protection as locals. All the missionaries gathered for informal conversation, and drank Papaya Leaf Tea medicinally, as an anti-malarial prophylactic. Dan told us that in the 7 years that they had been keeping this practice up, none of the expat missionaries had come down with malaria at Karanda! The tea was tasty, and it sure beat those bitter Chloroquine pills. Those things are big enough to choke a horse!
