Bega Kwa Bega (Shoulder to Shoulder)
Jamie S. | May 1, 2017
We hit the field full of vision, curiosity, and readiness. We were expectant.
Our organization had people in place to take care of its members. Our member care team was present at our meetings and gatherings. From the beginning, we saw them. We socialized with them. They told us stories about their families and asked about ours.
After about a year of living in Kenya, Chris started getting sick. Really sick. We were living on the hot east coast, but ended up making several trips into the capital city of Nairobi. Chris would be hospitalized for a period of time, improve, and be released to go back to the coast.
During our times in Nairobi, we got to know our member care. My mother is a counselor and my undergraduate degree is in psychology. Member care didn’t scare me. As a matter of fact, I kind of liked the idea of getting to know these people who had committed themselves to a life of being there for overseas workers. I recall one day, as we were leaving our member care specialists’ house, Chris and I remarked that we would like to serve in a similar capacity some day.
Chris was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. After a few times of hospitalization including a diagnosis of H Pylori and a round of antibiotics then a subsequent removal of his gall bladder, which seemed to work for a while, sure enough we ended up in Nairobi again. We were confused and nervous about what this might mean to our life overseas. We had left everything behind to follow the Lord’s leadership. Would they send us back? What would we do for work if that happened? We had no money for a home. We were supposed to be here. Our minds raced. Our member care reached out to us.
The doctors decided to keep Chris in Nairobi until they could figure out what was causing his flare ups. We lived displaced for 6 months! We didn’t know when or if we would be allowed to return to the place God had led us to. It was a difficult time. We stayed connected to member care.
we stayed connected to member care
Genetically high triglycerides were determined to be the culprit. Chris was given medication to manage it and was monitored. But the pain remained. It actually began to increase. We would go to the lab and Chris would have his blood drawn on Mondays then we would follow up with the doctor on Fridays. We asked him to do more tests to see what was wrong. He assured us everything had been done. Weeks went by.
they asked us the questions others didn’t know to ask
One day, after what seemed like an eternity, we popped over to our nurse’s house to check in. She delivered the news that the doctor had labeled Chris as a drug seeker and our options were to go to the US and get a psychological evaluation or to get a second opinion. Well, duh! Let’s get a second opinion! We headed over to our member care’s house, bewildered and stung. They had already had a meeting about us with the nurse and our leadership! We felt like we were trudging through a bad dream and spinning down a drain.
The longer we sat with our member care, the clearer we all became. They knew us. That changed EVERYTHING! All of the sudden, it was like clouds parted. As we all talked through the situation, we were able to get off of the crazy train, and make a plan. I mean, you can easily get ANY drug you want at the local duka (roadside kiosk-type store), WHY would he even need a doctor to get him drugs? Chris was going to see another doctor and get a second opinion.
Chris’s new doctor performed an endoscopy himself and said to me, “It is no wonder he is in so much pain, his stomach is completely inflamed.” The doctor reviewed Chris’s case and medications and told us that the medication used to treat his high triglycerides had a side effect of causing gastritis! Have you ever had gastritis? It is PAINFUL, especially untreated. The treatment for gastritis is different than that of pancreatitis. We found a balance of medications that kept his triglycerides in check and his stomach happy. We were told we could not live far away from good medical care, so we moved to Nairobi. Life went on and we were walking with God in an incredible time of ministry to college students.
the unthinkable happened
Fast forward to September 21, 2013. The unthinkable happened. We were separated and trapped in a mall attacked by terrorists for several hours. When we escaped our member care was there. We knew them. They knew us. Our journey of healing was made easier by our relationship with them. They helped us find resources, checked in on us and asked us the questions others didn’t know to ask, and they prayed for us. Our member care came alongside us, and it wasn’t an unfamiliar presence; after all, they had been walking with us all along.
