"Now I will arise," Says the Lord

The Lord continues to stretch and grow me in ways I never thought were imaginable. He continues to show me His love and His desire to reach the hurting, lost, poor and oppressed of this world. This past Friday, was another heartbreaking day for me. It seems, in this season of my life, the Lord is really breaking my heart for what breaks His and growing His mercy evermore within me. 

Every Friday, we join the Calvary Chapel Entebbe Island Outreach team as they travel to the different islands on Lake Victory to do medical ministry for the communities on these islands. There are many islands on Lake Victory, but the church focuses on four islands - making a consistent commitment to visit each island once a month.

These islands are poverty stricken. The Poverty levels are like I've never seen before. Many of the islands struggle with HIV and other diseases. 40% of the population on the island we visited this last Friday (Zinga) is HIV positive. The conditions are drastically different than what we have been seeing here in Entebbe. 

After about an hour and a half boat ride from the dock at Calvary Entebbe, we arrived at the shore of Zinga with a large group of children waiting for us with huge smiles on their faces. The children were so happy to see us, they eagerly helped unload all of the gear on the boat and haul it up into the center of the village. These kids love to help. There were 5 and 6 year olds carrying chairs, tables, and everything else we had. It was an awesome sight. 

As we were helping the medical team get set up, word got out to the entire island that we had arrived. People began to flood in. Mom's with their babies, sick children, etc. Children were coming up to us from all directions. I had about 5 kids hanging off of both of my arms throughout the whole day. It was unreal. 

In order to help keep things a little more organized, a group of us took the children to a different area to do a Kids Club program. As we were playing some games and singing, there was one little boy, maybe 8 years old, who wouldn't leave my side. He was just holding onto my arm no matter where I went or what I did. As the Kids Club went on and the Bible teaching started - I was standing in the back of the group, with this little boy still by my side. 

He began leaning against me and a few minutes later I looked down and saw that his eyes were closed, but still standing, leaning on me. I woke him up briefly, asking him if he wanted to go sit somewhere. He said yes and then nodded back off to sleep. So I carried him over to a place to sit with shade and he continued to sleep in my arms now. 

A few minutes later, I noticed that he was so fast asleep that he couldn't even hold himself up and he began to feel like dead weight. I thought it was a little strange, so I tried to wake him up again. This time he didn't respond. At the same time, another kid came up to me who wanted to be held and began to try to pull the sleeping boy away from me. The sleeping boy still didn't respond...

I checked his pulse. He still had one. He was still breathing. Those were good signs. But he was definitely passed out. All of the sudden, a bunch of green pus, that looked like that it was infections, began to come out of his nose. 

I picked him up and ran him over to the medical clinic. I laid him down in the shade and we grabbed one of the medical professionals. This boy was passed out for a while, but eventually began to come around. We got him some water. We checked his blood for malaria, we checked his temperature. He had neither. No one really knew what was wrong with him. So we just continued to give him some water and other drinks with electrolytes in them. 

Then, he passed out again.


This time, I had the opportunity to just lay my hands on him and pray for him. I was fighting back the tears. My heart was breaking over this boy. Here he was, passed out - no one knew his name. His parents weren't around. My only option was to pray over this boy as my heart broke for him. 

As the day went on, he woke back up and began to feel better. He got some more medical attention, but in the end we never knew for sure what was wrong with him.


This whole situation really gave me just a glimpse of how God's heart is breaking for those opposed, poor, and orphans. It was so sad to have this boy, passed out in my arms, but at the same time, I'm so thankful that I had that opportunity to pray over him, for his healing both physically and spiritually.  

We can be assured, from the promises of God's Word, that He is a righteous and just God. Regardless of the pain, sorrow, and the hurt of this world, we can trust in Him completely. 

"'For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,' Says the Lord; 'I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.'" Psalm 12:5

Please keep this little boy in your prayers, and all of the other children around the world that are in a similar situation.

Blessings,
Byron