Tag Archives: Missions

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Tuesday, 28 September 2021

When one goes to bed before dusk one often rises before dawn, and such was the case with me today. Since I was up in time for it, I decided to go to the hospital to join the staff for morning devotion. I would also check on Janet while I was there.

With only the clothes that had been on my back, I went to the hospital. It was quite a warm reception again, since many present had not seen me the day before. Sister Sophie, the Primary Nursing Officer (PNO) had me address the group and, after devotions, asked me to teach a segment the next day. Here Wednesdays are for continuing education. When I was just about to head back home for rest and proper clothes washing, Sophie rearranged the nursing assignments and put me and Charge Nurse Miriam on the General Ward. Just like that, I was back at work.

There are currently two wards at RG Hospital: the Maternity ward and the one for everything else. The General Ward is the ER, the Medical-Surgical Department, Pediatrics, and the ICU all rolled into one. I was pleased to be of service. God blessed me with an easy adjustment period since, except for discharging seven patients, there was little to do. It was a joy catching up with my friend, Miriam. There was one funny thing — the patients and their attending family members who were present when I arrived, observed the warm welcome I received and apparently thought I was some sort of celebrity. This was evidenced by several of the parents who encouraged their children to “go and see Mucungwa.” I felt like Santa Claus visiting a department store.

I learned something I did not know about the nurses at RG — they are all Certificate Nurses, similar to our LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse). From that level, they can study to become a Diploma Nurse, like our associate degreed RN (Registered Nurse), and later a Graduate Nurse, like our BSN designated RNs who hold a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. This would mean little to anyone not in the nursing field, but I found it interesting, since I have witnessed these RG Nurses perform tasks that would baffle a lot of American nurses.

I took lunch with Miriam as I generally do when it is provided for the working nurses. On my last visit, taking lunch with the nurses is one of the things that endeared them most to me. I tried to explain that since I am gaining so much weight, I need to eat less sugar and carbs, but I nearly hurt her feelings declining food, so I ate my beans and small fish (dried minnows) with posho (moistened corn flour).

When work was done, Miriam introduced me to her husband who lives in Fort Portal, a major city to the west. Here, it is normal for families to live wherever the work is, and Derrick is a soldier, so he lives where the Army tells him to. He seemed a decent fellow, and it was a pleasure to finally meet him.

At the nurse’s residence, I was greeted by the children, most of whom recognized Mucungwa, a few with great exuberance. The most excited to see me was three-year-old Precious, the daughter of Scovia Susan, whom I also got to greet for the first time since I left. I get high fives and bonga (fist bump) from most kids, but Precious leapt into my arms and hugged me like a long lost relative. Scovia Susan said she talks about me all the time. What a treat to hear such a thing!

Patrick walked me to his garden, which I still insist is a small farm, and he took great joy in showing me what his constant hard work has done. He had corn, G-nuts (like peanuts but smaller), cassava (yuca), sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. He was justifiably proud of his work, and I was honored he chose to share it with me.

When I finally made it back to Team House to rest in front of the fan, I heard a small voice calling “hello” from the front porch. Prisca had come for a visit. We sat out on the porch, and talked, and were soon joined by Shalom, K-Morris, and another girl whose name I could not hear. They chatted me up until about 6pm, when they went to football practice and I went to bed. Just before midnight I rose and found dinner getting cold on the table, so I heated some up in a pan and enjoyed a late supper.

I still had to think about what to teach in the morning. Dr. Tim McCall, the founder and CEO of this place, recently asked me to teach about compassionate care, so I decided to do that. With no resources or references, thought I would wing it from memory. God please give me words to say!

Wednesday, 29 September 2021

Today it was up to me to bring the continuing education unit for the week, but I was only told of this assignment yesterday, so I threw together a segment on Compassionate Care, a subject dear to me, and one which Dr. Tim McCall, the CEO of RG had once asked me to teach. It went well overall.

I started by saying that I have too much to learn from everyone in attendance to “teach,” but would, instead, remind us all of some principles on which everyone in healthcare (and anywhere else, for that matter) can always improve. I reminded the staff that our value does not come from how much we make, acknowledging that the salaries of the staff here certainly are insufficient, but from whose we are. When we acknowledge that our Creator found us worth dying for, we must extrapolate that out to recognize our patients (or whomever we are dealing with) has the same value. I described the human body in scientific terms as more than just one miracle, but several billion miracles per second. When one addresses another as a fellow creature of God who found us all worth during for, and as several billions of miracles per minute, it is hard to see them merely as a bed number or passerby. I discussed quality of care, but that would bore most of you, except to say that people care far less about what you know or do than they care about how you made them feel (a paraphrase from both Saint Teresa of Calcutta and Maya Angelou). When my talk was over, Sophie, the PNO, said she wished she could have recorded it just to play it back again at another time.

I worked the rest of the day shift with Miriam. After we discharged the last patient on the unit, and I thought we might have some down time, I served the beans and posho. Just then two new patients came in, and we were forced to leave our lunch to get cold while we attended them. One needed an emergent blood transfusion and the other emergency antibiotics and fluids.

After work, I stopped by the Cessnun’s residence and had a nice chat with Maryanne and the kids. I always feel at home there.

Afterward, I went to the library and was met by several of the adult RG “kids” who escorted me to the bins of donated items, where they tried to help me find clothes that would tide me over until my luggage arrives. It was a lovely but futile effort. No Ugandan is this overweight!

At their invitation, I had dinner with Dr. Tim and Mama Janice McCall. They told me no one had ever made such an immediate impression or been so loved as I was on my previous visit. What an honor!

Thursday, 30 September 2021

I got up before the chickens this morning and joined the men on the procurement run to Gulu, the major city in the north region of Uganda. I got to know the truck driver, Alex, fairly well since we sat together most of the day, waiting for James, the procurement specialist, to run his errands and get RG’s payment verified before the vendor would begin loading our truck.

First, though, Alex took me to a men’s clothing store where I tried to find some temporary clothes for a jumbo American. It didn’t work out so well, but I did manage to get a hat, which is kind of a must for a fair-skinned moono (white person), and sandals, which are handy since shoes are not worn inside a Ugandan house, and lacing sneakers every time I go in and out is tedious.

One of our responsibilities was to bring back a large supply of cut up chicken for a banquet honoring the hospital and security staff tonight. We missed our mark waiting for the check to clear, but returned to RG at 4:30. There was barely enough time for the kitchen staff to cook the chicken before our banquet, which turned out lovely anyway.

At the banquet, I was asked to both open and close in prayer. It is nice to be called to participate in this way. I am seen by some as a nurse, a doctor by others, and a pastor by still others. I try to make the most of whatever situation I am in for God’s glory.

Friday, 1 October 2021

Today I went to work on the General Ward, which was again full, though it was empty just two days before. I administered blood transfusions and loved on as many patients as possible, even though language is a challenge. When I speak Acholi, often the locals break out into laughter, not because I am doing it wrong, but because they are so amused that a moono (white person) would know their language.

I got to hold a hand and share caring words with one particular patient who will soon have a difficult time facing her condition and bearing the stigma it carries. It grieves me to know what lies ahead for her, but she heard that she is loved, and that her Creator thinks she is worth dying for, and for that, I am glad I was there.

When I arrived home to Team House, it quickly filled with adult RG kids, who are like family to me. I ran them off at 5:00 so I could return to the hospital side of the compound, where I had been invited to the home of my good friend, Patrick, and his family: Nancy (aka Mama Jerome), Jerome, and Ethan. When a Ugandan family puts food before you, it is insulting not to eat it, and Patrick was ruthless in reminding me of this. I was forced by this unsympathetic tradition to eat too much of my favorite treat — labolo kii odi (that is bananas with g-nut sauce). Mama Jerome also served passion fruit juice, which may be my new favorite beverage.

Before I left, I was presented with an artist’s rendering of Cindy and me, taken from a picture of us we snapped when I returned from Uganda last time. To think that this precious family would sacrifice what it took to have that done, when just feeding their family takes so much hard work, was just heart-warning. When I sent a photo of the mounted canvass to Cindy, she cried, perfectly capturing how I felt too.

Saturday, 2 October 2021

Today I slept in and it felt great! I donned some big-boy scrubs I borrowed from the surgical theatre and went about as though it was normal to parade around in pajamas.

My friend, Nancy Cardoza, a missionary to Uganda from Worcester, Massachusetts, came down from Gulu to visit me and we spent most of the late morning and early afternoon together. We toured RG and, since Nancy’s specialty is beekeeping, we paid special attention to the bee apiary at RG’s agricultural center. My dear friend Prisca, who is terrified of bees, was our guide, but since she ran away screaming and swatting the air as we approached the hives, we were left to do a self-guided tour.

After seeing just about all there is to see here, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the hospital restaurant. The menu was local fare: red beans, bo (a boiled green), and sweet potatoes (which are white and dry here, not like the moist orange ones in America). Nancy taught me to apply odi (g-nut paste) to the greens, which turned out much better than it sounds.

Almost all of RG left the compound today for a football match (soccer game) in the nearby town of Karuma, about 5 km (3 miles) up the road. When we saw the boys get off the bus we could tell they lost by the way they carried themselves. Rumor confirmed it, 2 to 1. When Janet returned from Karuma, she brought me an armload of cassava (yuca root), which we prepared as chips (fries) and shared with everyone watching the Premier League match that night. I stayed to cheer on Arsenal, my second favorite team, but since Liverpool wasn’t playing I left the scoreless match at the 45 minute mark.

I wish I could describe how amazing it is to recognize that the people to whom I have tried so hard to demonstrate real love apparently feel it and share it back. God is glorified, and a few of these fatherless kids get to know what it is like to be cared for.

Oh. Update on my lost luggage: It should be here tomorrow. Today I heard from the driver bringing it, and he asked me if I would rather receive it tomorrow or the next day. I told him I had no clothes or medicine, and he agreed to bring it tomorrow. That was nice. Don’t you think?

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TLC Uganda, Inc. is now an official organization. I just received the news that our paperwork was processed by the state of Florida, and we are official! 

Our home church, CrossRoad Church, has come alongside us, commissioning us again as sent missionaries and financially partnering with us. This brings us to 32% of our funding goal. We are not waiting, but charging ahead, trusting that the Lord will provide for whatever He calls us to do. If God is leading you to partner with us, please contact me for more information or visit our Contribute page.

As evidence the Lord provides, we were notified by our bank that we had unused sky miles. They extended an offer to let us apply them toward travel expenses on which we used our Visa card. My whole round trip airfare, the travel insurance, and our recent U-Haul rental were all reimbursed. That’s right. My flight to and from Africa will be free!

Further evidence of God's providence presented itself last week when our friend and mechanic, Stephan Steward, was able to resolve an automotive issue simply, though it had left me stranded on the first of our moving days.

 

We are in the midst of clearing out the big house, which is almost empty except for a few dust bunnies, painting supplies, and miscellany one might find on Facebook Marketplace. It’s been a challenge cutting our living space in half, but we have been in our condominium about a week. There are some repairs needed on the house, so we have a contractor working on the large tasks, and Cindy and I are doing our best on the little ones. I am terrible at painting and recently discovered I’m fairly horrible at tiling bathroom floors too. 

I leave for Uganda again in three days, and we haven’t listed the house yet. This leaves the super-admin-woman, Cindy, to handle that without me. At least she will have the help of our friend and realtor, Tom Moore, to get it all done right. He made buying our condo a breeze.

There is lots to do and little time in which to do it, so my writing break is over. I’ve got quarter round to tack down and dust bunnies to chase. 

Thanks for praying. The Lord Who sends is also the One Who provides. 

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The Lemmons have a lot going on this month! I am still working on partnership development between many household projects. If you have not received a call from me, please let me know. I'd love to get together with you. We are still only 26% funded for our launch, so there is a lot of work to do. I will return to Uganda for another six weeks starting September 23rd, so there is a lot to finish before I go. That makes for some serious time crunching. 

Cindy’s parents are aging and in need of assistance, so she has decided to remain in the U.S. to be near them, at least for the time being. She still plans to join me in Uganda for short spells as circumstances allow, and to join me full-time in the future. Until then, she remains my administrative genius here in the States, while I will be the boots-on-the-ground overseas, at least for now.

The housing market being what it is, we decided to downsize and sell our big house. Since Cindy will be staying stateside, we put in an offer on a small condominium across the street from our home church, and our offer was accepted. Closing on the condo should take place around the second week of September. As we do some minor repairs on the big house and prepare it for market, we expect to sell right about the time I will be settling in Uganda, leaving Cindy, my administrative whiz, to handle the sale all by herself.

We have begun the process of officially organizing as TLC Uganda, Inc. with the intent of filing for tax-exempt status as a 501(c)3. So far, the only update I have received about that is that our name is approved. I look forward to introducing our board members on a separate page, but for the time being, allow me to recognize them (in alphabetical order): Melody Bruno, Nancy Cardoza, Dennis Cooke, April Tapp, and Melissa Workman. We are thrilled to have them on our team, and can’t wait to get started. 

In the meantime, Cindy and I are re-tiling floors, spackling and painting walls, updating bathroom fixtures, and getting rid of a lifetime of household tchotchke. If we could tip the house on its end and dump out all our belongings it might save some time, but we are stuck doing it the same way millions have done before, with tedious sorting, boxing, and selling. Matthew 19:21 has never meant so much to us: “Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’”

We are working on it. Pray we will accomplish all that has been set before us, without serious injury, and with what sanity we have intact. Thank you!