“There’s a robber
coming to rob our car!” exclaimed Nathanael from the back of the car. We were on our way back from the beach a few
weeks ago, when I decided to stop at a little town to get some bread and a few
sodas. As I got out, Jen stayed in the
car with the kids. The town was at the
crossroads of two major roads, with all kinds of little stands and lots of
people walking back and forth. Jennifer
quickly turned around to see what Nathanael was talking about. Walking towards the car was a woman in a long
black robe, covering her whole body, head to toe, with only a small slit for
her eyes. “That’s a lady in a burka,”
Jen tried to explain. Not really knowing
what a burka is, Nat responded, “Is she a ninja?”
These kinds of
situations make me thankful for the opportunity to be here in Guinea. There aren’t many women that wear burkas, but
I’m happy that our children are being exposed to these cultural differences, able
to experience and see things that some of their peers back home will never have
the opportunity to see.
Speaking of
seeing, this past Friday Nat and I, accompanied by Andres, took a trip to
Conakry to see an eye doctor. There’s a
Christian eye clinic there which was started by a swiss ophthalmologist. The center is called Centre Bartime, named
after blind Bartameus from the new testament.
Paintings of the event hang on the walls at the clinic, quoting verses
from the Bible declaring that the man was healed because of his faith.
After driving 3 ½
hours to get to the capital, we were quickly ushered into a large waiting room
full of people seeking help. Not too
long after, one of our contacts came to greet us and led us to the next
room. The attendant quickly tested
Nathanael’s eyes using an eye chart with pictures of animals instead of
letters. During the first eye test, Nat answered in
English and I translated. During the
test for the second eye, Nat impressed us all by using the French words for
each picture. We then proceeded to the
Doctor’s office. The office was a small
room with three rows of chairs and three cubicles. Behind each cubicle sat a different Doctor
receiving patient after patient. The
doctors were very friendly and took good care of Nathanael. Over the course of our discussion, the doctor
confirmed the redness as some form of conjunctivitis. He prescribed different drops to get rid of
the infection. He also confirmed what we
already knew about the inward turning eyes and recommended a different
treatment for that, indicating that surgery would only be necessary if the eyes
hadn’t straightened out by the time Nathanael is eight years old.
All in all, the
visit didn’t give us much new information, but it did help give us peace that
nothing major needs to be done at this time.
We’ll continue with the treatments we have been given, and continue to
pray that Nathanael’s eyes straighten out over time. We appreciate everyone’s prayers and support
too, as many people have emailed and sent messages to encourage us and help us
in this struggle. We’re grateful that
the Lord provided us with the opportunity to go to Conakry and have this visit. It’s hard to tell if a drive that long was
worth it, but we feel much more at ease now.
And by the way, the woman in the burka did not rob our car.
p.s. Last weekend I
preached at our church in Boke on the importance of children in the kingdom of
God. This next weekend I will be doing a
small training for children’s leaders in Sangaredi. Praying that God will do big things in these
areas, inviting more and more children into relationship with Him.
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