Life on the mission field is never as one might expect there are always changes and surprises so why should work on the mission field be any different.  I have found myself, this past month, working in unexpected ways.  I suppose I should start at the beginning...

February began with plans for me to return to Sentani to help once again at the guest house while the new guest house managers took a short vacation.  I was to be there only a week.  I decided to stick around because there was no immediate work in Wamena and some friends were staying at the guest house.  One of those friends, Carolyn, was out from the tribe she works in for medical reasons.  After talking with her over the course of several days, she decided it would be best if she sought medical attention in a larger city, Jakarta, and I offered to tag along.  Trying to navigate the red type of a hospital while healthy is difficult enough, trying to do it while sick and in a foreign language makes thinks a lot more difficult! Another friend, Lindsey, decided to come along as well.

Mid-February and two days after my planned return to wamena, the three of us set off for Jakarta.  We took Carolyn directly to the hospital and checked her in.  While she was have blood tests and scans done, Lindsey and I went to find food and our hotel.  Excited to be in Jakarta, more for the sake of having the many options of good, American food choices and less because our friend was in the Hospital getting testing done, we set off to find our first meal of what we hoped to be several delicious meals. While in the cab Lindsey started complaining that her feet hurt and she was cold by the time we made it to the hotel her whole body was aching and she had a fever.  The next day I had to postpone my visit with carolyn at the hospital and took lindsey to a local clinic to have some blood work done.  The blood work came back negative but she was still not feeling well.  Over the next two days I ran between hospital and hotel to check up on my two friends who were both now not well.

Carolyn spent 2 nights in the hospital and all of her testing came back normal though she was still not feeling well she decided she wanted to check further in Singapore and to continue to the state from there for a short break owing to the possibility she might just need a good amount of rest.  Torn between going with carolyn or staying with Lindsey my dilemma was answered when the next morning Lindsey's fever broke and we all decided to continue on to Singapore.

Singapore proved slightly more informative for Carolyn and lindsey seemingly on the mend we enjoyed what we could of singapore with the time that we had.  The day before we all were to make our trips back home Lindsey started feeling unwell again.  Tickets already booked we decided it was best to spend a few days in Jakarta before continuing on to Sentani.

Lindsey's fever came back but only for a day then was gone and came back again only higher.  The next day it was gone.  The following night it came back higher then before! When I checked on her in the morning she said her fever was back and had spent the night throwing up.  With a temperature of 104 and rising, I took her to the hospital.   Lindsey was immediately put on IV with meds to get her fever down. Her blood was tested again and came back positive for 2 different strains of malaria and was admitted.   The doctor wasn't fully convinced she didn't have dengue as well even though the test came back negative.  They started her on Malaria meds and iv for dehydration. She will be here for at least 3 days maybe more depending on how well the Malaria reacts to the meds they are giving her.

It's 5 a.m., March 1st,  and I am sitting on the couch in Lindsey's hospital room thanking God for his perfect timing that we were still in Jakarta when all this happened. Papua hospitals are not the best and we might have had to turn around and come right back to Jakarta.  Lindsey is sleeping comfortably and doing much better than 24 hours ago.

Work for me this month was simply helping out friends in their time of need. Being there for them just so that they don't have to be alone.   Life on the mission field can be rough especially where malaria and dengue and other unknown diseases are abundant. Dealing with sickness should not be done alone. I'm thankful God provided the time away from my normal work for me to be able to help them in this way.   I, thankfully, am still in good health...that too, I am sure, is from the Lord. Please be praying for Lindsey and her quick recovery.  I think we will be in Jakarta at least another week before returning home.