Jonah

Jonah is a 19 year old young man with Diabetes. He was diagnosed with disease that when he was in 10 years old. He takes daily insulin, when he can afford it. Because of his diabetes, and likely for other reasons, he only completed the 5th grade. He lives at home with his parents and two siblings. No one at home is employed.

He presented to the hospital nearly comatose. His blood sugar was very high. He was severely dehydrated. He hadn’t taken his insulin for 1 week, having ran out of it. He also had pneumonia. Basically, he was very sick. His pneumonia was treated. His blood sugars were lowered. His dehydration was also treated. He was treated in the hospital for 4 days. His bill was 13,000 Shillings ($170). After discharge he remained on the ward. He didn’t have the money to pay the bill. He just waited to see if his family would be able to come up with the money. In Kenya, you can’t leave the hospital until the bill is paid. There are no insurance companies to pay for the majority of the patients, nor are there collection agencies to track down people who can’t pay the bill. It is generally up to the family and patient to find the money to pay the bill. Until that is done, patients wait, sometimes for months, before they can go home.

The family had little resources. There was a small piece of land that they had left for Jonah to have when he left the home. That was basically his only major possession. They tried to sell that property to pay the bill but were not able to do so. So he sat on the ward for four extra days waiting. Waiting for visitors that did not come. Waiting for family members with news about the bill.

I knew about his medical problems, having been his treating physician. I noticed that he was still on the ward after discharge and learned more about his situation. My church (West Cohasset Chapel) had given me money to help with such problems. I found Elizabeth, a patient attendant (essentially an LPN) who worked on the ward. She spoke excellent English and Kalingen (his tribal language). We brought him to a private place and talked with him about his situation. I told him that my church back home wanted to pray for him. I did not tell him, nor Elizabeth, of my intentions of paying for his hospital charges. I asked him what he would like me to have them pray for.

He gave me the above history. He also said that he was having “bad thoughts”. By that he meant feelings of worthlessness and abandonment. My heart went out to him. Here was a young man, in the prime of his life. He had a serious life-long disease. He had minimal education and a poor support system. His job outlook was poor. His prospects for the future were not good.

I asked him if he knew who Jesus was. He did, having attended periodically a local non-protestant church. I asked him if he knew why Jesus came to earth. He said that he did not because his church did not talk about that. I explained, with the help of Elizabeth, that Jesus was God’s son, and that he came to earth in order to forgive the sins. That his sins separated him from God and that the only way to God was through belief in Jesus, and for forgiveness of his sins. That following Jesus did not guarantee that life would be always good, but that his life would have purpose. We had the opportunity to pray. He was happy that my church would be praying for him as well. He made no decision about Christ at the time. Without fanfare he learned the next day that his bill was paid and he went home. I didn’t get the chance to tell him goodbye.

Please pray for Jonah. His prospects in this life are bleak at best. He has a poor foundation to build his life on without Christ. Having said that, he now has heard that his life can have a purpose. That he can find acceptance and forgiveness in Christ. I hope that the debt that was paid for him will cause him to think of a debt that he has that no one on this earth can pay. The debt caused by his sins that causes separation from God forever without the forgiveness that he can have through Christ alone.

Please also pray for me as I finish my work here. Pray that I’ll use my time effectively. Pray that I’ll be sensitive to the opportunities that God gives me to do more than take care of the physical needs of my patients. Pray that what I do here brings glory to God and not to myself. Pray for my family back home who I miss dearly and who are also experiencing joys and occasional trials on a daily basis. Thanks again for your interest in this journey of ours. Your prayers and concerns for us mean more than you can ever know. Wish you were here.