More about Liz

Yesterday was the hardest day yet visiting Liz. Last Friday (5 days ago), she had been taken to the surgery theater to be put under general anesthesia, scraped all over her body to remove the dead flesh, and dressed with new bandages. During the following 4 days, infection spread across her body, and that is how I found her yesterday. The pus seeped through the bandages all over her body, and the flies swarmed her net just waiting for their chance to enter. The sight and smell of the infection was simply overpowering. She was in so much pain and all she could do was cry and moan, occasionally making eye contact with me and giving a slight nod to acknowledge my words of encouragement.

I couldn't understand why the doctors hadn't redressed her wounds. How could they allow the infection to go unchecked like that? The anger welled up within me, as I asked her aunt what was going on. She said that the doctors had asked them to first buy a box of Vaseline, and then they would redress her that day. Even though they had bought it, the doctors just never showed up to treat Liz, so the whole day she spent crying out in pain. Tears welled in my eyes as I turned to my friend and asked if there was anything we could do. The conclusion was that the only way she could get good care was by being moved from the public government hospital to a private one. When we asked if it was possible to move her, the aunt said no. Her father and family said that she is simply getting what she deserves for trying to kill herself. They will pay for basic care at the government hospital, but they will not allow anyone to take any extra measures for her care.

People around town have drawn the same conclusions. Why go and visit her? Why buy anything for her comfort when she just did this to herself? She deserves what she did to herself.

My heart just cries out with the truth and the pain of those statements. It's true. She does deserve the consequences of her sin. She deserves it. But so do I. I deserve the pain and agony of my sin just as much as she does, but the Lord showed me grace and favor. While I was still in the stink and filth of my sin, Jesus loved me and demonstrated that love for me by His sacrifice (Rom 5:8). If He showed me such unmeasurable love and kindness, how can I not in turn show Liz love and kindness? Even while she is in the stink and filth of the infection of her body because of her sin, I know that I can do nothing less than show her compassion and grace even as I was also shown.

So I will continue to go each day. Even if I'm only allowed to bring milk, and to offer a kind word and a quick prayer. I will continue to beg the Lord for her healing, both physically and spiritually, and I pray that my love for her will also be a testimony to her family.

Today she was finally taken back to the surgery theater for redressing. It took most of the day, but when I saw her this afternoon, she was in new bandages and a little less pain. Please pray that next time it won't take so long!

Please pray that Liz and her family would choose to reject the lies of the destroyer and believe the truth of God's grace. Please pray that my words and actions, though at times culturally inappropriate, would still convey the great love and compassion the Lord has for her and has given me for her.

Please pray against the infection of her body. Her survival thus far is a miracle, and she will need many more throughout the coming days.

Please pray that the Lord would give her favor in the eyes of the medical personnel, so that they would give her the kind of care she so desperately needs.