Medical to the remote

This Blog is all about the work of God. Nothing we do is without the knowledge of our Father. He is the soul provider for everything we do.
We are Mordegai, Toinette, Suzaan, Gideon and Anton Rossouw from Namibia-Africa. . This Blog is all about our lives here in Cambodia while Suzaan works in South Africa. We are real Farmers from Africa and we love life and what it have to offer and enjoy it day by day.

Mordegai travels to remote villages, doing much needed medical work ,where no other doctors go, with local pastors.

Toinette is at home with the boys. Gideon is no longer with us but Anton will finish with Hope school this year and start online classes .Toinette joins FGC Community Link Cambodia to the villages close by, teaching local children in an after school setting and also women about Health Issues in a village setting.

We consider us Asians as we live such a long time in Asia, eating rice as a staple food and not meat......

Our motto in life comes from a dear friend:

With common sense and God we
can accomplish a lot

Robin Wales




Sunday, March 28, 2010

Mary Joy


A story about a small girl beating the odds

We heard about her through one of our good friends, Christita Colong, a midwife in Doz Balet on Samal Island, just an hour away from Davao. She met Toinette, taking Aprillyn back to her parents, on the boat to the island. After hearing the story of Aprillyn she shared about a small girl, Mary Joy, severely malnourished and from her province. They were trying to encourage the parents to give better feeding but she has not gained any weight yet.

5 November 1998:

We decided to go and look for ourselves and together with Scott Johnson we set of for Samal. Her house is high up the mountain and it is beautiful there but when we saw her, we were shocked. Flashbacks of Aprillyn went through our minds, and we knew that God has brought us there with a purpose. Mary Joy is the 14th child. She was 11 months old and weighed only 3,2kg. Not a pretty sight. A good sign was that she was willing to eat. We asked the parents if we can could take her back with us to see a doctor and if we can keep her for a while to get her on the road to health again.

Accompanied by Scott we climbed the mountain again 3 days later and we're praising the Lord when Christita informed us that Mary Joy's parents are accepting our help. Her mum packed a bag full of diapers and we brought her over. Armed with the advice on feeding from the MMC staff the big Watch began. It can be very tiring and we're taking turns with the Johnson family.

The doctor gave us a very discouraging diagnosis. She has Down syndrome and after an ultrasound they saw two holes in her heart. Therefore the inability to gain weight. She had to be hospitalised for 3 days. We asked the doctor to give us a day because we need to inform her parents first. Quess who came to visit that afternoon, Christita and Oralia (MaryJoy's mum). Christita shared how they felt led to come to Davao. Praise the Lord. We were so discouraged after all the bad news but then we realised that theLord's hand was in all of this. Her mum stayed with her in the hospital for 3 days. Arpillyn and I were there too, because her heart needed to be observed for 3 days also. They came to call me one night, because Mary Joy stopped breathing for a while. It was a rough night but we praise God for the presence of Christita, she just encouraged me to pray and sing with her. Orilia is not a Christian as all this made a lasting impression on her.

On the fourth of December, Mary Joy was hospitalized again for the possibility of meningitis. It was a very difficult time for all, especially her mum. Mordegai and I had to bantay the first night and the thought of her being so sic
k was heavy to bear but after a time of prayer the Peace of our Lord that is greater than that of the world just filled the room.

After many tests, crying and praying they found that she is clean but she has seriously infected lungs and she had to stay in hospital for another 10 days. We thank the Lord, because enough money came in to help carry her hospital bills and everyone helped. Orilia and I even watched the cebuano Jesus movie one night.

She loved it, because she cannot speak any English. If there is a scene where Jesus heals someone, she gets very exited and tells me Ginoo maayo kaayo tambal (The Lord is the best medicine).

Out of the hospital and much better. She still needs to be nebulised every day but she is gaining weight and her lungs is much better. Her doctor was very impressed with her progress on the last visit. She is starting to eat cereal and other foods other than milk also and smiling all the way. There is a lot of crying also, but it is like her uncle Mordegai says: With the weight gain comes the energy to be naughty also.
We thank you for your continued prayers for Mary Joy and her family. Also pray for the Johnson family as they are looking after her most of the time and they are also opening a home for malnourished babies at the moment. Christita assures us that the love all of us at Mercy Maternity Centre is showing speaks to Orilia and Rodolfo. Pray that they will give their lives to the Lord. Pray for Mary Joy that she will get str
onger every day and be able to go home soon.

Because of Mary Joy the House of Joy was started. Scott thought it good to start a house for severe malnourished children. Over a period of 2 years they saved a lot of children from possible death. Just because of this little girl, God opened a door for such a big ministry. She never went back home as she was adopted by one of the staff. Many years later she is going to school and became a beautiful little girl.

"It takes more than tears to change the world. It takes courage. Courage is the bridge that moves us from tears of compassion to the fierce desire to change things."

Roberta Hestenes in "World Vision" magazine (April/May 1997)

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