The Trials of Heartbreak

Today I am blogging with a heavy heart. I feel like this past week has been a week full of trials and heartbreak. I cannot tell you if I have been surrounded by more heartbreak than usual, or if I have just been more attuned to it.  This week I have been blessed and honored to serve along side my mom, Mrs. Tolliver, and Cameron. They did some amazing things while they were here.

 On Saturday, we headed to a little town called Berger to do a medical clinic. My mom, Mrs. Tolliver, a nursing student, and another doctor saw close to 300 patients. Cameron and I were the "pill pushers" and traffic directors. I had such an incredible time watching my mother work. However, the thing I enjoyed the most was being able to use my little Creole to communicate with the patients coming in. It broke my heart though when I asked a little girl where her mom was, and she said she didn't have a mom. I don't know why that impacted me the way it did, but I know I will never forget the sadness in that little girl's eyes. 

On Monday we went to Ansefalour. We hiked up to the monument, walked through the base of the voodoo temple, and spent some amazing time in prayer for the city and the people. After lunch, we split up into two groups. Half of the group went to the beach to do a VBS, and half of the group went to do medical hut to huts. God led us to a house where a lady had had a baby five hours prior to us coming. My mother was able to examine the baby and tell the new mother what a beautiful healthy little girl she had. One of the last houses we stopped at had a woman who told us her husband was in the Port-de-Paix prison. The majority of the group had been to the prison ministering and helping medically just a couple days before. The woman had such a look of relief wash over her face when they told her that. For me, the instant connection that was made was such a God thing. There is no way of telling if they came in contact with her husband, but I am sure it was a relief to the woman to know that people also cared about her husband. 

Yesterday is the day that really got to my heart. Most of you know about the relationship my father has with the boy named Kenzie. It has been amazing this week to watch my mom also be able to connect with him. Yesterday Kenzie took us to his house to meet his mother. Kenzie is the youngest of five boys, and his father died a little before we came on our first trip. Kenzie now lives alone with his mother. Kenzie's mother showed us the tumor growing in her throat. Currently, it is not blocking her airway, but it will not take long. She met with an American surgery team at the mission, but they told her they could not help her. She is in a lot of pain. My heart broke. It just does not seem fair to me. Kenzie is such a good kid, and he's already been through enough losing one parent.  What is going to happen to him when he also loses his mom? I'm not really sure how to express how I feel about this, but I do ask for prayers for both Kenzie's family and my own as we are trying to figure out the best way to help, if we can at all.