The time I had Dengue Fever

I remember visiting a particular ward in a Filipino hospital and asking what everyone was there for. The people all looked so weak, hooked up to drips and seemed disorientated. The nurse said they had Dengue fever. That was the first time I heard of it.

The second time was when a mother at the dump site brought her 6 year old son to church. She said he had a fever. 3 days later  he was dead. He had dengue fever.

Dengue ,also known as "break bone fever" is transmitted from several species of mosquitoes. Some make the comparison to Malaria. During rainy season (June-August) in the Philippines the number of cases increase. The community at the dump site where we are based are at high risk because they are surrounded by stagnant water so much and that's where the mosquitoes breed.

One day after working with the children at the dump site I felt a bit "off". The children are so sweet and like to share and now and again even share their sicknesses with us! But this felt a bit different to me. I had a painful sensation behind my eyes. My muscles and joints were aching and it felt like I was getting the flu. I thought like other things we have picked up there it would clear up on its own.Then I developed a weird looking rash. Kind of like a measles rash that didn't really disappear when you pressed it. I felt rough! I could not stop vomiting and felt weak.  My gums began to bleed.

Off to the hospital we went. Yep- it was dengue!

Ron told me afterwards he was really scared.

After paperwork the doctor put me on intravenous re hydration. They said I was dehydrated and my blood platelet count was dangerously low. If it did not improve I was to get a blood transfusion. Lots of people were praying and I think my poor mama was worried sick at the other side of the world. Long story short, I began to improve and was let out of hospital within a week. I felt really useless for a good few weeks after. I just had no energy. But all was well and that was the end of that. My immune system was able to fight it, but many of the children on the dump site are already weak and undernourished. Their story does not always end like mine....

Every year since we started working in that community we have seen children die from Dengue.

Most parents cant even afford the transport to a hospital never mind the doctors fee.

Imagine you have one child sick, but if you sacrifice a day of work picking trash at the dump site, the rest of your children wont eat that night. What a choice eh?

One year we received the shocking news that 20 children living near the waterside had died from dengue.

20 children.

There is no vaccine against dengue so it's all about prevention. One way we can help is by providing mosquito nets for families.

It costs £1.50 for a single net and £4 for a family sized net.

Many of the families on the dump site earn between 70p- £2 for a whole days work.

In the UK a will pay £1.50 for a can of coca cola

This year we are hoping to provide at least 500 families with a mosquito net. Can you help?
For more info on this please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/KalayaanMinistries

Thank you.

There's a language called "Christianese"!

2 more weeks and we will be leaving Scotland to move back to the Philippines. I think I have forgotten most of my Filipino- Tagalog! There has been no need to speak it so I have got out the practice of using it and therefor I think I have lost a lot of the words!
 When something isn't in use or you fall out the habit-it's easier to forget and therefore lose it for a while. I was thinking how we can lose the passion of thankfulness. That overwhelming boiling up where I just have to thank Jesus with all of my being for what He has saved me from.
Sure, I can sing that I'm thankful to Jesus, read about it or even nod my head in agreement when a Pastor speak about it, but I was feeling like I had lost the awe and wonder of it the other day. So I started thinking about what I have really been saved from.
I have been saved from hell. A word we don't hear much these days expect from as an expression of annoyance. You don't even hear it mentioned in some many churches these days. I have been saved from eternal pain and continual agony. I have been saved from having to listen to constant wailing and saved from so much more. Because of Jesus I have a future in heaven. I can have an abundant life on earth because He saved me. I never deserved to be saved. I don't deserve it. There's no special reason I am saved apart from the free and unmerited favor of God. GRACE.

Selah.

Pause and think about that a minute.

Speechless.

If I could recall everyday in a living way what I have been saved from I would have more love for the One who saved me.

There's a language I don't want to speak and it's called "Christianese"

-A communicable language within the Christian subculture with words and phrases created, redefined, and / or patened that applies only to the Christian sphere of influence.
I suppose you could sum it up as a dialect amongst Christians. It's derived from well know Christian sayings that were founded in truth but that if not careful can at times become empty words. Sometimes this language can creep up in your tongue without knowing it. I don't want to speak it. But I do want to speak real, living words about the goodness of God. I want to always sing from my heart and not just my mouth.

Imagine Jesus, the son of God chose to go through horrific pain and endured many a sad heart for me?
For me?
A girl who sometimes forgets to thank him!
For me?
A girl who does not always make him priority!
For me?
A girl who sins and makes thousands of mistakes!

YES! IT WAS FOR ME!!!

Imagine God would give his very son for us? It's easy to let the words trip off our mouths but really....

I have 2 sons. 2 amazing boys. When they were born I discovered a part in my heart that I never knew was there. It was a new kind of love. An overwhelming, passionate, ready to protect kind of love. If you are a parent reading this you know. We hate seeing our babies ( young or old) get hurt in any way. I cannot stand it when my sons have to feel even the slightest discomfort or pain- a "skint knee", a cold, a bump, an upset tummy, a bruise. Mummy and Daddy's just want to make things better.

How did God feel when He watched his only son get battered? His skin burst and bruised. Bumps and knocks to his beautiful head. Stripped naked to feel the cold and the icy stares of a crowd hated him.
Hated him for what?
All He ever done was good.

How could Mary's heart take it? It must have been broken to pieces. A mothers heart torn in grief. I wonder if she cried in agony as she watched her son go through torture. Yes, she knew He would rise again and that this was destiny, but I wonder how she felt as a mother. I wonder if as Jesus hung on the cross did she have flashbacks to him as a baby. Once perfectly smooth skin, now torn open with wounds and cuts. Precious blood dripping from his body.

"Thank you" doesn't really seem to cut it does it? No wonder Jesus asks for us to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength. Our whole lives.  Doesn't he deserve that?
He deserved so much more and we will never repay Him but we can still try.....

 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"