Toribio Newsletter 09-09.pub

Diakonia Zambia
News from the Toribios
JULY - SEPTEMBER 2009
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
Transformational Caregiving: Rise Up and Walk
Wearing a broad smile and exuding excitement, Saulosi Lungu gets up to demonstrate
to his visitors that he can now walk, “you
see, you see” he says to the exhilaration of
the onlookers.
Not so long ago, Saulosi Lungu had completely given up the prospect of ever walking
again. In fact, his entire world had crumbled
down. His life-altering moment took place in
2006. As the news of his HIV and AIDS positive status reached him, he knew that his life
would never be the same again.
Saulosi Lungu... Before
The results were just a confirmation of his
worst fears. For a long time, he had been
very sick to the point that he could no longer
support his wife Esther and their three children. Esther had to take up a job as a
housemaid while Saulosi battled with tuberculosis. It was after this long period of sickness that he decided to be tested for HIV
and AIDS. But alas, his test came late. His
CD4 count was very low and he was immediately put on ARVs and not long after, Saulosi
Lungu lost his sight and neither could he
walk.
During this literally and figuratively dark pe-
riod of Mr. Lungu’s life , RECS
(Reformed Community Support Organization), a partner of CRWRCZambia, become a beacon of hope to
Mr. Lungu. The Lungu family were
encouraged and felt cared for because
of the visits from RECS Home Based
Caregivers (HBC). Mr. Lungu was
visited twice a week. During one of
such visits, The RECS Caregivers told
Mr. Lungu that he could not walk, not
because of paralysis but because he
had been bedridden for a long time.
They counselled him and challenged
him to let go of fear and to start believing that he could walk again. The Caregivers also provided physiotherapy and
taught Mr. Lungu basic exercises to
strengthen his muscles. He started
exercising his muscles right on his bed.
Before he knew it, he could bend his
joints. In His own words, “I then challenged myself to crawl; with persistence I managed. I further challenged
myself to stand by balancing myself
with objects and though wobbly at first,
I was able to.”
ture and at the same time she had
to be the bread winner. But now I
bathe myself and can walk to the
toilet.”
Then, as he thanks the Caregivers,
he says something very poignant,
“We will never see God come down
to help someone but God works
through people and to help someone doesn’t mean to give them
expensive gifts but just words can
change someone’s circumstances.
Through your words of encouragement, I am now different.”
With the fortitude spurred in him by the
RECS Caregivers, Mr. Lungu was
eventually able to walk again. Asked
what this meant to him, Mr. Lungu
paused, then spoke sombrely and
emphatically, signalling the importance
of his words.
“ Very important...the whole thing was
too much for my wife. For a year she
had to clean me up and bathe me
every time I answer to the call of na-
Saulosi Lungu... Now
By A. Hamaanjanji
CRWRC Zambia Bridger
FRONTLINE INTERCESSION
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6.
Please pray for CRWRC Zambia’s HIV and AIDS Response as USAID’s NPI closes this year.
Please pray for CRWRC Z’ambias staff, partners, volunteers and their families.
Please pray for Ian & Nadine as they discover who they are in Christ. Pray for good friends in school and Christian Youth Club.
Pray for Evelyn as she leads and is actively involved in the women’s ministry of our church in Zambia.
Pray for the new missionary family that the Lord will call to replace the Bootsmas who have served as Program Consultants for
the last ten years.
Pray for Eli as he leads the CRWRC Zambia team and a Word & Prayer group with Partner leaders.
MINISTERING TO ZAMBIAN CHILDREN
"Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and
me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom.
Mark 10:14 (The Message Bible)
It has been a tradition as a family that every
year we look at the year that has passed and
praise God for it and also look forward to the
coming year and make personal and family
plans for the coming year. So for 2009 one
of the plans we made was an activity that will
enable us to minister together as a family –
an activity which each one will contribute to.
He does not know it but those were very
significant for me. Just two days before I
went for a check up because of the constant
pain in my sides. Results of my check-up
showed that I had high cholesterol, high uric
acid and high creatinine levels. My blood
sugar level was normal. I realized these
were all lifestyle diseases. And so when the
pastor preached on our afflictions to be
blessings to others, I realized
I needed to change my eating and buying habits and
channel all that spending on
unwise foods to be blessing
to others – but I prayed Lord,
I don’t know how. I just knew
I had to spend less on us and
increase giving.
That was when the prayer for
the children became significant. The night before, Nad-
Ian & Nadine enjoying photo ops with kids
The objective is for each member to feel part
of the work that God is doing in Zambia and
as a training for our now growing teenagers.
We therefore decided that we will make a
quarterly visit to reach out to the children in
Chirundu, the farm where we visit Ian and
Nadine’s “foster grandparents.”
March passed and we were not able to find
time in the schedule for it. So when a long
weekend came in May, we decided we will
go and do it, and went we did. Unfortunately, because of the theft in our place we
had to go back home immediately. Then we
got busy again and decided later.. later..
later.. Until one day in June, in the women’s
bible study, a pastor prayed and said “I see
you surrounded by children” (not referring to
me but to the whole bible study group). He
also said that our afflictions were meant to
be blessings to others and later prayed that
diseases in my family will be healed.
•
•
Little Children’s Prayers
ine and I were watching TBN, about a testimony of a missionary in the mountains between India and Pakistan. He had been
sharing the gospel for two years and no one
would listen to him, much less let him enter
the houses. So he just talked and shared
the word with the only people who would
listen to him – the children. That was when
the doors to the hearts of the people were
opened to the gospel. After 16 years, there
are now 35 churches in that area.
The prayer about the children really struck
my heart, not only because it coincided with
what we saw the night before and what we
planned in the beginning of the year, but
more so because that was what we did as a
church in Los Banos CRC in the Philippines.
A family in LBCRC started sharing the Good
News to the children in a village and that
became the start of so many outreaches that
the our church is doing. There is now a
church in that village as a result of what they
started and there had been so many more
children’s ministry every Sunday in more
than six villages in our town. There is now
even an outreach in the village up in the
mountain because of that. Once the parents
hear about it, they request that it be also
done in their village.
And so after a fortnight, we went. Ate Rosy
requested someone to gather the children –
and 150 children came! We sang “Jesus
loves me”, “Takwaba Uwaba Nga
Yesu” (There’s No Other Name but Jesus)
and then did a drama on Jesus telling the
disciples to let the children
come to Him. We bought
some crayons and had
them color a picture about
the story. We also did
games and distributed a few
snacks. It was a stupendous time for us as a family
and even for the children –
just look at the pictures. We
had such fun and joy – not
just because we reached
out to people in need of
Jesus , but also because we
knew we obeyed. Next time
we will sing “Wakanaka
Mwari” (God is Wonderful) with them. By the
way, the pain in my sides have gone…
By Evelyn Toribio
QUICK FACTS ON ZAMBIAN CHILDREN
Out of total population of 11.5 million, it is estimated that there are about 1.2 million orphans and out of this number roughly 600,000 are
because of HIV and AIDS (as reported by UNAIDS, 2008).
It is estimated that 7% of Zambia’s total number of households are being headed by children (17 years old and under). (African Child Policy
Forum, 2007).