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Hippo Attack (Part 2)

17 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by in Life in Africa

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See part 1 here

My terror of hippos had subsided and the nightmares stopped. I heard stories of people who had fatal or near fatal encounters. I even knew a well-known lady in Maun who nearly lost her life and managed to save her leg over a surprise encounter with a hippo.

Several years went by and I went in a boat or Mokoro (small dugout canoe) and still had no nightmares. But one day I was with Rebecca, a friend of mine from Spain. I had been to that site many times before and there were always lots of hippo around. This time, as we started out with our guide, who guided us through the flood plains in the mokoro. We were peacefully gliding along the edge of the large pool of water. It was so pristine, and tranquil as the sound of the water gently brushed our ears. I was glad my friend could see the beauty of the Okavango Delta. The place I had spent over half my life. There were elephants and different species of antelope in the distance. The fish eagles were calling out with their magical sounds.Image

All at once, the grunting of the hippos in the middle of the pool interrupted the tranquility. They began a chorus that sent terror down my spine! I became paralyzed by fear. When we started out, it didn’t seem like there were very many of them. But I started counting and before I knew it I had counted nearly 80 of them! My mind got a little carried away and I started imagining hundreds of them and could almost see them chasing after us in our vulnerable little Makoro.Image

Rebecca noticed that the guide wasn’t a bit concerned about all the commotion. She looked at me, sitting behind her and she could see I was not doing well! I was frozen, white faced (even more white than my already white face!) and couldn’t do anything but pray. Later Rebecca told me that as long as the guide was fine, she was fine. She was a bit surprised at this veteran missionary carrying on like a scared cat in water.

Here’s the deal, nothing happened except a raging headache from getting so worked up! The truth is, these guides are brilliant in their knowledge and experience in the Delta. It is RARE for anything to go wrong. And it usually isn’t even tourists that are involved. (Generally speaking) So don’t let this stop you from coming to one of the most incredible places on earth!

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Why all of the sudden, after several years of being over my fear of hippos did it come back like this? Often in our lives, we grow in areas where there are weaknesses only to find we are dealing with the very same thing again and again. I had to go back in remember that it was facing my fear that finally stopped the nightmares and near heart attacks when I got close to a hippo.  Life will bring many opportunities to shrink back just enough to keep you from being all you can be, just enough to stop you from making a difference with your life. There will always be opportunities to give up, to freeze up, to become paralyzed by fear.

I want to encourage you to stay in the boat! Steady the course and let God help you overcome those fears that hold you back in life.

Paul said this in 2 Corinthians 12:9-13 The Message (MSG)

7-10 “Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, ‘My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.’

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.”Image

I was able to send that fear out the door by remembering how God helped me overcome it. Simple trust and faith in Him to protect me. Maybe you are in a situation where you need to get back in the boat and by remembering how you came this far might just help you carry on. Can you share a time when you were held you back by fear and how you conquered it? You might just post it here so you can help someone else!ImagePhotos from Bing.com

Day 17 of My 500 Words

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Cancer Storm

06 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in Inspirational Thoughts, Life in Africa, Our Family, Trials to Triumph

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I had just returned to Africa from the states in May 2008.  I had taken our middle son, Jordan to join his brother as a student at Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas. He was joining our oldest son, Remick and had lived their whole lives in Botswana, Africa where we have lived since 1987. 

Returning to Botswana, the land of my heart, I was full of excitement for what was ahead. Two weeks prior I had a very unique experience when a friend treated me to a 5 day getaway to connect with God on a Ranch in the Texas Hill country. http://fellowshipofthesword.com/ It was a transformational experience! Little did I know what lay ahead for us a week later. I arrived in Botswana on Saturday May 24. I was so excited to get back into our busy lives there and particularly eager to see our long awaited rescue center for babies-the Lorato House Rescue Center, up and running. It had been a long, 6 year battle for licensing and we were getting close to opening our doors.

Sitting down to a good cup of Earl Gray tea, Jerry shared the recent report he had been given from the Doctor but kept to himself, awaiting my return. A week before my home coming he had learned in the Capital city, Gaborone, that he had stage 4 Cancer. As he shared this unbelievable report of their findings, Squamous Carcinoma. The left side of his neck was full of cancer. In all the years we have been serving in Africa, our Father had never let us down. Just a year prior, friends had given us catastrophic health insurance. Little did we know what we would be facing.

The leaders from our church wept with us, encouraged us, then took arms to pray for us. I repacked my bags to travel back to the states with Jerry the next week to MD Anderson Cancer Research Center in Houston, TX. 

We live in the remote village of Maun 10 hours away from the Capital City Gaborone.  National church leaders began calling & asked us to fly through the Capital on our way out of country so that they could pray with us before we left.  They showed great love and respect to us for our years of work in their nation and promised to hold us up in prayer and see us on the other side of this battle. Upon arriving in Houston, we were invited to stay with a dear friend, Susie Wolf at her beautiful home less than 5 minutes from M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Center. 

We arrived full of faith and determined to return and resume our assignment in Botswana. We were greeted by a wonderful Christian Oncologist Dr. Anne Tsao who told us we would need to be willing to give her 6 months of our lives for treatment, Jerry as the patient and me as the caregiver. Consulting with our spiritual Mom Dodie Osteen who had been healed of Cancer many years ago & Dr Paul Osteen, they encouraged us to walk the healing path the Lord had put us on.  

Chemo Therapy started right away. The cancer was aggressive and had spread so they had to give the strongest dosages humanly possible since Jerry was healthy in every other way. Three Months were scheduled and after the first round- miraculously, no cancer was identified in the first PET scan!

We were so excited and thought we might be able to go back to Botswana and get back to work! Dr. Tsao reminded us that we had committed ourselves six months to her care which meant  3 months of chemo and 3 months radiation. Jerry had one request, really a demand if he was going to follow through with further treatment. He would do the treatment as outlined if he could fly back to Botswana where our 10 branch churches join the main church, All Nations Village Church for our annual leadership conference in between the Chemo and Radiation treatments.

The doctors and I would ‘wink’ at each other and say yes, of course we can try. By the time to leave for the conference, Jerry had lost weight and all his hair but was counting the days before his awaited departure date. He was on injections of blood thinners twice a day and 3 heavy doses of Chemo had taken its toll on him

I went to Sudan for a few days to speak at a conference beforehand and meet Jerry in Johannesburg and go on to Botswana. Jerry made his way with our good friend, Doug Stringer, who accompanied him to the conference who was one of the speakers. He used his air miles to get Jerry in Business Class to be more comfortable.

Jerry was there at all the sessions and in between he rested up for the next service. The church was electric with excitement and all rejoiced at their Pastor’s presence there in the midst of the storm! It was a crucial time of encouragement for the ministry team in Maun. We had a great team around us and Jerry and I have always believed that the ministry has never been built around a man, but around THE man, Jesus Christ. 

We returned to Houston for the last 3 months of treatment and stepped off the plane to go straight to MD Anderson for the first round of Radiation treatment.  Throughout our journey we were encouraged by a picture the Jerry bravely kept before him. It was a very real picture of he and I in a sail boat out on the sea of Life. The dark clouds were looming overhead the wind was blowing harshly against the sail, the waves were lapping against our boat trying to sink our dreams and future!  But in the midst of the dark clouds and raging waters, Jesus was there and told him to look to the other side and focus his eyes on the shore line. As we did this this, we could see something beautiful & bright awaiting us there. This filled us with courage and joy!  Every day Jerry got up, no matter how he felt, showered, dressed and had a purpose in each day, if even to do a simple task. We ministered to others around us at MD Anderson, preached in churches on weekends, we gave our best to others and it filled us with strength.

At a time when America and the rest of the world were feeling the economic  struggles of the year 2008 we came out on the other side of this enemy called Cancer. We reached the shoreline and the months that followed were nothing short of supernatural! Six months later we headed back to Botswana with a clean bill of health and a mandate to get regular checkups as prescribed by the Oncologist.  Four years later, Jerry continues to remain Cancer free! The enemy is taking some serious blows for this attempt on Jerry’s life and we are walking safely on the shoreline with Jesus!