Coming to a Close and Gypsy

Many of you are aware of my recent decision to step down as Director of CHS.  This was a decision that has taken us many months to come to, and one that was done with prayer and careful thought.  I do enjoy my work here in Pakistan, and the friendships I have developed here will last me a lifetime.  God’s presence and blessings on this institution reminds me how much he loves me.  No matter how bad I can be, He always brings me back to Him when I allow Him.

 

I will be working with World Witness and the NFHS Board in the interim to hire a new director.  I have offered to stay on indefinitely after the interim director period ends, to assist with hospital fundraising, IT Support, and administrative research and analysis.  The hospital has a lot of unmet potential and I would love to be able to continue serving (as a volunteer) if allowed.

 

Today was a very special day for me.  I came to the chapel for our morning devotions, these lasts about 20 minutes.  After the devotion was over, Gypsy came up to me and smiled at me, then gave me a huge hug.  He tried to talk to me (which he has never done), and then he started crying.  Gypsy is a VERY special person to me, and everyone here at the hospital knows it.  I think he knows I will be leaving.  My heart is sad today because I will miss him.  I will miss a lot of things here.  But, my priorities are God, family and work in that order.  I will be back at CHS, I don’t know when or how, but I will be back.

 

But for now, I will move forward and know that I  will leave this hospital a little better than when I found it, this was my prayer to God when I started here.  Thank you Lord for loving me and thank you for this opportunity to serve.  I will never forget it!

 

 

Blessings and Coming Home

Wow. The last 4 1/2 months have absolutely flown by and I feel so blessed to have been doing the work here at the hospital. I have witnessed 2 employees lose their father, twin newborn baby girls whose father said we could just throw away because he could not afford them and the many other incredible events I will always remember. The twins mother was very sick and the father was overwhelmed by all of it. He was a day laborer (he worked and brought home daily wages), so they lived in complete poverty. It was very sad. We kept the children and cared for them. They were VERY small (< 2 lbs each) and we provided for them while the parents were away. The mother is still hospitalized in Lahore, but the father and an aunt came to get the children today. I am glad the family is now together again. We were also able to pray and witness to them about the love of Jesus Christ while they were here, God is good!!!

On Saturday, I was able to go to Muzzaffarabad in the Southern Punjab. The hospital was given 20,000 dollars for flood relief victims and we drove down to a village with 14 families (5 widow families), and laid the bricks for each family to have a new house. Their village was destroyed by the recent floods and they are living in tents. They should all have a new house by the end of the year. It was such a blessing to share with them my Christian faith and how we are called to love our brothers and sisters. We ate lunch under a tree, sitting on Charpais (Pakistani rope beds) and enjoying the beautiful day God had given us. What I blessing I was able to witness. Thank you First Presbyterian Church of Columbia and Word and Deed Ministries of Canada. We have given 14 families new houses and 50 families food for 1 month and 100 beds (and bedding). They will all be warm during the winter.

Well, we leave for the States on Thursday. We are all very homesick and are looking forward to being home for the holidays. Please continue to pray for our family as we are reunited again with Christian and we travel 9,000 miles to HOME.

Love to All!

Len B

Thanksgiving

Yep, the reality of missing Thanksgiving at home this year is beginning to hit us. We are trying to plan what we can do to make it a fun day for ALL of us. We will have us, the Fogus’ and Dr. Susan around. Wendy is thinking a roasted chicken. No way are we going to find a turkey.
As I look at Facebook posts and see the differing things people are thankful for, I collect my thoughts and think on what I am most thankful for. I do believe it is that my family is healthy, my family all believes in Jesus Christ and we are doing what He is calling us to do. We have had some amazing adventures over the last year and for that God granted us peace and safety. The work I do indirectly helps about one hundred thousand people annually. They hear all about the good news and the love of Him.
There is some short term sacrifice on our part, but for the most part it is definitely for the Long Term Gain! Well, it’s late and I need to go to bed. Please continue to pray for us. Please continue to lift up our financial needs in your prayers. I believe our support is low and we need more partners who will get on fire for God and support foreign missions. We are changing lives, one patient at a time!

len

Flood Relief

Although I am sure the U.S. media is not reporting on this any longer, a large portion of Pakistan is still devastated by the flood. Many of the victims have returned to their home, but they are sleeping in their tents. With winter approaching, the misery just continues.
The hospital has been given a special donation from First Presbyterian Columbia to help with the flood relief. Although they have been the only ARP church who has offered money for the flood relief through World Witness, I know there are many ARP’s who have prayed for the country of Pakistan during this difficult time. We were able to take the First Pres. donation and have partnered with The Brethren Group in the city of Multan. Multan is very close to the flood areas. The Brethren Group had previously developed a very organized system and census of the are to help distribute aid and funds. We were able to give 50 families= 2 beds, 2 full set of bed sheets and comforters, enough commodities of food for 1 month and cooking oil for 1 month. We distributed the aid to the majority community and they were so thankful for our work . They said that the Christians were the first ones to respond to their need. Praise The Lord!
I am giving you some pictures of the distribution. I just heard we received a LARGE donation from a group out of Canada. We will work to either distribute more food and bedding or maybe we can start building some houses. God is so good! Please pray that we help as Jesus helps and that the love of Christ is shown through our actions!

Len

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Her Eyes

I don’t know if it were her eyes that hit me when I walked into the room, but there was something terribly strange going on with this girl. I try to make eye contact with all our patients. I can tell alot from people just by the way they look at you. She had a blankness and the most despair of anyone I had seen here in the 3 years I have been coming.
She was in our female ward where we have 4 beds in one room. She appeared to be around 12 or 13 years old. She was wearing a hospital gown (which is NOT common). Most of our female patients keep their Shawal Kameez on due to privacy. She sat on the side of the bed, staring at the wall that was about 12 inches in front of her. Sister Zareena was with me and I asked what this girls problem was. I noticed the burn scars all over her lower back (which is also common in this country). Sometimes by accident, the ladies clothes will catch on fire while they are cooking. If you have ever worn these clothes, there is so much fabric to keep up with and it is NOT flame retardant! Sometimes, the burns are not by accident. They are indicative of torture or abuse, which I suspect was this girls story.
Sister Zareena informed me in a low whisper that this girl is married. I nearly lost it. My response was a resounding “WHAT????”. She told me that an older man (who came in while I was there- he looked to be around 50) had married her. Actually, this girls brother and he were friends and they swapped younger sisters to marry. I know, it makes you want to step outside and vomit. But, such is the case here in this country. I asked the nurse supervisor how old this girl was, she said “oh I don’t know, 20.” I said NO! This girl is a child! The nurse just shrugged and said “Oh, I don’t know.” and walked away.
I cannot get this girl out of my mind. I know she will die early in life. I know we are probably the only place this girl will ever hear about a father who loves her. A place where a father will wrap his arms around her in love and not hurt her. My prayer for her is that we provided a safe place for her, if only for a few days, where she truly felt some peace.

This situation is very common among these people. Well, more common than not. There are no social services here in this country. Well, maybe a slight trace but it is all driven by money and media. You can get social justice, but the value of this girl’s life and her situation worth nothing to these people. She is a girl, she is worthless.

Please when you lay down tonight, remember this young girl and the many in this country in her situation. They are some of the reasons I dedicated my time to come here, to work and to serve. They are the special ones who only hope for death, so that they can find peace. The torment is all around them and my hope is that we showed her true light and love while she was here.

In Him,

Len

So September is almost over.. where did the time go???

I am not sure what happened to the month of September, can someone tell me if October stole it away???   This has been a month that has been very productive and yet unproductive.  You know, it’s one of those months where you got things accomplished, but it wasn’t really what you had in mind.

We have so much to look forward to in October.  My dear friend Dr. Jane Jennings is coming  to Pak with my other dear friend Dr. Susan McCollum.  They are both part time volunteers at the hospital.  Jane and I have grown so close over these last few years, and she is a dear and sweet granndmotherly type to me and my children. She is one of those people who you know truly LOVES you.  It’s nice to have those people in your life.

I will update the children.  Christian is sleeping tonight under the stars in the Himalayan Foothills.  The 10th grade class has gone on a hike this weekend and he went with them.  He is enjoying this school year so much!  I knew he would, and yet we are so sad he is so far away. Jesse, Hollis and Derek are all doing okay. They rode on a donkey cart today, which made their day. Derek’s handmade bunk bed was delivered today (on a donkey cart) and after it was unloaded all the kids (plus Nannette Howard and Carlie Howard) rode on the cart around the compound.  They were having so much fun and it was fun to see them enjoying themselves.  They get torn emotionally here.  They really miss some aspects of home, yet when they find something here they enjoy, they REALLY enjoy it.  Jesse told Wendy the other day that he would like to come back here when he is older.  I hope he does just that too.  Although this place can be intimidating at times, there is so much goodness we see here.  Please pray for our family that we continue to follow God’s will for our life and that He continues to bless us as he has done thus far.  What an awesome God we serve!

Wendy is doing okay. She gained some experience the last time we were here, and she is definitely using it to her advantage this year.  She is cooking more, seems less stressed out about things, and as she told me today, “She is taking it day by day”.  I will take that as a positive

The hospital is doing really well.  The work, focus and direction that we have given to it is paying off. That hospital has so much potential in the ARP church and the majority of our 38,000+ members really don’t have a clue about it’s greatness!!  We are making a difference is people’s lives both spiritually and physically.  One quick example.  One of the doctor’s shared this story with me:  A patient came into the hospital for his regular check up and he told about how he was a secret believer.  He had been a patient of ours before, and the hospital made an impact on him, and he decided to forego his religion, and take up the cross.  Now, he is a secret believer, because he would probably be killed if he came out as a follower of Christ.  But he wanted to share it with the doctor , I find this amazing.  How many of our patients are secret believers, or have become secret believers because of this hospital?  I know of one!  Praise The Lord!!

I need to go, please know that we are doing well.  Our support is still below where it should be.  If you should feel the desire to help in our work here, please partner with us and send your support to World Witness c/o Branham Support One Cleveland Street, Suite 200, Greenville, SC 29601.

Thanks and God Bless!

What the heck was that

On the way to the hospital this morning, I knew my day was going to be difficult from the start. I left the compound, and realized I forgot something. I had to trudge back and then restart my walk to the hospital. Then as I cross into the mission school (a shortcut to the hospital), I step in mud and sink up to my soles of my shoes. So I spend a few minutes on the bricks, trying to get the mud off my feet. Then as I walk between the MLPS hostel and the hospital (short outside hallway), a crow attacks me. Seriously, what the heck was that?? I come to find out Dr. Belding had been attacked yesterday by some crows. It seems they are very protective over injured crows, and one of their buddies is injured on the other side of the fence. I guess you could say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. These dang crows are vicious! So mom, don’t worry about terrorists, they have nothing on these crows here!

Freedom and Wheat

On a more humorous note: we were all playing cards last night and Derek slammed down his matches and in his cocky boldness announced “FREEDOM AND WHEAT”….  I’ll let you figure this one out.  I fell out in the floor cackling!

Action and Reaction!

There are times here I think, “God, thank you for this experience”.  Then there are the other times where I say, “God, WHY DID YOU SEND ME HERE?????”.  The last 2 times we have been here as a family, crazy things have unfolded.  The latest is this Qu’ran burning issue.  We all have our opinions about the issue but here are the facts.  If the Qu’ran is burned and the burning is taped, there will be problems for ALOT of people.  It will probably amount to war to the millions of Muslims who hold this book in sacred status.  NO, it doesn’t matter that our Bible is burned.  No,it doesn’t matter that these that say we shouldn’t burn someone’s religious book never open their mouths when a Bible is burned.  That is not the issue here.  The issue is that there are millions of national and expat Christians and servicemen/women who are in harms way directly.  My advice to those who want to make a statement by burning the Qu’ran:  Take a flight to Mecca today, stand at the holy mosque and try this.  Take your family and church members who want to go, and stand before the “guilty” and burn it.  That will will give your actions substance!  This will REALLY show them.  Just pray for us that all this will pass.  That all actions will be minimal.  God will protect and guide us.

Hard to Believe…..

It’s hard to believe that 5 weeks have passed since we last saw HOME.   We have had some very interesting moments so far.  The last few weeks have been very busy.  We have had so many people come to Sahiwal since we have arrived in August, and are expecting more this fall.  God is good!

Christian is doing fine in boarding school.  He is enjoying his time to himself (without us), although Wendy and I feel “cracked”.  We are having a tough time not seeing our boy every day.  He calls us on Monday nights and has lots to tell us.   I think he is doing okay in school.  They “complain” that he is a little too laid back…..  hmmm really?????

The other 3 are doing fine with homeschooling.  Jesse and I play volleyball almost every night.  He is really getting good at it, as long as I can keep him from slipping and hitting like a Pakistani….  Other than this, we are okay.  We have expanded our menu selections, so we have more choices (less Pakistani meals and more homestyle meals).

We are almost finished with the Ramadan season and Eid is approaching, life will get back to normal.  We are being a little more cautious during these days because of a misguided fool in Florida, but other than that.. We are used to being cautious due to the misguided fools in Washington, but not in Florida…..  We will be okay… Prayerfully, 9/11 will pass, and there won’t be much to discuss next week.

Wendy is settling in okay.  She told me she is settling in a little better this time.  We are all working harder to make life more like normal.  She brought some western clothes, and wears them on Thursday so she can have some “normalcy” to her life.  We let the help off on Thursday so she can have  ”be free to be me” days.

Interesting life we lead, and the stories we will be able to tell our grandkids, and great grands!  I look forward to telling them about God’s grace and about the wonderful world he has made.

Gotta run,

Peace and Blessings to all!

Len