Despite what is going on the rest of the world, the hospital here is bustling with construction activity including a new surgical building, new houses and supporting structures. It is beacon of hope in this remote community.
But, buildings
and construction are not the only things bringing hope. We were very excited
to meet new and veteran national and international colleagues and their families who like
us, have also come to support the hospital. This includes a Malagasy surgeon and
his wife who moved to the hospital to help support the surgical department and
future training. His arrival gives us the minimum number of surgeons we need to train surgical residents and we look forward to this spring as
the details of a surgical training at the Good News Hospital will be determined. Our team is a truly multinational team.
We can honestly say that we are excited to be learning a new language (in fact, the wife of the Malagasy surgeon is our teacher) and yet it is humbling to feel like a child again! But we know that as our
capacity to communicate in Malagasy increases, so does our capacity to better support the work and build relationships. Most patients and those in the community do not speak french so
understanding the local language is vital for building relationships and working.
On Sunday we attended a small local
church a short walk from the hospital. As we expected, it was almost all in Malagasy. We were just thankful to recognize a Malagasy number when they listed the
song numbers. What we didn’t expect was when the choir and congregation
attempted to sing a song in english. What an encouragement and joy to worship God in two
languages together even when we don't speak each other's language....yet!
When I read about the life of Christ, I can’t help but see two essential and integral aspects of His ministry. The first was His message of hope - the Gospel. But the second, which validated the gospel, was His life. He helped the suffering through healing, the hungry through feeding and the downcast with encouragement.
This is the hope we want to reflect and we need to live it! Jesh
