If you follow us on Facebook then you know about a little ill boy from Mpyupyu who suffers from a yet unknown disease that affects his quality of life.
His name is Siyeni and he is orphan of his father. Without exaggerating at all, we could say he is orphan of both parents, although his mother is alive. The problem is that his mother suffers from a severe mental illness and she is not capable of taking care of herself, much less of someone else. Siyeni was neglected for many years and now he is in the care of his grandfather.
For the most part of his 14 years, Siyeni was not taken to a doctor, he wasn't fed enough and he hasn't received the necessary elementary education. Thus, he can barely communicate and it is hard for him to socialize.
We found Siyeni in the village of Mpyupyu on one of our 2-day Evangelistic Camps with the folks from Jackson, GA. Concerned villagers brought him over to us so that we can see and understand the problem. I attached several pictures here so that you can also see what this boy is going through. His abdominal area is severely swollen and, due to this, he can't control his bowls. He has constant diarrhea and also vomits everything he eats. Probably there are the reasons why he is also severely malnourished.
The villagers who brought Siyeni over to us told me that they don't think he's got much to live, and the doctors we later took him to basically confirmed the same thing.
Hope for the Future in Malawi is a religious organization, our purpose as missionaries being to take the Gospel to the people of Malawi. We believe that man's greatest need is that of a Savior and thus preaching the Gospel remains priority number one. Still, we read in the Gospels how Jesus Himself took care of people's needs while preaching the Gospel and we intend to do the same, for as long as the main priority remains unchanged. Jesus preached but also fed the hungry. Jesus proclaimed but also healed the sick. With strength from Him, we intend to do the same, because we are called to show our faith through works.
After our team from Georgia left, we brought Siyeni to the Mission House and the very next day we took him to the hospital in Blantyre. Through acts like this one, people in the village can understand on a practical level the love of God towards them.
The hospital in Blantyre is called Queen Elisabeth Hospital and it is a public hospital. I understood that they have good doctors although they lack good medical equipment. Nevertheless, after asking many people here in Malawi, we have concluded that Siyeni should go there.
Siyeni is now admitted and he stays together with many other children, in a big, common room. I saw some laying on the floor of the hospital, but I am happy Siyeni has at least a bed. Sadly, we don't have much information about his condition and it seems the doctors don't know much either. For many days in a row, they've performed enema for the purpose of doing x-rays, but I don't know if they found much. At one point, he was scheduled for exploratory surgery, but it was cancelled on the day of the surgery because Siyeni showed signs of improvement.
That is right, after asking many to pray for him on Facebook, the doctors cancelled the surgery because they saw the swelling going down dramatically. They seem to be happy with the progress and last thing I heard is that they are ready to discharge him from the hospital.
As you may very well know, we have a Feeding programme in Mpyupyu and Siyeni will be included in that programme as soon as he gets back home.
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Pray for Malawi!Labels: hospitals, ministry, missions, prayer requests, sick, Siyeni
