Sept. 8, 2019
INVESTING
Ways to INVEST
To help support the Clinic - medical evangelism (read below about many ways you help make a difference) (to run a mobile clinic it is about $3000 per time- we try to do one once every 6 weeks)
https://abwe.org/work/projects/william-lori-smith-medical-clinic
IMPORTANT NEED: We are pursuing getting dual citizenship (US and PNG). Our boys have it. Getting this will help us not to deal with work structures again and allow us more freedom and opportunities with the ministry here. The cost is $5000 per person. So please pray for God to provide this.
https://abwe.org/work/missionaries/william-lori-smith
“We have freedom of choice but no choice of consequences”.
That message rang very clear this week.
We also have the choice of investing our lives not just “spending” them, but we have no promise of the final outcome of our efforts. Investing is based on hope and trust, not promise. Yet our life based on FAITH , the substance of things HOPED FOR and the evidence of things NOT SEEN, demands investment in the UNKNOWN. Jesus, even fully KNOWING the end result of some of His investments, gave Himself fully and invested greatly into to life of the very man who would betray and desert Him. Investment does not always yeild the results we would desire, but it always accomplishes the purpose of the ONE Who rules behind and beyond the visible of this world.
Every day we invest our money and energy and our very hearts to the people of our community that come to us with hurts.
Monday afternoon one of the young ladies from the village next door was brought to our clinic on a stretcher. Not a good indicator of hopeful outcomes for sure, when they can not even WALK into the clinic to be treated. When I went over to the stretcher and they pulled back the thin bedsheet covering her, the sheer SHOCK of what I saw brought tears. She has lived next door to our clinic for probably two decades. Her lifestyle was one of promiscuities, and she frequented the clinic for the consequences of her wrong decisions. I had asked her before to test herself for HIV infection, but she never was interested. She wanted fast cures and quick help. Her focus was on enjoying life. All the times I shared lovingly but firmly my concern about her life choices, she just tuned me out. She tuned me out until MONDAY. Tears on the face of a skeleton frame….pleading for relief from the eight months of endless diarrhea, the horrible cough of Tb and the painful pressure sores from her bones rubbing against her skin with NO fatty tissues left to cushion them. She was pitiful, and all I could do was hug her and cry. This time she not only let me test her blood, but her family insisted that I did. I did not even need to look at the result to KNOW, it was positive. She had AIDS. I held her tiny frame in my arms and cried with her, then I shared again the glorious message of VICTORIOUS HOPE. The promise of FORGIVENESS. THE reality of ETERNAL LIFE given as a FREE GIFT if she would just trust in the same JESUS that saved me. They carried her off with a huge bag of gloves, underpads and adult diapers, pain and diarrhea medications and dressing supplies. My heart knowing she would never use all the supplies I had given….but it gave some hope of relief to her and her family. I went to visit her the next day to see how they were fairing. Again, I shared the message of HOPE in JESUS. Friday I was hoping to visit her again. My visit was delayed as it was the last day of our student nurses and we needed to share our evaluation with them. By the time I was finished up, her dad showed up at the clinic. The teary eyes told the story before his words had to form the words. SHE WAS GONE. I held her daddy and we cried. I had the hard job of telling him that they needed to move very quickly to get her body into the ground. She would decompose very quickly. Her bedding and mattress and clothes were all contaminated with infected body fluids and they would also need to be burned. How to tell a man that the body of his beloved child needed to be quickly placed in the ground…….no cultural wailing and holding the body day upon day while mourning the loss…..but reality of her choices brought consequences for more than just herself….we are truly NOT an ISLAND. Her family is hurting.
We have loved on this family over the years. WE have shown them JESUS in as many ways as we could think to do. Her dad loves dogs so I gave him one of my dog’s puppies. They had rat infestation in their home so I gave them one of our kittens. I have delivered their grandbabies and have cared for their illnesses. Yet now, in this most painful time, perhaps our gift of food for their time of mourning…..our hugs and care of their dying daughter….perhaps now the investment of years will come to a really great eternal reward? WE can only hope…and PRAY!
WE invested our lives and time and money …..and nights of sleep…..to look out for a little baby girl whose mommy lost her way, mentally, for a while. Our Vito was such a fun little sunshine in our home these last months. How precious she was all dressed in sweet pink and ruffles. My pink flower in our “man house”, is now gone. Her mommy responded to treatment. She is calm and thinking clearly again. WE have prayed and worked hard to help her get to this place of normalcy again…….but the investment was costly. WE invested our hearts. Our saddness of missing our Vito is greatly overshaddowed, however, by the joy of her mommy finally able to hold her baby girl again. In the fog of her confusion and mental instability she KNEW her baby was GONE. She searched and sought her baby….but her family felt she would hurt Vito. Out of love for VITO they brought her to our home for care. TODAY Sani’s world became right again. She left with a huge smile….and her precious baby girl snuggled in her arms. I sent a huge bag of lovely PINK home with them….I will miss my little pink rose bud. We shared the GOSPEL with them again today. WE pray that our hearts given completely, and our time and money and sleep that was given as a love sacrifice in caring for her will have eternal fruit. We can only hope….and PRAY.
Every day I see the consequence of choices. Kese is a neighbor I have seen so many times. He spent his life in search of instant gratification. I don’t think I ever had seen him not intoxicated and without bettlenut juice running out of his mouth. He was always a happy drunk……but his lifestyle has quickly stolen his joy. He has end stage tongue cancer from the betlenut drug he continually poisoned his body with. His tongue was so massive from the tumor inside that he no longer can close his mouth, swallow food or talk. The massive tumor now making it difficult to even breathe. He is terrified….he is dying…..he is feeling the full consequence of choices made that were unwise. I tried to share the GOSPEL with him again but he is struggling to breathe and his attention is now consumed by panic. He will die soon…..probably unprepared to meet the GOD he will stand before. YET we still invest. We will still lovingly care for him trying to keep him as comfortable as possible. We can only hope……and PRAY.
Rubby and I have invested much effort and time the past four weeks with three nursing students doing their clinical with us. We have both shared Jesus with each one. They have heard the GOSPEL every day at our clinic boldly proclaimed in the morning devotions, and quietly and lovingly shared in our private exam rooms. THEY have seen HOW we care and WHY we care…..they spent the day of mobile clinic with us watching us give ourselves fully to reach people in need of JESUS even more than physical help. WE have invested. Their time has come to an end. Each one stated the past weeks were the most educational and more challenging and favorite weeks of their nursing education journey…but will what they heard, saw and experienced bring eternal changes in their lives. Will they come to know JESUS, too? WE can only hope….and PRAY (for RITA, SANDY and SHADRACH)
INVESTING is done in hopes of having a final outcome of profit in some way! What a joy it is to KNOW that as we invest our lives…..our time…..our money…..our strength…..our hearts…..in the ministry GOD has given us, we are PROMISED that His Word and WORK will not be made VOID!
PLEASE continue to invest in our ministry:
- PRAY for our baby Andrew as he continues to grow and develop. WE know that the time of his transition back to his parents is soon. Our hearts ache with the reality of that very huge pain awaiting us when that time comes. The total transformation of his mom and dad….his WHOLE FAMILY…..has been amazing to watch. His uncle now has COME to JESUS, too. The circle of influence of drastic life change is growing for GOD’s glory! The pain will be worth it, but for now….we still cuddle hiim each precious moment we still have him knowing GOD’s GRACE will be enough for that hard time coming!!
- PRAY for our VITO that she can transition well back into her family. Pray for John, Sani and Eii (the first wife) to know JESUS! PRAY as we miss her deeply.
- PRAY for the container to be released from CUSTOMS and for safe shipping to GOROKA this week.
- PRAY for our physical safety as the Independence Day celebration of PNG approaches. IT is a time of a huge festival bringing thousands of people to our town of GOROKA, and flooding us also with those coming with dark motives of stealing and looting. PRAY for our wisdom and discernment as we travel around doing daily business. Pray for protection of ourselves and our campus as well.
- PRAY for continued health and protection of Dad. He is truly LOVING PNG and he is thriving. WE are trying to get an extention of his visa now that our visa is approved for the next three years. PRAY for all those details to work out well.
- PRAY ALSO as we need to start the application process for our citizenship. As the open door for missions in PNG starts to creek closed and the environment of freedom of the GOSPEL begins to change, our urgency to be permanently able to stay here and minister, even after our retirement age, increases. THE needs here are SO great. Our relationships here are so deep as this truly has become our home. WE desire to see GOD use us here until HE returns or takes us home…..but that takes a huge step of faith and effort now. PLEASE PRAY GOD PROVIDES and GIVES us our PNG citizenship. (NEEDED $5000 EACH)
We have committed to following JESUS and using our lives each day investing in all those HE brings our way for the furtherance of the GOSPEL!! Investment costs……but the cost is worth it as our HOPE is sure!
No reserves. NO retreats. NO REGRETS. Fearless. Faithful.
Bill, Lori, the boys and dad.
