by Tina | Dec 1, 2015 | Devotional
Today is December 1. World AIDS Day. Here at GECHAAN we have been working for the past two months preparing to get the word out about HIV/AIDS and raise awareness. It is a wonderful opportunity as we are free to go around our whole community and “preach” AIDS awareness outside our clinic walls.
Despite major advances, HIV/AIDS remains one of the world’s most significant public health challenges, particularly in low and middle income countries, with new diagnoses every year and young women in sub-Saharan Africa seen as being particularly at risk.
World AIDS Day on December 1 is used to unite people in the fight against HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus first identified in 1984, to show their support for people living with HIV and commemorate those who have died.
The member countries of the United Nations agreed in September to a new set of global goals to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
Here are some facts about AIDS in 2015 with data from the World Health Organization, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, and UNAIDS:
- Globally about 36.9 million people are living with HIV including 2.6 million children
- An estimated 2 million were infected in 2014
- An estimated 34 million people have died from complications or infections due to HIV or AIDS, including 1.2 million in 2014
- The number of adolescent deaths from AIDS has tripled over the last 15 years
- AIDS is the number one cause of death among adolescents in Africa and the second among adolescents globally
- In sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest prevalence, girls account for 7 in 10 new infections among those aged 15-19
- At start of 2015, 15 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy compared to 1 million in 2001
- Despite widespread availability of HIV testing, only an estimated 51 percent of people with HIV know their status
- The global response to HIV has averted 30 million new HIV infections and nearly 8 million deaths since 2000
- In 2015, Cuba was the first country declared to have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV
by Tina | Nov 19, 2015 | Devotional
This week I am excited about Thanksgiving. Last Thanksgiving we were in Nigeria, but we were so busy getting ready to leave for the States for Nigeria’s elections, we did not do anything different or special, we just kept on working. Well, this year we get to have Thanksgiving with American friends who are also missionaries in Nigeria! I am so excited! It is fun and encouraging to get together with others who are in the same boat as you and not in your home country. I will miss our family so much, but am thankful for the expanded family God has given us here in Nigeria and the chance to celebrate His goodness, protection, and care as we gather and share stories about what God is doing in our respective home states in Nigeria.
Thursday when you gather with friends and family, remember this does not need to be the only time you display “Thankfulness”. Something I have tried for years is to display an “attitude of gratitude”. I know this sounds Oprahish, but it is so true. Truly being grateful and content in your spirit for all life has for you and the provisions God has given us is a lifestyle. A simple choice and then a lifestyle, that’s all it takes!
My thought for today is this: This Thanksgiving START living with an attitude of gratitude. Start that day out being thankful for the electricity or gas to cook your turkey, the ability to gather as a family, the sister that always annoys you, or the cousin who is too obnoxious for words. Draw a line in the sand and say, “from this day forward I will live in gratitude”.
by Tina | Nov 13, 2015 | Devotional
I have been puzzling on this the past couple of weeks and I want to share it with you.
How is it that when you have lived most of your life in Minnesota, half of the time in the Pine River area, and half in Brooklyn Park area, besides the cultural differences in just moving from country to city, you feel this is home. That is how we still feel, that both Pine River and Brooklyn Park are our home.
THEN…. God leads you to move to Nigeria, a people you do not know, a culture you do not know, so many things you do not know. We have never had a heart particularly for the Nigerian people, as many missionaries do before they are called to go, they love and relate to their called people group. I have always felt drawn to ANYONE who is hurting and hated the injustices in this World, we knew just the normal things that most Americans know about HIV/AIDS – basic information to us. A seemingly random match, leaving God out of the picture.
How does God build additional family in your heart? In about a year, God has implanted the people we work with, the people we serve, and the work here in Nigeria in our hearts so much that when we were back in the States for Dan’s fathers home-going celebration, although grieving and busy helping Dan’s mom with things and getting some things done, we also missed our Nigerian co-workers and work (although Dan did much work over the phone and internet).
How can it be when you are away from one family you miss the other, and then when you are away from the other family you miss the first? I finally realized this week while I was teaching a Bible Study on Fruits of the Spirit, that it is the Holy Spirit that has made this change in our hearts. It is not humanly possible.
Kind of like before I had our second child, I wondered how I could ever love someone as much as I loved our first child. Then I had that child and I loved him the moment I saw his little, tiny face. Although the two children are different, you love them the same amount.
It helps me realize that we think this “home” is here on Earth. God is just preparing us for our next home. “I’m just a passing through”, words to a song we have sung so many times now makes more sense to me now. God is preparing us for our next home.
Thought for Today: Are there opportunities in your life to “build your family”, areas to serve, people to reach out to that you are missing because you are stuck in a mindset that, “my life is full, it’s just how I want it”. To quote Rick Warren, “It’s not all about you”. Even though YOU are the one that benefits.
by Tina | Nov 4, 2015 | Devotional
Earlier this week I had a day when I was sad, disappointed, over-whelmed, and mad!
The thing that happened was ANOTHER baby was diagnosed HIV+. This is not a rare occurrence around here unfortunately. It happens at least 5 times weekly. You see, Mother to Child Transmission (MTCT) is the number one way new cases of HIV/AIDS are transferred now. There has been much information and testing, and sensitization, BUT these poor innocents, through no fault of their own, have to deal with this for their whole life, however long that may be (remember 1 in 2 does not make it to the age of 5 in our part of Nigeria). The mother found out she is Positive as well. This is typically how we get to test the babies. After the mother gives birth, she may get or stay sick for a while, THEN they come in to see what the problem is. After the mother is diagnosed, we test the baby, and the spouse if they will accept being tested.
You see, it makes me sad and angry that women do not have easy access to quality health care. Treating a HIV+ woman while she is pregnant, and then right after the baby is born, treating the baby reduces the risk of the baby being HIV+ to only 1%. It makes me angry that this is not a priority in such remote places all over the world. Such an easy fix, right?
Well, pray with me friends, that during the time we are here, we at GECHAAN can truly help people understand the importance of pre-natal care. That we can show Jesus, to these hurting families, and disciple true followers of Christ. If the woman would have been tested while pregnant, her baby had a 99% better chance of not dealing with this for life.
The challenges are so many, but as Dan reminds me frequently, “We can only touch those that God puts in our path”. You see, friends, when you see so much need and such a different culture, you want to “fix” it all. We can’t. I need to remind myself daily, Pray like it depends on God, and work like it depends on us.
I know God has a plan, I need to wait on his time-table and schedule. Being American, I am not a good waiter!
My point for today is this:
Rather than being overwhelmed, bring it to Your Heavenly Father. He is the only one who can truly “fix” any situation.
by Tina | Oct 30, 2015 | Devotional
Friends, this week I was once again reminded of how God puts people and circumstances into our lives and how we react to them contributes to our growth as individuals.
I guess what I’m getting at is that the things that God has “planted” deep in our hearts, really without thought on our part is God-given and will be with us throughout our lives.
This is what I was reminded of this week after the second visit of a mom who gave birth to quadruplets in her home with only family to help her, the family decided that she should bring the babies and herself into the Clinic after one of the babies died at about 2 months old because the mother was not able to make enough milk to sustain all 4 babies with her nutritional level (this is typical in our very rural area of Nigeria) the access and availability of care as well as believing that going to a hospital or clinic will be beneficial to you or your baby (or babies in this case). Also, as it is a poverty-stricken area, the funds for care are prioritized. Frequently, unless you are VERY sick you don’t visit a medical center for treatment. Okay that is the background, now on to what God reminded me of!
Back in late 80’s early 90’s I was blessed with a friend named Helen Eveland. I loved Helen, she was a wonderful servant of God who served in Hawaii as a missionary for many years. When she retired, she came back to live in the area she grew up in, Backus MN. Helen had been single and was in her seventies I believe when she finally married another retired missionary. Well, they spent about 9 months or a yearish working with a hospital with pygmy people in Africa somewhere. After they returned back to Backus, Helen told us about her trip. The thing that stood out to me was that a mother had twins at the hospital and one of them died because they only had one blanket. This broke my young mother’s heart and I thought of the cruel injustice of this. My children played with blankets, we had easy access to blankets, they were taken for granted in our lives! Well, I decided I was going to do a blanket drive and send those blankets to the hospital. I was told that frequently when you mail things to Africa they don’t get to their destination, it was VERY expensive for me to send the blankets that the kind ladies at church and families donated for me to send, but I knew if we prayed they would get there. So off I sent them…..and waited!
Three years later receive a letter and a picture from the hospital that I sent the blankets to. It was a picture of them loading up the boxes. EVERY single box made it there to the hospital. They thanked me for the blankets and said they were very welcomed.
Seeing this mother and the three remaining babies reminded me of this similar circumstance that God had placed in my life so long ago!
Friends, there is injustice in this World, but we are not of THIS world. He has called us to touch those that we can touch, to encourage those we can encourage, to pray with those that need prayer. Unfortunately, I have not come up with a plan to eliminate slavery, human trafficking, starvation, or extreme poverty and corruption. But I CAN do something with the people God puts in my path.
My thought for today is this: What is God putting in your life today that is preparing you for tomorrow? 20 some years ago I definitely did not think I would be living in Africa, personally able to do this work He has called us to. HHHHHHMMMMM!!!
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