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.