Nodding Disease and Hope

I've read several articles about nodding disease from various news outlets in the past month. Of course I have a particular interest since Mundri is one of the three places in East Africa where children are being diagnosed with nodding disease. I have seen it first hand. Scott even wrote a post about nodding disease in Mundri last year.

The words in the most recent article on BBC News really impacted me. Uganda's Nodding Disease: I've Lost Hope

One mother of two children with nodding disease is quoted in the article, and she says "I've lost hope. I'm just taking care of Sarah and Moses like flowers in the home knowing they are of no use in the future."

Tears came to my eyes. These communities have been devastated by war for decades. Now, just as they are developing and recovering, their children, their hope for a better future, are suffering from a slow burdensome disease that caries a significant societal stigma for the family.

It breaks my heart to think of these children, whose mother had to make the decision to tie them to a tree for their own safety so that she could go work in her garden to provide food for those very children and the rest of her family.

What I feel in my heart as I pray for those who are suffering from nodding disease is hard to express in words. It is a thousand things coming together. A thought, an image, a word, a verse.... each overlapping with the other like a collage that comes together to form a larger picture. It is hope, suffering, God's sovereignty, injustice, beauty, sin, love, the already and not yet Kingdom of Jesus Christ, doubt, faith.... It is all of those things and more. Together as I step back, it is the Gospel, which changes everything.

My life has been easy, especially when compared to Betty's life. Even still my sinful selfish heart tries to take control and protect my security and comfort. It isn't easy to hope in a world where evil exists. Hoping, loving, having faith makes you vulnerable to pain and suffering.

I don't know Betty. I wasn't there when she said she had lost hope to hear her whole story. I don't know what she believes about Jesus Christ. I pray for her children to be healed, but if in God's sovereignty they are not healed, I pray that there will be a day when she will be with her children, whole and perfect, in heaven.

I know also that part of the reason tears came to my eyes is that I long to be there. I miss Mundri. I long to be a part of that community as they pray for a cure and look forward to a day when there will be no more disease.

Part of my calling as a missionary to share the things I have seen with my friends and church family in America. There is suffering, injustice, death, and sin in every part of the world, but East Africa has a special place in my heart, so I'm sharing this with you in the hope that today you will pray for the communities affected by nodding disease. Also pray for wisdom and continued funding for the doctors and scientists who are studying the disease.

Speaking of hope, if you haven't already, you should read these two beautiful blog posts on the subject.

The Weight of Hope - ParadoxUganda
Unanchored - ParadoxUganda