I was on call last night which usually involves at least ONE maternity case. This night was no exception, but there was definitely a new and complicated twist.
This lady, who said she was 7 months pregnant, had been bitten by a snake. The most common snakebites here are from carpet vipers and the venom causes the victim's blood not to clot. So if there are any sores, etc. there is a risk that they will bleed until the anti-snake venom (ASV) kicks in. About 10:30 last night, I got a call that she was bleeding a lot so I ordered an additional dose of ASV and went on with my night-time rounds.
About 2:30 am, I got a call that she had delivered her baby and was bleeding a lot so I went in to see her. Interestingly, the pre-term baby was doing well in the maternity ward. The mother, however, was NOT doing well. She was literally laying in a pool of her own blood. They had put some plastic on the bed underneath her to collect the blood and it was all the way up under her shoulders. She had already been given some anti-bleeding medicine by the mid-wife, but it wasn't helping. We gave her some more medicine to attempt to slow down the bleeding but I was afraid it would not have time to work before she died right before my eyes.
The only "family" she had with here was a man that said she was his friend's mother. I overheard him talking to the nurse and could only understand the words "B-positive" and "A-positive" so I assumed he was asking about a blood transfusion. Hoping he was compatible, I began to quiz him about it. Unfortunately, he was not compatible so I asked him to check with any of her family members he knew to see if they were compatible with her blood since the hospital has no blood bank and it's usually up to the family to provide the blood when a transfusion is required.
We continued to work with the patient as she became unresponsive and began shaking until the friend returned -- empty handed. I asked him what blood type we were looking for and he said "A-positive" . . . same as ME. I told the nurses to keep working with her and I would go check on the blood.
The lab had nothing so I told them I would give her my blood. He quickly went through the screening process to make sure my blood was "clean", then I called the ward to make sure she was still alive before they took my blood. She was! I laid down on the table and he stuck in the needle (Lord, I pray it was clean!). In no time, I was leaving the lab with a bag of my own blood -- still warm. I looked at where I had been stuck and it wasn't bleeding so I put the cotton ball in my pocket.As I walked onto the ward, I felt something warm on my arm. I was bleeding. (Wow, what a dramatic entrance.) The nurses got the blood infusing STAT and I went to clean up. When I returned to the bedside, I realized the family friend was not there. Oh no! I have to find him!
It so happens that I noticed in the chart that she was Muslim, and I assumed her friend was too. Thankfully, I found him not far away in the hospital AND, thankfully, he spoke english. He expressed his deep gratitude for my freewill offering of blood (since usually they would have had to pay somebody for it). I assured him, it was not ME but Jesus IN me. I proceeded to share the news of Jesus Christ with him. I told him that JESUS willingly gave HIS blood to cover our sins -- mine AND his. And that through Jesus' blood he could have assurance of eternal life with God. I also shared with him that many people respect Jesus as a "good prophet" or "good teacher", but that Jesus taught that He was the Son of God. So if we respect his teachings, we must believe that He is who He says He is.
He thanked me for sharing with him and gratefully dismissed himself to return to the ward. When I returned to the ward, I found him standing over his friend smiling because she had turned the corner and was resting. About the same time, I began to hear outside the muslim call-to-prayer broadcast over speakers all over town. We have grown accustomed to hearing it all through the night because they recently finished the month of Ramadan. Ironically, about the same time (4 am) the chaplains began one of their daily devotions broadcast over the loudspeakers in the hospital. It was the story of Jesus healing the blind man who had been blind since birth.
I thought about the muslim man I had just shared with and how HE has been SPIRITUALLY BLIND since birth. Although, I so wanted him to receive the free gift of Christ at that very moment, the Holy Spirit reminded me that I had done what I could do. That is, merely share Christ. I could faithfully leave God's Word in the hands of God's Spirit to continue its work in his heart.
As of this morning, the lady is still alive, although very weak. She still needs more blood. Her premature baby is miraculously alive and well on no life support!
Please pray that:
- This muslim man will surrender his will and his life to God.
- That the lady will recover and be able to hear the truth about Jesus Christ.
- That God will reveal to us how we can most effectively be strong witnesses to the muslim community here. We claim Acts 1:8 that says you WILL be witnesses to . . . the ends of the earth.
- That the infant will grow to know of the miracle of her life and that she will give glory to Yahweh God (not Allah) and the blood of Jesus Christ for her survival.
Following . . . .
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