Moro's Muslim Daughter with Asthma

Juliana writes concerning a house call here in Kumasi recently...

A friend introduced me to Moro, a hard working Ghanaian man that makes his living as a driver. After we exchanged the usual greetings in Twi, Moro apologetically asked me if I could help his 10 month old daughter, who had been sick for almost eight months. After listening to his description of what seemed to be asthma, I asked him if he could take me to the child. And so we drove, through thick traffic, into a highly impoverished area of Kumasi, where old colonial style buildings that once stood tall, were overtaken by chaotic urbanization. We walked into this compound, a typical Ghanaian home, where many families share the same building in a very small area. Moro’s daughter was playing with an empty bottle and a wooden spoon, crawling from one side to the other on the dirt, surrounded by many other children. I could not help but notice the amazement in some of the moms’ eyes, or the amusement in others, in seeing this auburoni (Twi word for ‘person from a distant land’) walking into their home with a doctor-basket (my local version of a doctor briefcase). After examining this content malnourished little girl, and hearing her story from her mom, I sat down with them to talk. Now picture me sitting in this very dusty and moldy room, using all my vocabulary in Twi trying to explain to them not only how to treat, but also how to keep their daughter from having asthma attacks so often. In a place where access to information is a luxury, they seemed to eat every word in an attempt to help their baby to grow strong. Afterwards, I was invited to share a meal with their next door neighbor and did so: cooked green plantain and kantumere (local version of mashed turnip greens) with lots of palm oil. Right there, sitting on the dirt (they insisted on bringing me a chair, although none of them were using one), using our hands to eat from the same bowl, I understood more about Jesus’ love. As for Moro’s daughter, please pray that this precious little girl will grow strong not only in her body, but also in the knowledge of the Holy Spirit as her parents find salvation in our Lord.

Let us run with Perseverance the race marked out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus… (Hebrews 12:1)