Category: Hospital Ministry

A Special Time of Life

We had the exciting opportunity of being able to see our little one again with an ultrasound. Perhaps I shouldn’t have eaten candy before going, because the little booger was full of energy, bouncing all around in every direction. And while it was fun to watch, we could hardly hear the heartbeat or get a great picture. I left the doctor’s office giggling with the biggest grin. This little life is such a miracle.

Baby Heller!

Our other little, or not so little, one (Gasher) has become such a handful. In honesty, he is a great puppy; however, lately he has developed a few irrational puppy fears. As of yesterday, he is afraid of the grass. This is just dandy for potty time. Ha! He demands lots of attention and has begun to train us in the area of “lack of sleep”. We keep telling ourselves it is good preparation for baby as laziness is ripped out.

In other news, which is very exciting news, the Oncology department is close to moving into the new ward! Hopefully early this week the move will be complete. The new ward is said to have cold and hot water, which is such an added blessing. Technically I believe there are only supposed to be five patients per room, instead of the current situation of all the women in one room, all the men in another room, and all the children and moms in another. Certain things I will believe as I see them, though the new building will, without a doubt, be a huge improvement to where they have been living.

To marry the topics here…

I had the fun opportunity to take my new ultrasound pictures up to the hospital to share with our friends. Many women never get an ultrasound, and most of the children have never seen one. It was so special to share our excitement and even a little education for the kids. Some of the women did not know I was pregnant, making it a fun surprise for them. As my tummy grows, they are just overjoyed. We laugh and say that this baby will be Mozambican. One little boy insists it isn’t possible because it will be white. =)

This is such a special time of life; I want to soak it all up.

We love you. Thanks for your constant love and support. Your presence is felt here with us.

August 29, 2010

Layne

Hospital Ministry, Mozambique, Personal

2 comments

Missed a week

A Jon Post

On Vacation

Sorry it’s been two weeks since our last post. We were in Cape Town, South Africa last week enjoying a 2nd year anniversary/babymoon vacation, generously paid for by an anonymous donor. We were able to step back as a couple, spend time together, talk and pray about our future family, relax, eat a lot of good food, and enjoy God’s presence and bounty. We hiked to the top of Table Mountain (an iconic landmark in Cape Town) and videoed ourselves doing a video log but unfortunately the wind covered up the sound and rendered the video useless.
Sorry!

Gasher

On our way back from South Africa to our home here in Maputo we made an addition to our family. We’d like to formally introduce:
Sir Gasherbrum Walter Bonati Heller IV
We just call him Gasher. I won’t give you the whole story to his name but he’s named for an incredible mountain in Northern Pakistan. Gasherbrum is actually part of the Balti language (spoken in Northern Pakistan) meaning “Beautiful Mountain”. Believe me he is beautiful and he will be a mountain of a dog (at only 3 months old he’s already more than 50 pounds. His sire looks like a small horse). Every time we call him “Gasher” we are calling him “beautiful”.

After arriving back home our time back at the hospital has been sweet. It was hard to go away for the time we were in Cape Town without knowing if dear friends we left at the hospital would be alive by the time we got back. One of the men I’ve gotten to know and prayed with often was very sick when we left and left the hospital while we were away to be at home when he dies. It’s hard when we’re not able to say goodbye. With the abundance we’ve seen in our lives and the pain and death we daily see in others lives it forces us to come humbly before our God. So many times people ask “Why me God?” As Layne and I see death’s triumph so often, we find ourselves asking “Why not us God?” We are so sheltered by His mercy and we realize we deserve none of it. It’s not our goodness or our faithfulness to Him that keeps us healthy, fed, safe. In His wisdom and goodness and faithfulness we are provided for. And we know that when we do suffer it’s still in His wisdom, goodness and faithfulness.
“For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows” (2 Cor 1:5).

From Table Mountain

August 22, 2010

Jon

Hospital Ministry, Travel

2 comments

What I see

My wife

A Jon Post

I wish you could see my wife here.
I wish you could all see this incredible missionary you support as she goes.
I wish you could see how she smiles and laughs with a little child who has only months to live, how she leans in and kisses the cheek of a woman covered in sores and smelling of death, how she kneels and communes with a lonely grandmother who has lost whatever shred of hope she had long ago.
I wish you could see… the tears… the tears she cries… and I wish you could hear the compassion in her voice, as she hugs a woman who waits… on the verge of eternity. I wish you could see with me the wordless love passing from Layne’s arms into a dying soul… into God’s beloved child.
I know there are so many of you who are inspired and who seem to like what Layne and I do here. But I’m telling you… I’m telling you…
…if you could only see what I see.

Layne inspires me so much.

She holds fast to the hope she professes… because He who promised… is faithful. He’s so faithful. (Hebrews 10:23).

She holds fast…

Some times it seems like we’re losing this fight, like the grave swallows so dreadfully fast…

But she holds fast.

I wish you could see what I see. This incredibly beautiful woman… finding Christ in the sick and the dying of Maputo Central Hospital.

What a woman.

Many women do noble things… but Layne Heller… she surpasses them all.

August 1, 2010

Jon

Hospital Ministry, Mozambique

8 comments

This Week

A Layne Post

A big part of our week:

This past week a container from Portugal arrived for our partners Jorge and Alice. It was full of wonderful donations of clothes and shoes, both old a new, mattresses, bed frames, etc. for the hospital and local churches. While it is all such a blessing, I do not think anyone could have imagined just how much stuff was coming. After unloading the truck, we all stood amazed and a little speechless. Some has been taken to be stored in other locations, but for now, because we have extra room at our house, we are happy to be a holding place.

Some of the stuff... not all!

Where is Jon?

As for the rest of the week…

It was difficult weeks in the women’s ward this week, as three ladies died. I was not terribly close with any, however, it changes the mood and dynamic of each individual in the room. The fear lingers in the air like a dark ugly cloud, as they all wonder, “Am I next?” And quite possibly, one of them is… It is a hard place to live.

There was one woman named Adeleina. She was one that died this week. I had visited with her twice, this precious woman. The first time I chatted with her, I had no clue how sick she was. She had a beautiful blue headdress on and seemed so upbeat. I was thinking she would be one of my favorites.

The second visit was so different… only a couple days later. She was in so much pain. I held her a bucket for her as she vomited multiple times, little actually coming out. I poured water in her mouth as she would pound on her chest trying to make a little go down, spitting most out a minute later. I helped her get her toothbrush and tooth paste, so she could ferociously scrub the nasty taste out of her mouth, only gagging the whole time. It was hard to watch.

After some time it seemed like the spell passed and peace came to her stomach. Maybe the Lord looked down, heard my prayers, and had compassion on her. She wanted to call someone, but we didn’t have enough credit for a call, only a text. I tried to teach her how to write a text message. I smile now thinking about it. She was a trooper, but I ended up writing the short message for her.

I probably should have visited her more. She wanted juice. I had bought her some, but I never had the opportunity to give it to her. Schedules are hard sometimes. Laziness is ugly sometimes. Nausea is annoying sometimes.

Being pregnant, I am not always feeling good. You know what is funny though? Normally, once I get to the hospital and start visiting, I don’t notice it. The smells that I remember while at home and fear gagging in front of them, yeah, they don’t bother me. When I am there.

The Lord is so good.

He equips us to do His work.

Get up, and trust Him.

July 25, 2010

Layne

Hospital Ministry, Mozambique

6 comments

In Loving Memory

A Jon Post

Yes, we remember him well.

I remember when I played my violin for him and he smiled and clapped along. His eyes lit up as he sang, his little hands keeping rhythm to “Joy to the World”.

I remember when Layne hopped out of our car and he ran up and hugged her tight and called her “Tia Elayna” (Aunt Layne) and held her hand for the next hour.

I remember when he sat with me and slowly rubbed my arm hair, mystified by the strange quantity of hair that grew on my arms.

I remember him smiling often.

I remember returning from Angola and sitting with him on his bed reading a Children’s Bible to him. Showing him all the animals climbing into Noah’s Ark and roaring, tweeting, trumpeting, barking as we pointed at each different animal. Explaining that Zacchaeus was so short so he had to climb a tree to see Jesus pass. Telling him the glorious news that Jesus didn’t stay in that grave he was buried in. Rejoicing with him that Jesus waits for us in heaven.

I remember praying through tears that God would redeem the suffering.

I remember holding his quivering foot as he heaved his little shoulders back for one last tremendous effort to breathe.

I remember feeling him relax and stop fighting.

I remember little José Manuel.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(I Cor 13:3)

See I believe that the reason that love is the greatest of those is that love is all that remains after this life.

Faith – Little José and his faith. He spoke of his faith, that he believed by faith that Jesus truly is waiting for him and that Jesus’ death was what paid the price of his sins.

Hope – Hope is born of suffering and José suffered. He suffered. The tumor that started so small, grew and eventually squeezed his airway shut. The cancer didn’t actually kill him. He suffocated. In suffering, we hope… we hope that there is something greater than this, something beyond this life, something we wait for. In Portuguese the word for hope is the same word for wait. José waited… and he hoped… and he suffered.

Now, José has no more need for Faith or Hope. His Faith in Christ redeemed him from his sins and has made real the salvation of his soul. His Hope for a life beyond this, a life of no suffering, a life of deep breaths, strong legs, big smiles, and immense hugs, has been made real. He doesn’t hope anymore. He doesn’t have faith anymore. He is where he hoped to be and where his faith led him.

Now… he is simply surrounded by love.

He lives… in an endless love.

And though we miss him, though we love him, though we honor him and weep.

We rejoice.

His faith is fulfilled, his hope is real.

And love is all that’s left.

Weep with us dear friends.

Now rejoice.

July 4, 2010

Jon

Hospital Ministry

8 comments