On Loss

I'm wanting to share about some of the events of this past week but I'm not really sure where to start. I think I've told you a bit in the past about Living Room Ministries (LRM), an organization headed up by my friend Juli. Her hospice building is located between my home and the clinic, literally steps from both my house and the clinic. So even though I'm not an official part of the LRM team I find myself regularly getting involved.

This past week one of William's relatives was admitted to LRM for hospice care. So I've been even more involved than usual. After spending several days in the local government hospital, it was finally determined that his cancer had spread to several key organs and was untreatable. Hospice was recommended. So he came home to The Living Room.

Since his admission I've been consulted on his care and have assisted with several treatments (including the placing of a nasal-gastric tube and syringe-suctioning his stomach contents).

On Saturday one of the family members came to share the salvation message with this man. It was a precious time as both he and his roommate, a precious old man, prayed a sinners prayer in their mother tongue.

This morning he went to be with the Lord. It happened sooner than we expected, but he went peacefully. As the news began to break, the air was filled with the sound of screams of agony and cries of anguish. You see, Kenyans may not be very emotive most of the time, but when it comes to death they grieve hard and fast. It's normal to see women falling on the ground or even going into a catatonic state upon receiving the news that a loved one has died.

It was quickly determined that it was not in the best interest of the other patients to witness the family's demonstration of grief. So the family were relocated to our home. Today we have had dozens of relatives pass by our home to share together in this time of grief. The relative who has passed away is actually from a village a number of hours from here. So William has gone with some of the closest relatives to go break the news to the friends and family in his home village. The home burial will likely take place at his home in a few days. Please join me in praying that Christ's light will shine brightly in our lives during this time of pain and loss for William's family.