By Elise Sweeney

The Story of Yonah

“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35).

It was Tuesday, day one of our seven-day medical clinic. This was my first time in Africa and my second medical trip with GFA. The nurses and doctors on the team were busy as usual, diagnosing and treating the patients who had come for help.

As a respiratory therapist, my knowledge and skill set are not as broad as those of some other medical professions but more focused and specialized. I had been jumping in to help where I could, doing malaria testing, pregnancy testing, ear irrigations, and the occasional respiratory consultation. Little did I know that the Lord had a special little patient for me. God had put together this team and knew exactly who would be needed on this trip.

Late in the morning, one of the people triaging the patients brought me a little nine-year-old boy named Yonah. He looked visibly unwell and was working hard to breathe. I listened to his lungs and checked his heart rate and oxygen level. His O2 was a bit low; his heart and respiratory rates were high, and he had a pair of very wheezy lungs. I did a nebulizer treatment, gave him an inhaler to take home, and asked his dad to bring him back again Wednesday.

Day two of the clinic came, and Yonah and his dad returned. Yonah looked worse than the day before. He was listless and still struggling to breathe. I placed the oximeter on his finger. His oxygen reading was 83%, much too low for a child or even an adult. A normal oxygen reading for a child should be greater than 94%. His lungs sounded worse despite the treatment the previous day and the inhaler he took in the morning before arriving at clinic.

In North America this child would have been rushed to the emergency room, but in Zambia, things work a bit differently. Yonah would first have to travel to a local clinic to be seen by a doctor. If the doctor at the clinic decided it was necessary, Yonah would need a referral to be seen at the hospital in Chipata. Most people in this part of Zambia either walk or ride a bike to get to and from places, and unless we were to drive Yonah to the clinic, this would take much too long.

The team huddled for a brainstorming session. We decided to give him several oral medications to combat the asthma exacerbation and then see him in clinic again the next day. We would most likely be able to provide better care than what he would receive in a local clinic or hospital. Two nebulizer treatments later, he was given instructions to take the prescribed medications and come back again tomorrow.

By Thursday, Yonah’s vitals were slightly better. We were finally trending in the right direction. While Yonah was getting his now daily nebulizer treatment, I asked one of the evangelists on the team to come with a translator to talk with him and his dad. They went through several Bible stories and clearly shared the Gospel. Yonah’s dad seemed interested and receptive to what was being shared.

And so it continued. Each day I would wait for my special little patient to show up, and every day I would look over and see his little blue and black striped shirt coming my way. Each day he would look a little better, and by Friday I even managed to get a little smile out of him.

Then came the weekend. We would not be holding clinic for the next two days, but we told Yonah and his dad that if they came on Sunday, we could treat him again. I was thrilled to see them both attending church on Sunday where they again heard the Gospel clearly. I pray that these seeds of truth that have been planted will flourish and bring forth fruit.

I continued to see Yonah each clinic day for treatments until we wrapped up our clinic outreach the following Wednesday. The last day of clinic was bittersweet. Looking back to the first day I saw Yonah, he was now markedly improved. He was able to play again with the other children, and the worry that had been clearly present on his father’s face the first day they walked in had eased. Despite Yonah’s improvement, he still has a serious chronic condition that could flare up if not controlled properly. Being out in the village so far from any medical clinic or the hospital, continued and proper treatment would be difficult. We gave Yonah several extra inhalers to use once the initial inhalers ran out, and we provided some environmental/lifestyle teaching with the hope that in the future such a severe asthma exacerbation could be avoided. After seeing Yonah for over a week and being so invested in his treatment, it was hard to see him walk out of the clinic for the last time.

Many times in Jesus’ earthly ministry, we see Him meeting people’s physical needs as a platform to meet their spiritual needs. Medical missions follows this pattern, using the care of the sick as a means to spread the Gospel to people who would perhaps otherwise never be exposed to nor give ear to it—people like Yonah and his father. Even though the care we provide during medical missions trips often seems insufficient, what matters most is that the Gospel is being given to those who need a Savior. What truly lasts is not the care we give to the physically sick but the truth of the Gospel that is given to the spiritually needy.