Out of the Hospital

We sent Sister Ward and Elder Church off today. Many, many mixed emotions!! They loved their missions and don't really want to go home, but they realize they need proper medical care. 

 

Sister Ward saying good-bye to her companion, Sister Keitirile. They were companions for an entire week! Sister Keitirile had another surgery yesterday. Hopefully, her last one and soon to be released from the hospital, as well.

Elder Church looking sharp in a new white shirt that we bought for him.

One last incident at the hospital was when they brought wheelchairs for Elder Church and Sister Ward to use. The one Elder Church was put in was ready to fall apart. I said, "He can't use that chair! He needs a different one." Someone said to me, "They know what they are doing. It will be alright. Let them do their job."

"No!" I replied. "That wheelchair is about to break!" Truly the wheels...one in front and one in back were literally ready to fall off! The nurses then recognized that what I was saying was true so they went and got another one. Phew!! If one of the wheels had come off, it would have been disastrous for Elder Church to take a jolt of falling to the ground!

  

All ready to head to the airport where they will meet Elder and Sister Fox, mission area doctors, who will travel with them back to the states. They are not looking forward to the long hours ahead of them.

  

All smiles, but inside, not so! Elder Church is weak but wants to show that he is tough and wanted to stand in these pictures. A scripture that Elder Church said that has brought him comfort through this ordeal was, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

Elder Wantoe wrote an email to his family and gave me permission to share it here. He was one of the people in the car that flipped. It was interesting to read his point of view:

“I can still remember that It was on Monday the second of January in the year 2023 which is the beginning of the year, we had a planned trip to Lusaka from Lilongwe for Mission leadership council. 

Yesterday elder Church safely drove us from Blantyre to Lilongwe, it was a long drive. 

Today elder Church was to drive our mission president Vehicle to Lusaka but it was registered in one of our APs name, for that our APs splited. One took over their Vehicle and the other took over President Moyo Vehicle. 

Since Elder Masengere(one of the APs) know the road very well, he was leading the trip. Elder Church(my companion) was sitting in the passenger seat, I was sitting behind with sister ward and sister Keitirile. 

After three and the half hours drive we were in a place called Nyinba, it's in Zambia and it's five hours away from Lusaka, very mountainous and full of lots of curves.

Within one of the curve, there was a car in the center of the road coming towards us, everyone in our truck was screaming, elder Masengere then try to avoid him by turning the wheel and because it was raining, slippery and was a curve our vehicle flipped, hit a cliff and changed direction but kept riding on the top. 

I don't know how long that happened but it seems very long, my eyes were close but I hear everyone crying, I was helpless and couldn't shout loud but was just repeating a prayer "oh Lord please help me, oh God please help us".

After a while the car stopped, but we couldn't helped ourselves out of it because all of us head were on the ground being eat up by the road. Oh how grateful I am to my God that I worship and serve that the other missionaries were able to come and put us out of the car.

That place is a high way and in the middle of nowhere so luckily their Vehicle was just behind us, they witnessed the accident and was able to help us out.

When I got up my head was swollen and I had bruises on my hand it was bloody, I looked on my left and saw Sister Keitirile crying because the road had eat up some of the veins and muscles behind her palm for that some of her fingers were not working, I also saw Sister Ward and Elder Church lying on the ground with blood covering their faces, they were not making any sound as if they were dead and the car was damaged as if no one survived in it.

The other missionaries rushed us to the nearest clinic and it took thirty minutes to get there, when we got to that village clinic the nurses were not around, quiet disappointing but after 20 minutes they came over. They had no equipment for that they called an ambulance 

The ambulance arrived and took fourty five minutes to take us to the hospital, it was a scaring drive. 

We got to the hospital and they never had x-ray machine there, for that they knew nothing to do and just give us some pain killer injections and put us in the hospital bed.

Then senior couples came like 6-7 hours after the accident, drove us to Lusaka and took us to the Coptic the hospital(the biggest private hospital here).

We spent the night in the Emergency Room, we had our x-rays done. I am okay internally I just have bumps on my head and lost the filling that was in my tooth.

Sister Keitirile need two operations in other for her fingers to function properly.

Elder Church broke his pelvis bone.

Sister ward broke her pelvis bone and her shoulder bone.

Both sister Ward and Elder Church will be going home for surgery and may likely come back to this mission after their recovery. I love them and will miss them so much especially Elder Church because he was my companion and one of the coolest guy you will ever meet in this world. 

 I am glad non of us die, I am grateful that we are all alive and have minor injuries that can be fixed. I know it's only through our Heavenly Father gracious hand that we were able to be save in an accident that many could have die.

1Thessalonians 5:18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Love Elder Wantoe 

 

These pictures were taken shortly after the accident, when it was still daylight.