Entries by Kiana Binford

From Kiana

Now that the rainy season is over it feels somewhat like spring around here. 
  There is the sound of lawns being mowed (Pastor has a lawnmower that makes 
its rounds), kids laughing as they do various chores, and those cute little 
pinwheel things that are put up on the hills to catch the wind (they make a 
humming noise kinda).

Spirits have been high the last week for everybody.  After a blow to the 
overall resolve of the team because of all of the setbacks in the project 
(Malaria, school funding being low, shortage of teachers, no cooks, etc?) it 
was nice to have a week of smiles and happy healthy faces.   As of right 
this minute no one is on malaria medication, suffering from giardia, or to 
our knowledge has any other sicknesses.  The school gained one teacher last 
week bringing our total up to 5 of us, and we also have employed two women 
as the school cooks.  Life in Kemantian is back and bustling.

Recently I heard a missionary say that you should never report that everything is "fine" if indeed not everything is fine. "By doing so," he said, "you deny yourself the extra prayers and petitions of those that love you, and you cannot afford to be cut off from prayers." Now I realize that I am blessed with a great many loved ones that pray for me on a regular basis whether I am "fine" or not, but so as not to disillusion anyone or to cut off any prayers that are desperately needed I'm going to tell you some things that are going on here right now. Please keep in mind that I'm not trying to scare any family members (Gramma I'm really safe and at the moment very healthy) I just feel that I need to express the things that are in dire need of prayers right now.

Well, the rainy season is supposedly coming to a close but not without one last hoorah! Two nights ago we were awakened in Kemantian by probably the loudest thunder I've ever heard and the heaviest rain I've ever seen. If I hadn't gone outside in it (one of those annoying calls of nature) I would have assumed it was the legendary cats and dogs coming down on our grass roof. The next morning we awoke to water everywhere and no power.

November 7, 2005 Abu'! Where to begin. Well, it all started shortly after Sabbath School saturday morning. Wendy was in the clinic finishing up with her regular patients, when here comes a man who hasn't been to the clinic in the recent past.

Tuesday Novermber 1, 2005 Somewhere near 10:15 am a friend of ours came to the clinic in a hurry. He had his littlest boy with him and Wendy saw immediately that he wasn't breathing. She attemted CPR on him while we prayed. The little boy was the son of Silu's (one of the teachers) sister. Affter probably 5 or 10 long minutes it was apparent that the little boy wasn't going to make it. Wendy began to cry and the father knew htat there was nothing more she could do. When she blew into his mouth all you ould hear was the rackle of muccus. The diagnosis, a respitory infection. That's all.

Monday October 24, 2005 We had a family come to the clinic today and tell us that their son who is prone to seizers had one last night and fell into the fire. It's been one year ago and the same thing happened to the same guy. Since they live so far away the family did not want to carry the boy to the clinic even though they admitted t hat his clothes were stuck to him from the burns and it was even worse than the year before.

Well, it's Palawan or Bust!!!  After what seemed in many ways like an eternity of twiddling my thumbs, the month of October is finally here and I'll be leaving in the morning.  I find myself more nervous as the hours go by.  This is a new thing for me...being nervous.  I'm not usually worried about tomorrow but my stomach is rolling as I type this and has been for the last couple days.  I just want to say that I'm off and thank you for your prayers.  Danny, Jeremy, and Becky...the mountain awaits!  And for the rest of my fellow laborers...I pray God brings you smiles as you tackle your mountains.  

So much love and prayers...