A Hard Week

Last week was an absolutely crazy emotional roller coaster.

It started out so well. Monday morning, we hit the ground running with language and culture study. The day flew by. We felt like we were making good progress, and we put in a good, full day of language study.

Tuesday, things went downhill fast. We were going about our daily schedule when a lady knocked on our front door. She mentioned that a new baby had just been born and asked if I could come with her. I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door, feeling excited about the new little life I was about to meet. That feeling quickly died. A guy I met on the trail mentioned that the baby had been born but wasn’t breathing. My heart sank, and I suddenly realized that I hadn’t been summoned to meet this baby. I had been summoned to revive it.

And we tried. We tried so stinking hard to revive that precious little boy. My coworker, Laken, and I did CPR for what felt like hours, crying and praying that God would bring that little life back to us. But there was nothing we could do. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life… stopping the CPR and telling that momma that we couldn’t save her baby. She was so exhausted and looked so hopeless. My heart broke for her. For all the ladies in this tribe who have had their children die but have no hope of ever seeing them again. It was so hard, but it also gave me such a renewed sense of purpose and urgency for learning this language.

Wednesday and Thursday were exciting days again. Clint and our coworker Jason got to do an overnight hunting/camping trip with a bunch of the Wabuku guys. Their stories of going out in the middle of the night to stalk miari (a nocturnal marsupial that lives in the jungle) were entertaining and exciting. It encouraged our hearts that the guys had such an awesome opportunity to further strengthen their relationships with the Wabuku guys.

Then Thursday night, the heavens literally opened and we had one of the worst and loudest thunderstorms I have ever experienced. One particular lightning bolt struck our radio antenna, snapping the cable and frying our HF radio, several fans, and almost all our lights. It also knocked out the internet at our house, something our coworker Jason had just got running after weeks of work. We’re thankful no one was hurt, but it was pretty discouraging.

It’s been rough. We a bit like we were run over by a bus. But we can totally see God’s hand through it all, protecting us and giving us renewed grace to face each day. He is completely sufficient, and He is so worthy of our lives, no matter how hard it gets!