Spark Health Care Outreach
Medical needs we provide include life saving prescription medications, funding hospital examinations and provision of counseling support for th HIV positive. “People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care” is a quote from Theodore Roosevelt that we have utilized in touching lives.
A simply story about 725 shillings…
July is winter in Kenya and that translates into 60 degree cloudy days that often bring damp air and pneumonia to the homes of Kibera. They don’t have heaters in their home nor running water. They lack finances for basic warm clothings and simply use what they have to move forward. There is no judgement in this observation because I find it refreshing that materialism doesn’t rule their lives.
I frequently take youth and adults to the medical clinic for pneumonia, typhoid or malaria. One afternoon while I was there with a sick youth, I saw a husband and wife with their six year old boy laying lifeless in his mother’s arms. His head was falling back over her arms and his arms were hanging down to his side straight toward the floor. The father was sitting across the room anxious and stressed. The mom was quiet and trying to hold the small boy in a more natural position. They were ahead of us in line and as they waited for the test results we went into the examination room. Coming out the boy’s appearance hadn’t changed and the parents were silent. I asked the doctor if she could share with me the diagnosis of the boy and she said he had malaria. Malaria is the number one killer of children in Kibera, Kenya and I believe malnutrition is surely the second. The parents didn’t have 725 shillings for the medication as that is a weeks salary in a community with 80% unemployment. I asked the doctor to put the $7.25 on my bill for the parents. Do you understand? A shilling is simply a penny and they needed 725 of them to save their son. Seven dollars and a quarter and Spark of Opportunity saved a life, the family eats and God is glorified. This story is a reminder of why we have a medical budget in our ministry. All donations large or small make a difference in the lives of the people we love to serve.
We can’t thank you enough for your continued support and encouragement. I isn’t every day the 725 pennies can fix a problem but on the day it does we rejoice for your faithfulness and partnership.