April 2007
Greetings from Lyle and Terry Dykstra
Esther (not her real name), a Kenya woman who had just been diagnosed
with the AIDS virus, sat in a state of shock and grief as the
student minister approached her at Kikuyu Hospital.
“Chaplain,” she said, “I brought my baby girl
here yesterday because she was sick, and at 6:00 p.m. she died.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she wept bitterly.
“And now, chaplain, it is even worse. My husband and I
and our two other children have all been diagnosed with the AIDS
virus.”
“It is okay to cry, my sister,” the chaplain replied.
“This is terrible news that you have just received.”
Esther looked over at her husband sitting on another bench.
“He is the cause of our suffering,” she said. “I
have been faithful all my life, but I got married to him without
knowing he was HIV positive. I am furious with him. I feel sick
and empty inside. I feel like the world is coming to an end. I
know all of us are going to die. I wish I had never given birth
to my children. Already my first born who is in first grade is
being discriminated against because he is showing symptoms of
the disease.”
Students singing at Presbyterian College, Kenya.
The chaplain listened carefully and compassionately as she poured
out her fear and anger and anguish. When the tears had dried and
her body had succumbed to fatigue, Esther and the chaplain walked
to the clinic where she and her husband and children were enrolled
in the antiretroviral (ARV) drug therapy program. The chaplain
explained that ARV drugs, accompanied with proper nutrition, had
helped many people prolong their lives ten to twenty years. He
prayed that Esther and her family would experience God’s
presence and God’s strength in the days and years ahead.
Paul Kibiro, a clinical pastoral education student.
The preceding account is a story shared by one of our students
in the clinical pastoral education (CPE) class that we teach at
the Presbyterian College. Pastoral care skills are vitally needed
by graduating students who will soon leave the college and take
up their duties as clergy in local churches.
Supervising CPE students is rewarding work. We feel greatly blessed
to be able to share our skills and abilities with the students
who are studying to become pastors. We don’t know how many
lives they will touch as the years unfold. But we do know that
many Kenyan people will experience God’s love and care and
hope, because these pastors with clinical pastoral education skills
will be the compassionate heart of the risen Christ.
Classes at the college will end in June, and we will return to
the United States. But in January we will be back in Kenya to
teach another semester of CPE at the Presbyterian College. A work
of true joy!
May the God of hope fill your lives with love and happiness.
Blessings and Peace,
Lyle and Terry Dykstra
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 332 |
