05/20/2017: The Land of Heat and Sand

The Land of Heat and Sand

Medical missionary opportunities abound in the Muslim mission field of Senegal.

Blessed peace to you from Senegal, the land of heat and sand, many visit this place with thir summer clothes and Metal detector scoop. Situated next door to the Sahara Desert, Senegal receives frequent deposits of Saharan sand via the harmattan winds that blow along Africa’s Atlantic coast. Add to that the sand used for the never-ending construction projects, and sand ends up everywhere: in the houses, on the roads and cars and often in your mouth and eyes.

Medical missionary opportunities abound
in the Muslim mission field of Senegal.

Imagine this blowing sand mixing with the excrement of street-roaming cows, sheep, goats, feral cats and dogs and the mentally ill homeless population, along with the trash dumped in vacant lots, and you have a recipe for disease. Filthy sand accounts for many of the eye infections and flu-like illnesses rampant in Senegal and especially in Dakar. In such an environment, immune health becomes vital!

Medical missionary opportunities abound in a place like this. Recently a sister from church made some lifestyle changes to address her health issues, but after changing her diet she developed debilitating headaches and dizziness. I went to visit her and ended up giving her a fomentation and counseling her on nutrition. Realizing that she was probably anemic, I suggested she get an iron supplement and some vitamin B12. A week later, her dizziness and headaches had completely subsided.

Another opportunity came while my husband’s Muslim niece was staying with us. Sophie had been feeling bad during the afternoon and decided to take a painkiller. When we came home, she was asleep on the bed, or so we thought. In a little while, my daughter Janie called, “Mom, there’s something wrong with Sophie!”

The treatment room for Deborah’s medical missionary work.

Running to her bedside, I found Sophie having trouble breathing and struggling to retain consciousness. I immediately started praying and asking God what I needed to do. Looking up “asthma” in my Natural Remedies Encyclopedia I found that eucalyptus oil could help. Propping her up to a sitting position, I rubbed some eucalyptus oil under her nose and then put some oil in an inhaler and told her to breathe as deeply as she could. I could tell it was painful for her at first but I kept encouraging her to breathe.

My husband wanted to take his niece to the hospital but she refused to go. I asked her if we could pray for her, and praise God, she accepted. After the prayer, I mixed eucalyptus oil in some massage oil and massaged her chest and back. Heating a fomentation pad, we wrapped it in some towels and had her hold it on her chest, then moved it to her upper back. We also made a hot foot bath and put in some grated garlic and eucalyptus oil. During this time, I also kept giving her cayenne tincture to help the blood circulate.

It took about 40 minutes before she could breathe without a lot of pain. After an hour she could say a few words in a low voice. I kept praying and asking God to help her and He did! Praise His name.

When she was able to speak better, Sophie explained that she didn’t want to go to the hospital because she believed their treatment was deadly. She had seen me work on Janie and preferred natural treatment.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1. We can always count on Him! I pray that we all will learn His natural remedies so we can be a blessing to our family, friends and neighbors.

Author:
Deborah Ndione

Sister Deborah and her family are missionaries in Dakar, Senegal. Deborah uses medical ministry, English tutoring, women’s ministry, children’s ministry and other simple methods to make friends to invite to Christ’s Kingdom.

 

 

How You Can Help

Pray for Deborah’s Muslim family and friends to open their hearts to Christ as she seeks to share the gospel with them.

Donate to Deborah’s work through Mission Projects International. Please mark your gift “Senegal.”

Thank You

In 2016, you donated $1,420 to the work in Senegal. Your donations helped build up the ministry outpost and furnish Deborah with natural remedies to help friends and neighbors. God blessed your gifts!