It was Monday morning, and I was getting ready for our leadership training when Toussaint called to me from the porch. A lady from our neighborhood was there with her little daughter who had a high fever. I got out my box with Malaria quick tests, and a few minutes later the test confirmed that the girl had malaria. Toussaint went to buy medicine for her. On his way back, he passed another mother with two children on their way to our house to get tested for malaria. All of them tested positive, too, so Toussaint made another trip to the pharmacy. This time he bought extra boxes of medicine just in case.

Malaria is a very common disease here. It is now the beginning of rainy season, and mosquitoes are multiplying rapidly. We thank God that most of the malaria cases are not complicated and are easy to treat. However, when a child falls sick, the mother usually waits a couple of days to see if it is actually something serious. After all, testing at the hospital can cost three or four days’ wages (five to seven dollars), and she has to feed her family. She may instead get a painkiller or fever reducer at the local store. When the child gets up and starts playing again, she thinks he is healed. Meanwhile, the parasites are multiplying in his body.

To catch malaria cases early before they get serious or even life-threatening, and knowing the financial situation of most of the families in our neighborhood, we test the children at our home and give them medicine for free if the family can’t afford to pay for it. Thank you all for your support that enables us to do this.

“And He went about all Galilee . . . healing every disease and every infirmity among the people” (Matt. 4:23).

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