As Frank wrote before, one of our missions here in Calais was visiting the refugee patients in the hospital. Many of our patient were able to speak a little bit of English. We had translators (who were also refugees themselves) who spoke both languages accompany us. Tuesdays and Saturdays were our hospital visiting days. Yesterday was my last day of visiting the hospital. This was truly a ministry of presence, and I was so happy to experience how God allowed our visit to these patients, allowing a moment of hope to re-enter the lives of those who had given up.
These are the words of my friends in hospital: “you came now four times, each time you encouraged me, thank you.” “I won’t forget your words, when one door closes God will open another.” Another one of my friends said, “you came and made feel comforted, I was not feeling like eating at all these days, you brought food and looked into my fridge, cleaned them and encouraged me to eat. Now you are going, when are you coming back?”
I assured them there will be someone else who will follow up in my place.
As I shared before, life in the jungle is tough, but in the hospital it is harder. Their physical health is deteriorated, and in addition to this they feel lonely. They miss their loved ones, their friends are trying to cross the border, and they are living in a state of uncertainty not knowing how their
future will turn out. In our visit, there were moments of silence, laughter, and gentle touch: above all, we were fully present to each other. So as I am leaving this place, please keep our refugee patients who are in the hospital in your prayers. Especially Usman, he is losing his muscle strength both in his arms and legs. He is unable to walk and is bound to the wheel chair. He is in his early 20s and very much worried about his future. Reaching Calais from Sudan by foot and sea was a hard journey which he doesn’t want to recall. And now the journey ahead of him seems to be harder, but our presence and prayers can work miracles.