The Price of Garlic
by David and Krichele Jeffcoach, serving in Ethiopia
One thing is for certain. Our lives have changed in the last few days as a result of a few positive tests. Ethiopia has mandated that all schools let out for two weeks, shops are starting to close, the price of garlic (not toilet paper) has gone up, there are 1,000 people quarantined in Addis, we have closed our compound to all unnecessary visitors and anyone feeling ill, etc. And perhaps most significantly for us, there are non-stop conversations and planning about what we do if this gets worse. We all, including our Ethiopian staff, are acutely aware of the country’s health care limitations.
We see people die daily from preventable causes due to those limitations and all can imagine what the toll would be on an already inadequate, fragile health care system.
And so, I leave you with this. God is moving friends. He is at work in all of this. We have experienced isolation like we’ve never known before, threats, vast uncertainties, and that was just 2019, before the onset of Coronavirus. Through many of these experiences, God has looked at me after telling it all to “Quiet”, and said ever so gently, “Do you still have no faith?”. Little by little He is changing me. I pray that he continues to grow my faith and that of my family and colleagues in the way we face this new challenge and I pray the same for you.
Dr. David Jeffcoach is a general and trauma surgeon and MedSend grant recipient. His wife, Krichele, is a physicians assistant and is primary educator for their three children.
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