Lawrence & Josephine Ssemakula are teachers with a family of six in Bombo Town, Uganda. Lawrence and his wife have been cooperatives of SLAM’s in Uganda since 2004. Their 12-year-old daughter, Queen is a very intelligent young lady that aspires to be a doctor some day.
Recently, Queen became very ill and so weak that she was unable to walk. The family immediately took her to the local hospital in Bombo Town for treatment. Due to minimal access to the proper diagnostic equipment, the hospital gave their best guess of common diseases such as Malaria and Typhoid, yet she increasingly became more ill.
Simultaneously, God was doing something in the heart of a high school senior by the name of Hannah Lee from Mount Carmel United Methodist Church in Clarksville, TN. Hannah was a participant in a SLAM mission week in Nashville, TN this summer and was inspired to put her faith into action by helping those in need. Upon returning home from her trip, Hannah organized a car wash as a fundraiser to help SLAM meet some of the needs she became aware of on her trip.
When SLAM became aware of the severity of the situation with Lawrence and Josephine’s child in Uganda, the funds were accessed from Hannah’s car wash. SLAM utilized the funds raised by Hannah to transport Queen to Uganda’s best health care facility, Kampala International Hospital. This hospital performed the correct tests to properly diagnose Queen’s sickness. It was there that the family learned she was suffering from a case of Hepatitis and that Queen also had iron deposits in her liver. Due to her Sickle-Cell Anemia, her sickness was worsened and required immediate response.
Through utilizing Hannah’s funds, SLAM was also able to send Queen to a sickle-cell specialist to prevent another episode from happening. Had Queen not worked with this specialist, her hemoglobin levels would have dropped significantly causing her to have a blood transfusion (blood transfusions in Africa are often unsanitary and the cause of many deaths).
We live in a world that requires the people of God to use money for the good of others. As Ephesians 4 would tell us, “to give to the needy.” The LORD is so good. In a time of need for Lawrence’s family, Hannah listened to the LORD. We are thankful for God for healing Quinn and thankful to Hannah for obeying the LORD to give to those in need.
Please continue to pray for Quinn as she will continually be monitored as she manages her Sickle Cell anemia.
by: Ty Mathews
