Rub-A-Dub-Ouch

April 4th, 2006

“God is faithful to provide a way of escape in everything so we can hold up under every pressure.” And that is exactly what God did for us Luukkonens the last week of May 1997!

 We were in Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire, since the International Christian Academy there needed some electrical expertise from me (Gary) in order to finish the school gymnasium by graduation day. Ruth, my wife, at the time was experiencing a severe attack of bursitis and tendinitis, while at the same time suffering from malaria and an amoeba! However, when the pain for Ruth seemed unbearable God led us to an excellent Ghanaian doctor. I also had my son Tim stay home with Ruth while I was at work, since she could not use her right arm. Well, on one of those days that Tim stayed home to care for Ruth, he suddenly became very ill. Within an hour his temperature had soared from normal to 103 degrees.

 At that point Tim and Ruth knew something had to be done immediately. However, the problem was that they had no phone or transportation. But God provided them a way of escape by energizing them to walk 4 blocks to the house of our missionary friends, the Koteckis. By the time they arrived, Tim’s temperature was 104 degrees, but they were able to contact me from Kotecki’s home phone, At that time I was scaling down off the scaffolding of the gymnasium at ICA. Meanwhile waiting for me to come, Tim’s fever soared to almost 105 degrees and he was vomiting. Again God held them up under the pressure, and provided a way out. They were able to see the Ghanaian doctor within half an hour. The prognosis was acute salmonella food poisoning coupled with malaria! The doctor gave Tim several injections, watching him an hour for complications. However, I believe Tim embarrassed the doctor because after all the treatment, Tim walked to the waiting room and promptly passed out!

That evening we spent the night with our friends the Koteckis, which was another way God took care of us. Karen, being a nurse, was able to monitor Tim’s blood pressure and pulse. Now since Tim and Ruth were both sick, I decided to sleep on the couch to take care of them. As it turned out, I was the one who needed to be watched. Early in the morning when I heard some movement, I called out for my wife; I had not been able to move all night and was burning up with fever. By the time I got to the doctor (the same doctor to whom Ruth and Tim went) my blood pressure was 60/40 and I had vomited. After about 5 minutes sitting in the doctor’s office, I passed out. The doctor immediately put me on IVs, monitoring me for 4 hours. Apparently I had eaten what ever Tim had and was suffering from a bad case of food poisoning. That night we were all singing “Rub-A-Dub-Ouch, Three Sick Luukkonens on Kotecki’s Couch”.