I Wonder What Will Happen Today?

I hesitate to hear the answer to this question this week. It seems like every day there is more in the dramas of the operations of this mission hospital. The past two weeks it has been a financial crisis. Our accountant came to me with a stack of purchase requests to sign for needed medicine and medical supplies. I knew it was a lot and when I saw the summary of outstanding purchase requests my heart stopped at the 3,600,000 Kwacha number and realizing we have NO MONEY in our checking account! Those requests went back on the accountant's desk to wait until we could scrape some money together. Each day though - something has happened and somehow we are scraping by.

Day 1: We HAVE to place an order on a certain day with CHAM (where we get good prices on medicines) so that they can deliver them to Blantyre rather than us driving all the way to Lilongwe. Our order this month was around 750,000 MK. We had only about 100,000 MK collected from two days of business at the hospital. Don happened to be in Blantyre and I asked him to stop by Blantyre Adventist Hospital and pick up the check for 560,000 MK that they give us every month as charity assistance. That along with a little more scraped together was enough to cover the order and it was placed and picked up 1-2 days later.

Day 2: We are owed over 7 million kwacha by the government for services given to people in the local area around the hospital (this is close to $50,000 USD). They have promised payment by the 15-18th of each month. It was past the 20th and we still had no payment. Every day we call to see if the check is ready and they tell us to wait until the next day or day after. I'm starting to have visions of not making payroll, completely out of meds, and not being able to function. Today we had to use cash to buy fuel for the car that goes to Limbe because there is not enough money in the checking account to write a check.

Day 3: Administrative Council today - we had a good meeting - there are lots of good things happening and some progress being made towards installing a V-SAT for satellite internet! (YAY!!) We also have Maranatha visiting next week wanting to come with a large group to do some work in 2011 so the potential for great things - and most of this done with donations. At the end of this uplifting meeting I had to give an update about the state of our finances and how we are really scraping bottom!! Not only do we have about 3 million of purchases to buy this month but we also owe about 2 million for insurance as well as other creditors that I don't even want to list. We ended the meeting with earnest prayer for this situation but I still felt like "Debbie-Downer" and also felt emotionally affected by the pressure.

Day 4: Amongst the other days we've been dealing with a 40' container of supplies delivered from the US. It has been a disaster from the beginning since the shipping company in Tanzania sent a driver who knows no English or Chichewa, had never been to Malawi before, and didn't follow the customs requirements! Inside the container are much needed medicines and supplies that we haven't been able to purchase but we can't open the container to unload until it is cleared. Today Don went to Blantyre to sign the papers and clear it without having to pay any duty (Thank You, Lord!).

Today I called the government hospital again to check on the payment that they've promised. After telling the accountant that we are reaching an emergency state and may have to end the agreement and close the hospital he still said we couldn't get the check until "tomorrow". When I asked him how much it would be he got angry. I explained we need to know for planning purposes and he then told me "You'll get the check tomorrow, whether it's one cent or a million kwacha you'll get it tomorrow!!!" and then hung up on me! I called the Doctor in charge of the district and discussed how his accountant acted as well as our concerns about their delay and lack of payment. It seems we should be collecting the check tomorrow.

Day 5 Today's the day that we are supposed to get the check from the government and a large amount from the big insurance payor in Malawi. Salaries are due this week as well. I feel snowed under by all of these things and have even delayed meetings and other things until we can buy enough paper to make photo copies. The priority is the medicine and supplies to keep the hospital running. The other things will come eventually.

This is my week... I appreciate your prayers and I know there are many who are already praying and claiming promises in response to these situations. I do think these are just some roadblocks and the general progress of the hospital is still in a positive direction. We also need wisdom to make good decisions with the resources that we DO have. The promise that says "He will supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory" is an encouraging statement right now and I believe it is true...