Really, God—South Africa?: Continuing the Nurse’s Spiritual Journey

By Vicki Augustiniak RN

At the core of her being, author and registered nurse Vicki Augustiniak is a helper. In Really, God—South Africa? she shares the experiences of her travels abroad to assist others with their health needs. Through her story, she shows how God uses an ordinary person like her to be of aid to others.

Through a series of journal entries, she chronicles her trip to South Africa in 2013 with others to provide health care to people of all ages. Augustiniak discusses her work abroad, the daily routine, the challenges and trials, and the joys.

A continuation of Augustiniak’s previous travels to Bangladesh, Really, God—South Africa? offers insight into the work of medical missions in a foreign country. It chornicles how God’s work is being accomplished by those who selflessly serve others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inspiring Voices
• Release date: Feb 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781462413218

Vicki Augustiniak RN

Vicki Augustiniak, RN, became a nurse in 1972 and worked in the neonatal intensive care unit, pediatrics, and mother-baby. She retired in 2016 but continues to work on a contingent basis. Her first medical outreach was in 2003 to Bangladesh, and she continues to travel as a nurse to foreign lands. Augustiniak and her husband, Rick, have been married forty-seven years. She has two children, six grandchildren, one great-grandchild.

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Copyright © 2021 Vicki Augustiniak, RN.

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Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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ISBN: 978-1-4624-1320-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-1321-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020924794

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 02/10/2021

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Really, God—South Africa?

Chapter 2: Really, God—Detroit?

Chapter 3: Will We Go?

Chapter 4: Really, God—Italy?

Chapter 5: Telling a Story

Chapter 6: Making My Home Better

Chapter 7: A Long Wait: Returning to Bangladesh

Chapter 8: A second Visit to South Africa

Chapter 9: Being Part of a Chainsaw Gang

Chapter 10: Really, God—Mexico?

Acknowledgments

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CHAPTER 1

Really, God—South Africa?

April 12, 2013

I am sitting in the United lounge waiting for a flight to Washington, DC, and on to South Africa. We have been planning for months. Because of unrest in Bangladesh, we were unable to go. Eun Jin, Tom, and Mia were going to go to Bangladesh, but it was too unsafe. Not going was very hard on me. Dr. Susan asked me if I wanted to go to South Africa. After talking it over with Rick, I’m going. Rick was not working when I went to the first meeting, so I was not sure if we could afford for me to go.

Three weeks after that meeting, Rick got a job making more money than me. God’s plan always amazes me. I always thought I would be going to Africa, so this trip is very exciting for me. I keep saying, God you are taking me to Africa, now. I cannot believe He took me to Bangladesh first. All I can think of is that I was not ready before. I am ready now. We have been so busy. I was telling the women at work, When the thought of an eighteen-hour flight is appealing, you know that you are too busy.

What have I been busy with?

I am co-chair for the 2013 Al-Anon convention at Shanty Creek. The convention is May 3–5, 2013. So, we come back April 28, 2013, and the next weekend is the convention. We have been hosting meetings, and Susan and I are program co-chairs. We finished the program last week. I am also coordinator with Shanty Creek, so trying to get people to commit is hard. I am leaving Susan to take care of final details. We had a conference call with Shanty Creek on Wednesday. It looks like we are in good shape—our speakers and panels are in place. We are having some controversy, but our delegate is handling it.

The thing that kept me busy was the release of my book. Yes, I finished the book. I changed the title to Really, God—Bangladesh? I did have the book edited, and the book is better than I imaged. We had two book signings. The first was with the Korean people at our house. Eu Soo invited many people. Rick made good food. We had about forty-five people in attendance. I was not sure what to do. I found two things in the process—first, wear glasses when signing books and, second, ask people to spell their names when signing, even if you know the people well; they could spell their names different than you think. This happened to me several times. Can you image knowing someone for years? I spelled my friend’s name Kathy, and she spells it Cathy. How embarrassing.

I have been preparing for this trip. It seems I have been working for most of the meetings, so I have had to come after work.

1300

We are in Washington, DC, awaiting the flight to Africa. We have a five-hour layover, so we are walking the airport waiting for the plane. We are a group of nineteen, seventeen of us from Michigan. Two are coming from Kansas. Their plane will be arriving about 2:00 p.m.

How can I describe the group?

• Dr. Susan is the reason I am here. She asked me to come. Once again, we will travel with each other. I will be grateful to her for this trip.

• Dr. Michelle, who in my understanding is a pediatrician, takes a leadership role, especially in worship.

• Dr. H. Rao is a peds oncologist working in Ann Arbor. He is young and, I believe, Indian. He also has done some work in Bangladesh. When he told me this, I could not believe how God has put us together.

• Carol is the group leader. She is young, energetic, and full of life. She is leaving three children—ages six, four, and one. What commitment that she would leave a one-year-old.

• Michelle is my buddy. For the next few weeks, we will watch out for each other.

1730

We are on the plane. We are going to Africa. This will be a long flight, but we will stop halfway there. The plane is full. I am sitting in row fifty-three in the middle seat. Carol is on my right, and Mike is on my left. I will need traveling mercies.

Other people traveling with me are:

• Pashan is an RN working at Royal Oak Beaumont. He said he was a pharmacy tech, so he will be doing the pharmacy. (He will be handling all the pharmaceutical needs)

• Annette is an RN working in a MD office. She is our team leader for nursing.

• Christine knows my friend Christine at work. She babysits Christine’s grandchildren, and she is nervous; this is her first trip.

• Brenda has been to Africa a few times. She is young and works in PT at Troy.

• Melissa is also young and quiet.

• Mike is making his second trip and will be doing building work. The TSA already removed some building supplies from his bags

• Alex is the youngest member of the group at seventeen. He is without parents. We already went to the gift shop together for the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

• Ray had a stroke a few weeks ago but is still going with us. I admire his courage.

• Helen is Ray’s wife. They live in St. Louis, so we have only seen them by video. It was nice to finally meet them.

• Mary is sweet, and this is her first trip.

• Terry is young. She lived in Africa with the Mafus for seven months.

• Kathy is also a nurse. She works with Annette.

• Tom is her husband. I am not sure what he will be doing.

About my personal life, Rick and I will be celebrating 40 years of marriage Nov 2, 2013. Rick is not on this trip with me. I am still working at Beaumont. The people at work have been very supportive of this trip. Kim did a book signing party. So far, I have sold 187 books. I have been so up and down about the book. I wanted to sell it for the hospital. I feel like I am pushing at times. I am so glad I read the book The praise and rejection of men by Bob Sorge. I see both in the sales of the book. What do you say when people you know do not want a book? Most of my friends said they enjoyed the book. I have been told that I put everything out there and that is true. I am trying to trust God as we have ordered another 250. I have opened a bank account titled Augustiniak Ministries. I feel a lot of responsibility in this. One of the things that happened at the Korean book signing was that people were handing me $100 for Bangladesh. I have not had much time to promote the book. I keep telling God, He needs to promote it. I have gone to a few book stories and sent a copy to a DJ at a radio station. I am not sure where all of this will take me. I will do whatever God want of me. I struggled spiritually with this and have sought Pastor David out.

My grandson Gibson is going to be 6 on April 13. I am missing his birthday, but we went to PF Chang’s, just him and me. That was special. Barbara Ann is 18 months and is so cute. Britany will graduate this year and wants to go to art school. Alyssa is 17 and doing well. Gina and Rich struggle and now live in Grand Blanc. Mark has a serious girlfriend in Texas. Rick’s father was sick this year. Rick’s brother-in –law will have a procedure April 19. It is hard not being at home to help my sister in law if needed. I must remember to keep them I prayer.

April 13, 2013

0100

Still on the plane, we landed in Dakar/Senegal. We cannot get off the plane. We let people off. They are cleaning the plane. I need to go to the bathroom. I did not sleep much. We are talking. It is a long trip.

1838, South African time

We are in the airport in South Africa. We made it! I have a different feeling coming in here and going through customs. The lines move quickly and are more organized. I was able to talk to an Italian woman who lives in the Congo and who was visiting South Africa. What a global world we have become. The airport in Johannesburg is modern and up to date. I am having a hard time with the accents. The airplane ride was hard.

When I read what wrote, I now see that I did a poor job of explaining the flight. Of all the trips I took this would be the longest trip where I could not put my feet up. On the trips to Bangladesh, we would stop and rest for a few hours. I hope the reader can see how tired you can become. On this trip, I did not have an aisle seat. I was sitting between two of my fellow travelers, but still it was hard to get comfortable.

One of the things they do when you stop in Senegal is to spray the plane with bug spray to prevent mosquitoes entering the plane. Seasoned travelers cover their heads with blankets.

I would love to tell you I was able to see South Africa from the air, but my seat was in the middle of the plane. I was extremely excited, as I had always thought that God would take me to Africa, and I was now in Africa. Because I am a curious person, I wanted to see everything. But we would not be able to see Johannesburg outside of the airport. We would catch another plane for Durban and then arrive at dark in eSikhawini. The trip from Durban took about an hour and a half, and I found myself sleeping the van.

April 14, 2013

I am sitting at the Mafus house enjoying a quiet moment. It is so peaceful here. The sky is so blue. The weather is warm, with a breeze. The grounds are lush and green without the soot of Bangladesh. I feel at peace here. The ride from the airport was long, about two hours. I could not believe I fell asleep in the van—sound asleep. It was dark when we arrived, so I could not see anything. But I will get a better view later. We took toll roads, and they were well maintained. The road coming to the Mafus was very bumpy.

We arrived about 0000. We unpacked, had some soup prepared by Mama Mafus, prayed, and went to sleep. I slept like a log. I am rooming with Michelle, Annette, Christine, and Brenda. We have a room with four bunks beds and one double. The girls all wanted the bunk beds, so I got the double bed. We have a soft mattress. I told Christine to wake me up for church, and she did at 0700. I really slept hard. I showered in cold water. We do not have warm water on our side. Well, better luck tomorrow.

We had a breakfast casserole made by Scott (Scott is Dr. Michelle’s brother-in-law). The church was about thirty minutes away, with lots of bumps along the way. We stopped along the way to pick up lots of people. Mama Mafus knew where to stop. I was amazed how friendly the people were. They had no fear of us.

The church was small and in the middle of nowhere. The songs were wonderful. There was no instrumental accompaniment at this church, but I could not believe the voices. It was always hard for me because of the translating, but the spirit was there. A few people got up and gave their testimony and Papa Mafus preached. He preached in both English and Zulu. Dan showed plans for a prayer garden at the church across the street from the Mafus. He also showed a plaque that would be at the garden. Dr. Michelle was surprised by this.

After the service, we would go around and shake hands. You were to hold your arms with one hand shaking and the other at the elbow. This was so the person would know that you had no weapons. Also, the church members had a special handshake. The people who shook your hand were so warm and welcoming. We stood in front of the group, and we told the church our names as a group. What surprised me was how the children would go to someone who was not their mother. I could see community.

After that service, we dropped off many people (as many as we could fit in the van), and we went to the service across from the Mafus. The church was bigger. We had an organist and microphones. We had the same service, different people.

We went back for lunch. I felt sick and slept for a while. I think my blood pressure was up, so I took some Toprol, rested, and felt better. I am now sitting and enjoying a quiet moment. It is just starting to get dark. I did hear the kids playing in the background. I am enjoying the children already.

April 15, 2013

0415

I am awake. I was so tired after dinner. I went to sleep about 2100. I heard the