Herbs

I (Lisa) had been interested in alternative medicine for a while, but was never sure where to begin until I started getting Mike & Debi Pearl’s newsletter, No Greater Joy, (nogreaterjoy.org) and reading how they used herbs in their family. They recommended books which I bought and read. About that time we relocated to White Salmon, Wa. and I met many people who were already using herbs. I started purchasing herbs from bulkherbstore.com and making some basic remedies for colds and such. Living near Hood River, Oregon also had many advantages as that area is very open to alternative medicine and organic foods.

We are not adverse to using drugs but we have seen how well herbs work on a lot of sicknesses. We have also been amazed to learn that most drugs are the synthetic versions of the active ingredients in herbs. We became convinced of their usefulness with our daughter Sarah. She seems to get sick very easily and can go from bad to worse in no time. She has exceptionally large tonsils and gets tonsillitis a lot. The first time she was so bad that she could hardly swallow, couldn’t eat so she was losing weight and I was getting worried. I took her to the doctor who prescribed antibiotics and she did get better. I decided to do research so that the next time we could try herbs first and maybe not need the antibiotics. The next time she was sick I was ready and started using herbs vigorously and we haven’t had to take her to the doctor since.

Before coming to Malawi, I spent months reading, searching the internet and praying for wisdom to find the herbs that I would need most. Since I didn’t want to have to take my children to a doctor here unless it was life threatening, I wanted to be prepared to treat my own family and I had hoped to help the nationals that worked for us too. I made numerous combinations of herbs and most I made into a tincture. I made quite a few herbal salves because I knew that skin problems were common here and also wanted something for bug bites. I’m sure there were many people who thought I was a little weird but I didn’t really care as my family’s well being was most important.

Even though I’m a believer in herbs I have been amazed at how well they work on my babies and the Malawian people. They have worked so well that my nannies asked me if I was trained as a nurse or a doctor. I just had to laugh because I have no training at all except what the Lord has given me and what I have read from books. It just goes to show that God is truly the Great Physician and all wisdom comes from him. Here are some examples of how they’ve worked:

- One of my night nannies was sick for 3 days due to dysentery. I made her a strong tea of herbs and by the next day she was well.

- One of my babies had a severe diaper rash that appeared to be caused by a yeast infection and others were starting to get it. I made an herbal salve and within a few days it was gone.

- severe shoulder pain that was helped

- teas for colds seem to work faster and better on the nationals than on my family

- a baby had an swollen, red spot on his private part and after putting an herbal salve on it was gone within an hour

This blog is getting too long and I could go on but I just wanted to share my excitement with all of you at how well herbs are working here in Malawi. I can give God all the credit as He created the herbs that I use. If you want more specific information on what herbs I used you can email me and I will be glad to share my recipes with you.



Lisa

p.s. these are my views only so please don’t use this forum to debate the points that I am making as I know that not all agree with me J