March 17 – Stop Smoking Clinic

The clinic is over! The stop smoking clinic was one of my major tasks to accomplish while here in Guinea, and it went very well.

The first night of the clinic we had a decent size crowd to begin with, maybe 10-15 people. By the end of the 1st night we had around 20-30 people. Day 2 was a little discouraging at first because not many people were there when it was time to begin, but as the night went on more people came, mostly young people. Throughout the following 8 nights we had anywhere from 25-35 people in attendance, outside of church and team members who were there to support the program in various ways. 50%, if not more, were young people probably 18 and younger. The rest of the participants were probably in their 20s or 30s. There was one older man there that came every night and successfully quit smoking.

The young people were so interested in what was taking place each night, some even took notes. I don’t know if they were all smokers, maybe they smoked once or twice, or only occasionally. Either way they are all now more informed about the dangers of tobacco and the lies produced by the manufacturing companies. We even dedicated a night specifically to marijuana. That was the most interesting night. There was an older gentleman there who was amazed by all the facts and everything I shared. This man quit smoking cigarettes 5 or 6 years ago and was coming to the program as a support person. But he was literally shocked by all the facts and dangers about marijuana. I said something about how the effects of marijuana on the brain aren’t reversible and showed a picture of the brain activity of an abuser and he was like…..”Wait, wait, Miss….what you’re saying is serious! Noooo…you’re saying this is what happens to the brain. This is serious!” He must have stopped the presentation 5 or 6 times to interject or ask questions. All the students were laughing at him because, as we found out later, he used to smoke marijuana and was probably worried about the effects it would have on his life. All in all it was a good night. Marijuana is a big thing among the young people here so I hope that the information given sunk in and that they’ll share it with others. Many students skip school to hang out in unfinished houses and smoke marijuana. When I say many, I don’t mean 5 or 6. I mean groups of kids, lots of them from every school. Probably like 20 or more from a school…and there’s a school around every corner. Within 5-10 minutes of where I’m living there are 3 big schools (those are just the ones I know of, there’s probably more). Sometimes when I’m walking to the market I’ll see so many kids skipping school, just hanging out, walking around….anything as long as they’re not in school.

Anyway, the clinic was a success. At the end there were about 15 people who received certificates. Hopefully that’s at least 15 people who will not pick up a cigarette (or joint) again, or if they never smoked they won’t ever stop. The  biggest blessing was that some of the young people are actually interested in our church. During the clinic we would pray at the beginning and end of each lecture and emphasis throughout the lecture that cessation is possible when you give your will to God and that God will give you power and strength to fight the addiction. One of the youth made a comment that we “speak about God as if He’s real” and he said he wants to come to our church and find out more about why we speak of God like this. The majority of the people who came were Muslim, so to hear that from a Muslim young person was amazing. Many are respectful but to say they want to attend the church…that’s unheard of.

God is blessing in many ways and I just thank Him for using me and the rest of our team through this clinic. We not only want to show people how to quit smoking and live a healthier and better life, but we also want to show them the love of God and Christ. We want to share that God loves you so much and wants you to be in the best health and take care of the bodies He has given us. Our mission is to share Christ in all that we do and I think we definitely did that at the clinic. So I thank God. And I thank everyone for all their prayers!

~Alex