We visited Nagbo Village church, down the road 5 miles or so from Nalerigu. I know one of the elders there and he asked us to come. Didn't know that we would be celebrities when we got there, they had us sit up front and told me I was preaching ( I didn't know until we showed up). I had been reading a book by Francis Chan called "Crazy Love" about the love of God so I talked about his love for us. The ten seconds or so to interpret helped give me time to think of what to say next. Neat to share God's word with our neighbors.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Address for Christmas Cards!
Some of you have asked about our address to send Christmas cards. It is very encouraging for us to hear from folks at home. Here is the address:
Dickens
BMC
Box 50
Nalerigu via Gambaga
GHANA/NR
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
medical post: joel
I haven't had a chance to write lately. The combination of having a newborn baby, malaria season and Dr. Failes departure have all led to being very busy. Rainy season is coming to a close soon. We were blessed with rains which helped the crops and hopefully give enough sustenance for the people to make it to next rainy season. With the rains come mosquitoes, with mosquitoes come malaria. The hospital has mostly been full the last few months. The pediatric unit has 40 beds and that is often not enough and at times there may be as many as twenty patients also on the floor. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to have several pediatric deaths a day from malaria. We were blessed to have a visiting pediatrician, our first doctor to come from World Medical Mission (a branch of Samaritan's purse). He was a retired pediatrician from Delaware who spends time volunteering at mission hospitals. In addition, to the adults and children with malaria, medical patients we see may have pneumonia, hypertension, strokes, meningitis or asthma. Snakebites are also common. Some days we may have 5 or so patients admitted after having been bitten by poisonous snakes. Fortunately, the anti-venom is usually very effective. The most common bites are from a Cobra and a Carpet Viper. The Carpet Viper can be quite aggressive and has been known to bite people as they sleep outside of their huts. Fortunately, the watchmen on the hospital compound seem to do a good job of killing the snakes that wander into the compound. They also are good at killing the large rats that wander around at night, providing some much needed protein in a diet that consists mostly of carbohydrates from ground yams, corn and millet. One of our patients had a wound that needed healing. Matt, our surgery resident, counseled the patient's mother about sources of protein to help the wound heal. The mother was proud to say that the child did get protein in the form of one egg a day. The chickens here don't get as much to eat as American chickens, so I would guess he gets the equivalent protein of 1/2 american egg a day. Some patients of course, don't get that much.
Our most common surgeries are probably C'sections, hernia repairs (inguinal, incisional, umbilical and others), small bowel perforations from typhoid fever, and perforated peptic ulcers. We see a rare case of appendicitis. Two nights ago we did a Csection in a patient with failure to progress in labor and severe abdominal pain. She had a large amount of pus in her abdomen and some necrotic bowel requiring resection and anastomosis of small bowel. It's kind of like a box of chocolates here, you never know what you might find.
blessings, joel
The more com
Why We're Here
A patient came into the hospital a few months back, 6 or so months pregnant and with a severe infection of her leg which ate away much of the tissue of her leg similar to the "flesh eating bacteria". We were not sure she would live, but through the care of mostly Dr. Faile and our visiting surgery resident, Dr. Matt Jones, she got her wound cleaned up and skin grafts to most of her leg. She delivered a premature baby that initially failed to thrive, but survived and did well. She finally got to go home after several months in the hospital. Prior to her departure, Dr. Hewitt, who is extremely fluent in the local languages and one of the hospital chaplains, had a chance to visit with the patient and her mother. The patient and her mother put their faith in Christ as their savior prior to their leaving the hospital. Times like those remind us of why we came here, to give hope to a hurting world.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Update
We like hearing back from you all about our posts. Several of you have commented either on the blog or by email about our recent photos and videos. Thank you! We are doing well. It is nice to have Annie Zesch here with us. She is currently helping us out at the house with the kids some, as well as spending time at the hospital. She seems to enjoy being up there.
Several people have asked us about this, so I thought it would be good to post about it. It is possible we will be coming home in either June or July of 2010. This is just a few months short of what we originally thought our stay here in Ghana would be. Once we arrived here in Ghana, we found out more about the schedules of the other doctors here. George and Elisabeth Faile believed it was time for them to retire after so many years of tireless service. They left a few weeks ago. Dr. Faile was the other full time dr besides Joel who performed surgery.
The other full time dr, Earl Hewitt (Family Practice) will be leaving for furlough the summer of 2010. We are praying about if we should stay past their time here, but are strongly considering leaving when they do since there are no other full time doctors here. Certainly the needs of the people here are on our minds. The last dr who was here alone for a prolonged period of time was beyond busy. The hospital services a population that would normally have at least 200 drs seeing to their needs at home in the states.
There are several volunteer drs in and out of the hospital here. Some for a week, others for several months. We are always thankful for their help and enjoy their company, as well. Currently, there is a surgery resident and his wife, Matt & Megan Jones, as well as a nurse practitioner, Amy Elrod, among others.
So, we would appreciate your prayers as this is an even busier time for Joel at the hospital. And also that we would have clear direction for when to go home. I'd also like to hear more about specific ministries outside the home the Lord wants me to be a part of while here. While it is starting to get hotter, I am no longer pregnant and would like to be a part of anything the Lord might have for me to do.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Baby Stroller African-Style
We use this baby cushion with a net for Annaleigh right now to help protect her from mosquitos (who pass on malaria). She likes to be outside.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
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