Twin Answers to Prayer

At 4:00 AM, I received a call from the nurse on duty in maternity.  "Doctor, I need your help!  The baby's in a bad position!"

I stumbled out of bed, pulled on clothes, and headed out the door.  I was worried because I knew that Bernadette has much more knowledge and experience of difficult labor and birth than I do.  If she couldn't help the mother, there would be little I could do.

When I arrived at Maternity, I saw that one twin was born, but the second twin was stuck.  Her foot, head, and umbilical cord were all coming out at the same time.  I pushed the cord back in, but I was not able to change the baby's position.  When I touched the umbilical cord, I could feel the baby's heartbeat, but it was very slow.

While I began to call the surgical team to come in for a C-section, Bernadette had the mother lay on her side to help the baby's heartbeat.  The heart rate increased a little bit, but it was still too slow.   Berndette began to prepare the mother for a C-section.

I went back to check on the mother and baby, and saw that the second twin was born.  She came out with a strong heartbeat but not breathing, and Bernadette was giving artificial respiration.

I asked, "What did you do?"

Her reply, "Nothing.  The baby just came out."

I knew that it was a miracle, and while Bernadette gave the artificial respiration, we prayed that God would finish what He started and cause this baby to start to breathe.  Before the prayer was finished the baby girl started breathing.  This was the second answer to prayer in the morning!

We gave the child some sugar and a couple of minutes of oxygen and she was breathing regularly.  Two days later she was able to leave with her older sibling and mom to go home.

I was able to share God's provision with our staff at morning devotions and with others throughout the day and upcoming weeks.  Rejoice with us that we have a God who still answers prayers!

Another Random Saturday Part 3

Here are so.me more picts from that same Saturday.

motorcycle accidents are tough.  This is how we treat closed femur fractures here at our hospital. 6wks of traction

Yet he still smiles.

This gentleman fractured his leg about 4 wks before coming in.  Still was trying to walk on it.  He had an infection so he got a cast and some local dressing changes.

This little guy had his iguinal hernia repaired here.

A picture of stoicism.  He got a below the knee amputation the next day for a dead foot.

This little guy came in weighing 10kg at 5 years of age.  After a feeding tube and goo nutrition he's up to 13kg and is now smiling and playing

This man had a hernia repair as well.

This lady tried to break up a fight and got bit so hard on her finger that it broke the bone and then showed up to our hospital 5 days later with dead tissue and lots of infection..  She is slowly getting better

This is actually 2 patients.  The first is the mom who had a skin an muscle infection needing a huge incision on her back  an lots of dressing changes.  Her son developed malnutrition here when the mom stopped breastfeeding and was too sick to care for him.  He is doing better now with a little extra protein.

Its very dangerous to cross the street here in Impfondo.  This kid was hit by a truck and had a broken femur on the right (he's in a type of skin traction) and also ripped open his knee on the left.  He is doing better now and we can cast him soon.

Even with his 102 (at the time of pict) temp he still managed a smile.  He's afebrile now and even happier.  he likes the puppet shows we do for him.

This young lady had a generalized abdominal infection from an authorized abortion.  The person who did the abortion punctured her uterus and she came in with pus everywhere.  after a surgery and a couple of abscess drainage she was able to leave the hospital.

AND NOW THE STARS OF THE SHOW!!!

Here are the nurses that worked that day with me.

This is Charnelle.  She works in maternity, is a very bright hard worker.

From left to right.  Augstin (a nurse consultant, and also a photographer), Lillian (a CNA level nurse but who is learning a lot here) and Ghislain (one of our recent nursing training  program grads who is now learning eye screening an exam with Dr. Henri Samoutou)

  Again, your support helps us do all of this.  Thanks for  all you do for us.

Stephen

Yika Mpiko

This is a new Lingala phrase we’ve picked up. It means to take courage, be strong, don’t give up. That’s a good phrase for us. We are 15 months into our first term, and sometimes staying the course and keeping courage can be a challenge. Everyday life can be difficult, and the medical work here is more complicated than in the United States.

Some examples from everyday life...

...making bread but sifting the flour for bugs first...

...teaching home school then having home school interrupted by someone trying to kill a poisonous snake in your yard (then letting it get away!)...

...not having a dishwasher or a washing machine...

...going to the market (on a bicycle) trying to find produce, not succeeding, and then going back again to try again...

...making supper only to have the bottled gas go out without any replacement for several months...

...having internet go in and out, cutting of reliable communication with family and supporters...

From the medical side...

...wanting a consult and not having one...

...making a diagnosis and saying “you need a surgeon” and then realizing that it’s you...

...fighting to keep parents from taking their kids out of the hospital to soon because (a)they don’t want to pay the bill, (b) they want to try a fetish at home, (c) the dad wants the mom to come back home...

...receiving sick patients and realizing that if you only had “one more thing” or more organization or something, you had a shot at saving the patient...

...watching patients die and wondering what you could have done differently...

...doing all of this in a different language and culture...

Then there are other things...

...hearing your kids say Sunday is their least favorite day because they take the malaria medicine and have to go to church in a language they do not understand...

...trying to explain the peace that comes from the Prince of Peace to someone who is too scared to listen...

...being exposed to communicable diseases regularly...

Yet, God is proving that He is more than faithful:

The kids are seeing a culture that makes them evaluate their own; they are seeing God answer prayer; they are happy and healthy.

We see babies start to breathe who would not be resuscitated in the past;

we speak love into downtrodden forgotten women;

we see God answer prayer; and with that we can say, “Yika mpiko.”

You have a part. Your gifts, your prayers keep us going, keep us determined to follow Jesus wherever He is and to bring light into an area of darkness in the world. So we say to you, “Yika mpiko.” Keep praying, keep giving, and keep in touch.

Right now we can use prayers for: family health, reliable internet communication, team unity, for a medical container to clear customs, and for a better understanding of the gospel for ourselves and the people around us.

Thanks,

Stephen

Happy Parting

I wanted to you to meet a patient who is leaving the hospital today. His name is Hènoc (french for Enoch).
He is now almost 6 weeks old. He came in about 6 weeks ago weighing 2lb 12oz. He was with his twin brother who, unfortunately, was dead. He has overcome some major hurdles.
One is that he was a twin that was born at 33 weeks gestational age. Another is that on his second day here he forgot to breath (premature infants sometime do this) and needed chest compressions to get his heart and lungs going again. Then when he was about two weeks old, he caught the flu and almost stopped breathing again. He needed oxygen for about 1 week with that episode. Since then he has done remarkable well and today weighs 4lb 6oz.

His mom has been incredible during this time as well. She hand expressed breast milk to feed him by a tube that went from his nose to his stomach, she maintained hope when it seemed to be lost, and she has been a good teacher to other parents with premature infants as well.
The only thing she has not done well is pick me to name the child. I picked the name Enoch for two reasons. One is that I hope like Enoch the child will walk with God. The other is that like Enoch I hope that this child will not die and will leave to see the return of Christ.

Also during Hènoc's time here there have been several other infants who have received the same care but not lived. Why? I am not sure. I know that we live in a fallen world where we see through a glass darkly. One day things will be set right. In the meantime, I rejoice in these victories and pray that my hope for Hènoc will come to fruition.

I also want to thank you for praying for us during this time. Those prayers have been answered in the life of Hènoc.

Humility

Being in language school is a pretty humbling experience.
Anna and I have gone from being active participants in our church and community and otherwised productive members of society to unemployed students fumbling our way around like a couple of 4 year olds. We have old people, young people, middle aged people, teachers, retirees, secretaries, cashiers, RA's and even 18 yo's correcting our pronunciations and waiting with bemused expressions as we try to fumble along with "How are you doing?" or answering "What is your name?" We even meet with the bible school students 3-4 times per week and read scripture with them in French so they can help us.

I must confess I was getting quite pleased, satisfied, and dare I say proud of how well I was taking all of this until two things happened...
#1I was finishing a bible study in 1 Peter and ran across this verse.....1Pet 5:6 Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.......After reading this I was still in a little bit of the breaking-my-arm-by-patting-myself-on-the-back mode

then

#2. I was reintroduced by Michael Card to John 13. The set up here is actually in Luke 22:24 where after supper "....there was a dispute among them , as to whom should be considered the greatest" then (John 13:4) Jesus "rose from the supper and laid aside his garmets, took a towel and girded himself. After that he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciple's feet...."

Imagine this boisterous scene of the 12 guys arguing back and forth after they broke bread about who was the greatest. I imagine a men's breakfast with discussions of the biggest fish etc when I read this......a little joking but with some serious male ego undertones.... Then Jesus who (according to Philippians 2) has emptied himself of being God to come here and already is greiving for Judas and Peter and his next 72 hours gets up unnoticed from the table. He takes off his cloak, gets the water and begins washing feet. The slave's job. I imagine a hush falling over the room, then pin drop silence as the sloshing of the water can be heard with the creak of the wood floor as Jesus moves from disciple to disciple. The silence broken by Peter's refusal in verse 6-8. "Lord are you washing my feet?" and "You shall never wash my feet" In Jesus' replies I see him sit back on his knees and shoulder slumping a bit as he (the master and creater of the universe) looks up at Peter and says in effect you don't understand but someday you will so just let me finish. He finishes washing the feet of the disciples (including Judas') and then sits back down and says "I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you".....be a servant. Swallow the pride, look out for others, humble myself under God's mighty hand so that I can say eventually "not my will butYours be done" in all aspects of my life.

After this I knew that I was not/am not humbled as Christ did, and I saw a new appreciation for Peter's admonition in 1Pet 5:8.

Continue to pray for us for our learning the language, for our perseverence and wisdom for us as well. Ian is struggling a bit with French in school and even though he keeps these things well hid behind a veneer of comic mischief Anna and I can see it.

Pray also that we (especially me) will get these lessons of humility learned quickly and that they will be imbeded in my life.

Isabelle is doing a little better and is learning more and more french daily. She is still tired by school but her clinginess and mood swings are improving.

Thanks again for praying and for those of you who have emailed a double thank you.

Stephen

Powerful peck of purposeful prayers-wanted

When I speak at churches I make it a point to say that being a pastor's kid cured me of any desire to be a pastor. That is not the only reason. The other is that I really stink at alliteration. See title of post for example. As we all know one must as a pastor have the ability to turn any sermon outline into an alliterative, acrostic, or eponymonic force so as to increase the retention of the flock. I don't do it very well...

Here's the ad:

Wanted: a group of totally committed prayer warriors to go beyond the 5 second prayer for us and to regularly battle and tear down walls by fervent Spirit driven prayer. Applicants must have a willingness to be open to God, and a keen understanding of it's prime place as a source of offensive power in combating the rulers of darkness of this age. Applicants do not need to feel that "they have arrived" in their walk with God and actually if you do think that maybe you should pray for someone else. We are accepting applicants from all walks of life and age ranges.


When I speak to churches I tell people that we may succeed in our endeavors from the worlds point of view without prayer. We may spend years in the ROC, raise up a hospital, raise the standard of living, earn the nobel peace prize, be instrumental in halting the spread of AIDS and curing malaria, but it will all be for naught if we do not have people praying for us. ON the other hand if people are praying for us regularly, fervently, and guided by the Holy Spirit even if we do not have "worldly" success based on our cure rates, conversions, and even length of service we will touch more lives, and by more Godly successful than we can ever know or imagine.

However, i do feel guilty asking people to commit to prayer even though I know it's importance. Why, because I know its importance and I know that others beside missionaries and people crazy enough to take their kids to Africa and put them in danger there need prayer just as much as we do. My only answer to that is to say that if God is not laying on your heart to pray for us then don't. Search God's will for this,
do what He would have you do.


Why do we need prayer? Cyberspace is not big enough to handle why we need prayer but here is an example. Last Thursday I got a call from the head of our child protection services (CPS) team here in Browning. They had a 6 wk old who was born with spina bifida and who was currently in Denver CO. The mom was out of the picture for several reasons, and the family was (a) afraid of the child's health issues and (b) also unable for personal reasons to take the child. The director wanted advice. Did I know what we could do with the child? "She's ready for discharge" she says.

Well my wife and I talked and I volunteered us since we were licensed has a foster care home during the preparations for our adoption. So Friday I flew down to Denver, got the child, and came back Saturday. We now have a 6wk old with vocal cord dysfunction, near persistent stridor, and a newly repaired myelomenigocele (Spina bifida) living at home with us. Her name is Jamie Lynn. For our purposes here dealing with prayer....should we have done this? Aren't we getting distracted when we should be focused on leaving Browning? I don't think so. Anna doesn't think so either. However we need wisdom to handle these life choices.

So as we make these decisions remember to pray this prayer for us . It is Col 1:9-10 (prayers from scripture I think really seem to focus us) :



Please do not cease to pray that we will be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that we would walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

If you would merely pray that prayer for each of us as we face our transitions and seek to minister where we are then I am confident that God will handle all else.

Thanks

Stephen

Some prayer items

Here are some prayer items for you consider.
Thanks


Praise:
Central Bible Church's hospitality
Opportunity for adoption
Acceptance into Parole de Vie French language immersion school

Prayer
Adoption proceedings
Quick arrival of passports for the children
Quick approval from Quebec for our request to study there
More opportunities to get the message out about our vision
Safety in transitions