A Few Things from Week One

What a great week Amy and I have had here in Bongolo! I have been busy at the hospital teaching anesthesia to the anesthetists and the surgical residents. We have had a few tough cases and some heartbreak but all in all a good week of being the hands of God in ministering to these gracious patients.

Mike is a clinical engineer from Cleveland and accompanied me on this trip. We have spent a lot of the week checking out all the anesthesia and surgical equipment, fixing things when needed and doing some preventative maintenance. It has been a blessing to have him on this trip as I am learning things that will prove useful when I am here without such help. I thank God for bringing us together and for Mike’s servant heart.

Today we spent most of the day celebrating the graduation of one of the PAACS (Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons) residents, Anatole. We started with church at 9am for a couple hours followed by the graduation ceremony in the same building. This lasted another 2 hours. We then gathered for food, dessert and celebration. It was a joy to honor Anatole and his accomplishment--finishing the 5 year surgery residency. PAACS trains and disciples Christian surgeons to remain in Africa in underserved areas. Part of my responsibility when I am here on short term and eventually when we are here permanently is to teach these residents basic anesthesia skills. Many of them will go to places lacking quality anesthesia services.

Tomorrow we start another busy week in the hospital and mission. We look forward to the end of the week when we will accompany the Thelander family on a trip to the coast for some rest and relaxation.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Have a blessed week!

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” - 2 Timothy 2:2

Cloud Cover

Amy and I arrived at Bongolo Hospital safe and sound yesterday afternoon. Mike (clinical engineer) and Sharon (accountant) are traveling with us to serve at the hospital as well. The last leg of travel is by small airplane from Libreville to Bongolo and takes about 1.5 hours, much easier than the path by road. God has blessed the hospital with the airplane and pilot. It is wonderful to fly, avoiding the 10 hour trip by road. It is long, dusty, bumpy and inconvenient, especially after traveling many hours to get to Gabon. Most of the time during the short flight you get great views of a beautiful county including lush tropical jungle, rivers, and small towns and villages. If you look close enough, you can even see people. It was on a flight like this that God called me to serve at Bongolo.

On yesterday's flight the skies were overcast and we were above the cloud cover. Even though we were flying at the same low altitude, we couldn't see anything--just cloud cover. No jungle, no countryside, no beauty, and no people. As I was peering out the window, God spoke to me again on this flight. As Christians do we spend most of our lives flying above the cloud cover? We like the convenient, quick, fast and clean routes of life. Yet, we cannot see the people below who are hurting and lost. We cannot see God's beauty because we are not even looking.
My prayer for this trip and life is to get below the clouds, take the inconvenient, tough, longer, route. That's where we see the people and their hurts and lostness. That's were we see God.

Continued Path to Bongolo

Amy and I have been called by God to serve Him full time at Bongolo Hospital in Gabon, Africa. We are eager to get there, but understand there is process and training necessary to serve in another culture. We started the application process with the Christian and Missionary Alliance in May of 2014 and have been progressing through their requirements and interviews over the last 15 months. While this may seem a long time, as is usually the case, God's timing prevails. He has taught us many things through the process and will continue as we progress to working at Bongolo. 

We sold our house and moved to a condo a few months back. We are getting settled in and continue to "downsize" and get rid of our "junk". This summer we also completed medical exams, personality assessments, and language learning assessments. I have no idea how I scored "above-average" on the this test.

The next step is our final interview with the CMA. It is with the International Ministries leadership and will be held in Lexington, KY on August 18 from 9a-12noon. Please pray for our preparations for the August 18 interview. Also pray for the interview, specifically that we would communicate our calling and answer any questions clearly.

There are still many steps until we see God's calling fulfilled. We remain obedient to the call and simply concentrate on the next step. That's all God asks of us. He will work out the details. 

Thank you for your prayers, counsel, and support to date. We may be the ones heading overseas, but you all are a much needed and significant part of our ministry. Join us on this journey. God bless you as you surrender to Him daily. 

"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “ How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" --Romans 10:14-15

Bongolo Hospital Video

"Five billion people have no access to safe surgery"

In a recent BBC article, the author quotes a study by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery - "Five billion people have no access to safe surgery." Another staggering statistic from the study shows that "a third of all deaths in 2010 (16.9 million) were from conditions which were treatable with surgery. That was more than the number of deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined."

People sometimes ask me, "why do you spend your time and money to make short-term trips to Africa and why are you on a path to go there full-time?" Aside from the primary reason, a call of God to go, I am burdened by the abysmal health care situation in sub-Saharan Africa, especially as it relates to surgical services. People are dying of very treatable surgical diseases due to lack of resources and education. Here in the US, if you have belly pain and it is determined you have appendicitis, you undergo a relatively simple and safe surgical procedure with safe anesthesia. In a lot of areas of Africa, people with this very treatable disease die due to lack of resources or qualified surgeons. Even if the procedure is attempted, the patient may die from the anesthesia. This same scenario is played out daily with other surgical and obstetric conditions as well.

Check out this video from the Lancet Global Surgery Commission:

While it seems like an overwhelming task to even make a dent in the substandard surgical care in Africa, people are making a difference. One program I work with is the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons - PAACS. The organization trains and disciples African Christian doctors in a Western equivalent surgical residency program. After training, these qualified surgeons then go to underserved areas to serve as leaders and improve the care in these locations. One of my long term goals is to start an anesthetist training program at Bongolo Hospital in Gabon in a similar style, training and discipling Christian anesthesia personnel to go to underserved areas to be leaders in perioperative safety to improve care and save lives.

Bongolo Update

Thelander visit - We had a wonderful time this past week with Keir and Joanna. They stayed at our home from Thursday through Monday. It was a joy to connect and "hang out" and dream of future times in Bongolo. Keir and Joanna had opportunities to speak with small groups at our church, Centerville Community Church. Keir and I spoke at the Sunday services. Keir gave a short message on "the fight" for men and women and their souls. I had the opportunity to give testimony to God's calling for the Lanes to serve at Bongolo. For those interested, the audio is posted at the CCC website  - click here.

CMA Application - We continue through this process, finishing up the required Alliance Polity course. We are awaiting notice from the International Missions office to schedule a Level 2 interview. After that I am told the next step is Board approval and commissioning in Sept or Oct. We look to then start fundraising with plans to begin language school in mid-2016.

Downsizing - God is so good. We put our home up for sale and sold it within one week. Praise Him. We will be moving to a condo in June. We plan to keep this for our use when home and for others to use while we are away. Busy next few months of packing stuff, selling stuff, and moving stuff.

Trip to Bongolo - Plans are for Amy and Jeff to visit Bongolo from Sept 12 to Oct 1. We are looking forward to this time to reconnect (or connect for the first time) with the team.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Lane Family!

"Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!"

2 Corinthians 9:15

Visiting Surgeons

More great stories from a plastic surgeon friend of mine who recently visited Bongolo Hospital. It is a blessing to see how God uses visiting doctors to teach and serve there--making a difference in the hearts and lives of the patients and residents.

Dr. Rigano's story

God's Perfect Timing

God's perfect timing was on display earlier this year bringing the needed healthcare resources to Bongolo when a major trauma occurred. The two teens lives were saved and now they are sharing not only the good news of their return to health, but the great news of Jesus Christ.

Click here for the story.

Trust

While traveling home, I had the opportunity to reflect on this trip to Bongolo.  It was different, but in a good sense.  It was truly amazing to have my family there to experience the hospital and mission station and to see where we may serve full time someday.  It was also wonderful for me to come "home" from the hospital each day to my family.  In another sense, this trip (and the lead up to it) brought me to another level of trust in God and His purposes.  As many of you know, we were close to not making this trip due to my health.  While I was still questioning the advisability of making the trip even up to time of departure, God kept bringing me back to trusting Him on a deeper level--"just take the next step, I'll take care of you."  Well, this wonderful trip is over and we are home now.  He did indeed take care of us on this trip.  Trust.

God taught me an addition lesson with a pediatric case in the eye clinic.  In my prior trips things have gone well with very little clinical problems and good outcomes.  Yet, this case was different.  God reminded me that despite every effort to make anesthesia as safe as possible, things don't always go right.  People die.  Babies die.  Doctors are human.  If you want to work here full time, will you be able to handle this?  Hurt, suffering, and death are all around us and will continue, yes, even at Bongolo and likely more often.  Trust.

Both of these are trust issues and while suffering (experiencing it or observing it) is never pleasant, it does bring us to a new level of dependence on Christ.  Over the last few months God has continually brought me back to Philippians 4.  While in no way am I equating any of my suffering to Paul's (not even close and never will be), his example of steadfastness and resolve in continuing His ministry despite setbacks is one to follow.  He trusted God in all circumstances.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" -Philippians 4:13

We had the opportunity to spend a few days in Paris on the trip home.  What a wonderful city and great time exploring a few sites with the family.  We will make it a point to go back someday.

Eiffel Tower

Our Hotel

The Louvre

Weekend in Bongolo

It has been a wonderful weekend here in Bongolo.  Friday evening we had a delicious dinner and played some games with the Newman's.  It was great to fellowship with them and hear their insight on being missionaries for many years. 

We slept in Saturday morning.  Aaron and Jeff had the opportunity to tour the water filtration plant and electrical power setup at the mission station.  As Aaron is interested in engineering, it was good to see the inner workings of this place.  God has blessed the mission station and hospital with free electricity and water from the nearby river.  Amy and Sarah attended a baby shower for the wife of a PAACS surgery resident.  They are soon to have twins!

Dr. Jacques (the surgery resident from Congo who visited the US in March) and his wife Dinah had the family over for dinner on Saturday evening.  It was a joy to get to meet his family and fellowship with them.

Sunday morning was a special time to attend the local church with my family.  What a joy to have the family join our Gabonese brothers and sisters in Christ in worshipping God! 

Psalm 67

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the people's praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the people's praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!"

Bongolo Family

As we finish up our first week here in Bongolo, thanks again for your prayers and support for this trip.  While coming here to help with patient care, education, and ministry is the primary endeavor, the highlight is certainly the ongoing relationship building with the missionaries who work/live here.  They are such a blessing to us as we visit and interact with them daily.  On Wednesday evening all the missionary and visitor families gathered for a time of singing and praying.  The visitors (including our family) had the opportunity to share how God has led them to be a part of this ministry.  It was quite a blessing to hear how God is working in the lives of people all around the world to further His kingdom through mercy and compassion.

Bongolo Mission Team 


My health is improving steadily.  This is a healing place and perhaps a visit here is just what I needed.  Thanks again for your prayers.

We look forward to a restful weekend together as a family.  Blessings to you all.

Bongolo with Family

It has been quite a blessing to be here with my family for this trip to Bongolo.  The operating room is not quite as busy so I have had some down time to spend with the family here at Bongolo.  What a great blessing for them to experience how God is working here!  Their first impressions are positive and they are tolerating the bugs.  We'll see how they feel this time next week--probably ready to get to Paris.

Aaron has shadowed me in the operating room the past few days taking in the sites and smells of surgery in Africa.  Amy and Sarah have been busy helping out some of the other missionaries get things organized in storage and preparing one of the apartments for a new surgery resident moving here next month.

There is a group from Cleveland (family of 3 and 2 other friends) visiting as well and it has been great to work alongside them and get to know them.

Thanks for your prayers. 

Phillipians 4:4

Getting Settled

The first day in Bongolo as a family is going well--mostly just getting settled in our guest apartment and checking things out.  Jeff and Aaron delivered medical supplies donated to the operating room and toured the hospital a bit.  Amy and Sarah helped in the storage depot as a new container with supplies had just arrived.  Sarah helped with school this afternoon.  It's good to ease in to the week while overcoming the jet lag and climate change.

Thank you all for your prayers.  It's good to be here with the family.  May God be glorified in all we do.

Bongolo story in alife Magazine

Check out the latest alife magazine including a story from Bongolo Hospital.

Tools

Here is a recent testimony from a new member of the Bongolo Hospital team:

Dear Friends,

When I arrived at Bongolo, the maternity ward had exactly 2 speculums. There were a few more scattered around the operating room and surgery clinic. (At least 50% of you will understand the importance of that particular tool in my line of work.) I didn't have an office, so the only place I had to consult with or examine patients was the half bed we use for deliveries. There was an ultrasound in maternity, which allowed us to measure fluid volumes and locate heart beats. I think it's younger than I am, but I wouldn't swear to it. Keir kept promising me an office and would even occasionally talk about exam tables, but I refused to let myself hope. I learned secret tricks for stealing, I mean borrowing, the ultrasound machines from medicine and surgery. The consultants hunted me all over the hospital, and I spent a lot of time in the maternity nursing station. It worked to some degree, but it was far from ideal.

Then a few weeks ago, my office was finally finished. I got a desk and a chair, and then one day, I walked in to an actual exam table. Just for the fun of it, I opened the drawers. Speculums! Loads of speculums! Different sizes and types of speculums! It was like a dream come true. I found a bucket and loaded them in. It is my firm belief that never in the history of the world has one woman been so happy about a bucket of dirty speculums! I traipsed up the hill to the "SS Linge" where the ladies work sterilizing instruments for the OR. It was with some trepidation that I handed over my precious supply, but they promised to give them all back, and even counted them out for me. Now, when I need a speculum, I just open my drawer and pull out a little cloth wrapped packet of happiness!

Today, brought another wonderful surprise. The Thelanders came back from a quick speaking tour in the States. I was walking back from the OR to my office when I noticed Luke and Keir and stopped to welcome them back. Keir handed me a gray shoulder bag and it actually took a minute for the news to register. It was an ultrasound! It was a fabulous, brand new, completely mobile ultrasound with a vaginal probe and an abdominal probe. It even has a spare battery! I immediately took it to my office and plugged it in. Within 30 minutes I had used it to diagnoses pelvic congestion syndrome (using the color flow feature) and an enormous fibroid (using the crazy awesome measurement feature)! For the first time since my arrival, I can see a patient and examine her fully, all in one room. It's fantastic!

I have to admit that I don't understand how things get to Bongolo either from the financial or the technical side. I do know that it has a lot to do with generosity and partnerships all over the US and for that matter the world. From my perspective though, I see it as the Lord caring for His jungle swallows.

With elation,

Izzi

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself where she may have her young, a place near your altar - Ps 84:3

Bongolo Team Visits Dayton

Jacques at Kroger

It was a special blessing to have a few precious friends from Bongolo Hospital visit the Dayton area over the last 10 days.  Keir and Joanna Thelander, their children Luke and Sarah, and Jacques Ebhele came as keynote speakers for Fairhaven Church's (www.fairhavenchurch.org) Spring Missions Fest.  They also shared at Centerville Community Church (www.centervillecommunity.org) on March 30 on their Spring Missions Sunday.

During the limited downtime from all their scheduled events, it was a joy to just hang out with the team and with mutual friends here in the Dayton area.  God has built a wonderful connection between Bongolo and the Dayton area.  This partnership is growing every year in many different ways.  It will be exciting to see how God expands the connection for His purposes.

Creation Museum

For Jacques, it was his first time in the United States.  In fact, it was his first time outside the continent of Africa.  We made some special memories exploring American culture (Kroger, Best Buy, the barber shop) and visiting the Creation Museum near Cincinnati.  He stayed part of the time at our home and it was a blessing to share our lives with him.  He shared gracefully at both churches.  His message of compassion and his life example of hearing God's calling, committing to it, and joining God no matter the cost challenged me and others.

"And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." -Matthew 9:35-36

Haircut

Best Buy

Home Safely

The team arrived home safely yesterday after uneventful travel.  Not only were we greeted by our loving family, but also by this continuing tough Midwest winter, quite a change from the jungles of Gabon.  It's great to be home, but I think I would prefer the hot, humid weather over what we have here.


Thanks to all for your prayers and support.  It was another great trip filled with God's presence and love.  He showed up at many times and places, some of them quite unexpectedly.


For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  -Romans 10:13-15

Thought I was done in the OR, but oh no, you need to do one more case….

So we finished up dinner with the lead surgeon and his family on our last evening in Bongolo and headed back to the guest apartment to pack.  I was exhausted from 2 weeks of busy operating room days and teaching.  The plan was to pack and get a much needed good nights sleep as we had an early departure the following morning.  Well, God had a different plan.  As I was getting my things together, I received a call from the surgeon about an emergency case.  They wanted to bring an 8 year old who had a thyroidectomy earlier that day back to the operating room as she was bleeding in her neck and causing airway compromise.  “Seriously God, this is the case you want me to do on my last night.”  Getting this patient off to sleep would be a challenge in the US even with all the gadgets and resources available at my disposal.  I could only imagine how this would go here in the jungle operating room.

Off I went down to the operating room.  The child was stable but obviously had some airway obstruction and was having difficulty breathing.  I gathered some resources and we brought the child to the operating room.  Oh, and by the way, my anesthesia practice in the US is about 98% adults.  “Really God, a difficult case and on a kid.”  I prayed for this little one as we got started and felt a peace that the Great Physician would be with me along the way.  “Just take the first step in faith and I will take care of you”, I could hear Him saying.  While getting her to sleep and establishing an airway was a little tricky, it proceeded smoothly and uneventfully.  They found the bleeding and fixed it.  She woke up fine and was doing well when we left the next morning.

Life lesson learned again -- step out in faith and rely on God’s strength to make it through a tough situation.

“Physiology is suspended at Bongolo Hospital….”

God showed up in miraculous ways again at Bongolo Hospital.  During a prior trip, one of the visiting physicians coined the phrase, “physiology is suspended at Bongolo Hospital.”  In other words, the normal physiologic processes and outcomes that we see every day in the United States do not occur on some of the patients at Bongolo.  Those that would normally have poor outcomes and even death are spared miraculously.

One such occurrence was a trauma that occurred on Wednesday.  In the local town (Lebamba), two teenagers on a motorcycle were struck by a taxi and showed up in the ER.  One had a broken femur and fractured bones around the right eye.  The other had a broken femur and tibia and a presumed head injury.  His level of consciousness was in and out, at times making sense, but most of the time was confused.  He was initially scheduled to undergo emergent repair of his leg fractures, but in the interim took a turn for the worse, approaching a comatose state.  We assumed he was bleeding inside his skull and rushed him to the operating room.  We did not have any imaging of his head (unavailable) and presumed the bleeding in his skull was on the same side of a head laceration (it could have been on the other side just as well).  After getting him off to sleep, the surgeon drilled a hole in his skull to evacuate the bleeding and release the pressure on the brain.  I never thought I would be doing neurosurgery at Bongolo--simply incredible what was done in the jungle with limited resources.

The correct side was chosen as blood was coming out of the hole, but the source of bleeding could not be identified.  Upon removing more of his skull, the presumed source of bleeding was identified and stopped. But, there was bleeding elsewhere, deeper in the brain.  Not a good sign.  We did not have the capability to go after this and closed him up.  Given this finding, we felt he may not wake up from the surgery.  While he was still asleep, the orthopedic surgeons temporarily fixed his leg fractures and it was time to wake him up.  And that he did.  While he was a bit sluggish, he was following commands appropriately, talking, and asking to eat shortly after surgery.  For the next few days he continued to improve and did not show any further signs of bleeding inside his skull.  The other bleeding we saw in surgery must have stopped. The other patient had his injuries fixed and is doing well also.

God intervened in many places during these traumas.  In Africa, almost all of these types of trauma result in death as the patients either never make it to the hospital, and if they do, they do not go to the OR as the resources to fix these injuries are minimal.  Even though these 2 patients made it to the OR, it still amazes me that the first one woke up and will likely survive.

These two teens, who would have likely not survived anywhere else in the country, now have a chance to lead normal lives.  They now have a chance to hear about God and serve Him and glorify Him.