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