Post Trip Thoughts

Bongolo - Changed Lives

God is doing great things at Bongolo Hospital in Gabon, Africa.  Both short-term and long-term, He is changing the lives of all those involved in the hospital and mission complex.  Patients, healthcare workers, missionaries, visiting physicians, families and more are being changed physically, educationally, and spiritually by His power and wisdom.

Physically

Through His power and the skills He has given to the physicians and nurses, God, the great Healer, is changing the lives physically for many people at Bongolo.  I think of the children with club feet who now have a chance to grow up and walk normally.  They will not be marginalized by society and can be productive, hopefully getting an education and job someday.  I think of the adults with fractures either not repaired or wrongly fixed who may now live pain free with better function.  I think of the trauma patient who had emergency life-saving surgery and is recovering well and chooses to stay at Bongolo for better care rather than go home to the capital city.

God is sustaining the permanent healthcare workers and missionaries at Bongolo.  Despite the difficulties of living in the jungle (high heat and humidity, bugs, little air conditioning, isolation from modern conveniences, etc.) the staff presses on to help those who are sick and to share the love of Jesus with them and their families.  As a visiting physician way out of my comfort zone physically, God gave me the strength to proceed and serve Him in the jungle.  He sustains!

Educationally
God, the great Teacher, is providing a foundation of education for both physicians and nurses at Bongolo.  In His great wisdom, Christian doctors from all over Africa are being trained in surgery at Bongolo and upon completion will return to their home countries.  When they return they will not only be skilled as surgeons capable of helping in underserved areas, they will also be bringing the Gospel witness with them to share.  Some of these countries are predominantly Muslim with limited access from foreigners.  These men can return to their countries with minimal limitations.  Praise God.
As a visiting physician, I was able to show the doctors and nurses new practical anesthesia techniques to help them care for their patients.  They can use these skills at Bongolo and throughout Africa when they return to their home countries.  Thank you God for giving me these skills to pass on.  Mike Welker, an orthopedist and friend of mine demonstrated to the physicians and nurses new surgical techniques.  It is new techniques like these that change lives--both surgeon and patient.
God is training young missionary surgeons at Bongolo to expand His kingdom.  Through a post-residency fellowship coordinated by Samaritan's Purse, Zach and Jen O’Connor will spend 2 years at Bongolo learning all the various facets of missionary medicine.  They can then proceed to other mission hospitals where needed most to care for patients and share Christ’s love.

Spiritually
God, through His Spirit and faithful workers, is changing the hearts of people daily at Bongolo.  The Gospel message is shared with every patient and many come to a relationship with Jesus during their stay at the hospital.  The hospital has a reputation for great care throughout Gabon.  Patients will travel many miles from multiple countries, passing other hospitals along the way, to get care.  What a great way to expand your field of evangelism!!  God is bringing the people to the workers.  Amen.  
The doctors training in surgery are all followers of God who live out their faith daily.  While gaining an education in surgery they are also growing in God through Bible studies and mentor relationships.  It was a joy to interact with them on a spiritual and biblical plain.  God has blessed them for making the commitment to become excellent Christian surgeons returning home to spread His message.
Through this experience, my heart has been changed as well.  God took me out of my comfort zones and allowed me to rely on Him for strength and support.  He allowed me to endure the high heat, humidity, bugs, etc. and sustained me.  Over 60% of the surgical cases were on pediatric patients.  In my practice in the US, I do less that 1% pediatrics.  He was there to guide my hands and mind taking care of these precious children.  With very limited technology and a minimal safety net, we were able to safely proceed with the surgeries.  He was there.
I went into the trip with an attitude of openness--trying to gain some insight as to how this experience may change my life in some way.  Kind of a like, “OK God, what next?”  Well, isn’t it like God to speak to you in the strangest places.  He gave me an idea as I was floating in an inner tube down the river.  While I need to continue to pray about what this will look like, I feel a calling to teach anesthesia in places like this (mission hospitals, underserved hospitals with minimal resources, etc.).  While the anesthesia is decent at Bongolo, there is much room for improvement.  I heard on more than one occasion from different missionaries how it needs to be improved (you think God was saying something here).  God has given me the talents and desire to do this.  We will start with developing an anesthesia training curriculum for the Bongolo Hospital.  If all goes well, my desire would be to spread this training throughout Africa and even to other continents, God willing.  God is providing great care through His missionary surgeons throughout the world.  There should be safe and excellent anesthesia to go along with this.  It will only serve to enhance the reputation of these hospitals thereby allowing His Word to reach more people.

Back Home

Back home from a great trip.  God did some great things at Bongolo Hospital over the last two weeks and will continue to work there for years to come.  Many lives were changed both physically and spiritually, and both patients and caregivers.  Thanks again for all your support and prayers.

Check out some pictures here.

Acts 1:8 - "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Heading Home

This afternoon we will be heading home from Africa.  What a great experience to serve alongside the missionary and Gabonese people here at Bongolo Hospital!  God is doing some amazing work here.  Despite the difficulty at times and being out of my comfort zone on occasion, God provided the peace, wisdom, and strength to get through it.  He has challenged me through this time to rely on Him more.

I am looking forward to getting home.  We are already thinking and planning for a return trip.  The needs are great here for clinical training of the Gabonese people.

Thank you for your prayers and support.  Pray for our safe travels home.

Changed Lives

Lives are being changed here.  A subset of the cases we are doing are on children with club feet.  By the time we leave, God, through Mike (the orthopedist) and the rest of the OR team, will have corrected about 8-10 club feet of children aged 1-8.  You see, here in Gabon the kids who have club feet do not get them corrected at birth as they do in the US.  In the US the newborns with club feet don't even have surgery and get casts for their correction.  That would be impossible here.  So, without correction these children grow up as outcasts with the inability to get educated and eventually hold a job.  The society writes them off.  While maybe not correcting them to absolute normal, God, through Mike and the rest of the team, is giving these kids a fighting chance to have a "normal" life.

Praise Him and He is the great Physician and Healer!

Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons

If you haven't had a chance yet, take a look at the website for Bongolo Hospital.  There is a link at the top of the page to their website.

One unique opportunity I have while I am here is to help train some of the surgical residents in the PAACS program.  Bongolo has 5 surgical residents and one of them is rotating on anesthesia for the 2 weeks I am here.  The residents are here as a part of the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons (www.paacs.net).  Young Christian surgeons from various countries throughout Africa come to train in Bongolo for at least 5 years.  After their training, they return to their home country to work as surgeons, usually in underserved areas.  Many times they also bring their Christian influence and witness to areas that need to hear God's message of hope.  It is really a great program and one I am blessed to help out with.

Tomorrow we head back to the operating room to start our last week of procedures.  It will be a busy week as many cases are scheduled.  Pray for strength and health for the entire operating room teams and pray that we show the love of Christ to our patients.

Tubing Down the River, Stat C-Section, The Snake

Well, we had a much needed restful weekend here in the jungle.  Saturday we slept in and had a leisurely breakfast.  We then took a walk and had some time to take some pictures of the hospital and mission compound.  After lunch about 12 of us (physicians and missionaries) went tubing down one of the local rivers.  Even though I was continually scanning the river for anything that may attack me, it was quite relaxing.  After we returned, some of us went to the local restaurant and had some of the favorite game meats here antelope, gazelle, and porcupine (yes, porcupine).  As you might expect, the porcupine wasn't very good.

This morning we attended the local Alliance church here on the campus.  It is always wonderful to me to sit alongside my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and worship the same God half-way around the world.  Despite the language barrier and cultural differences (3 hour service), we come together for the same purpose.

After church, we ate some lunch and then settled in for a quiet afternoon.  Well, the phone rang and they needed help with a stat C-section.  I made my way down to the hospital to provide the anesthesia.  All went well with mother and baby doing fine.

A little late afternoon basketball with some of the local teens, missionary docs, and missionary was a great time of fellowship and exercise.  Even in the high heat and humidity, I was able to keep up with the younger players.

After dinner at another restaurant (when I say restaurant, this means a one room shack with one table) in town, we headed back to our guest apartment.  One of the surgical residents stopped by to get something and as he was leaving he spotted a snake near a tree outside our place.  We ran out with our machetes.  The resident hacked the snake's head off and that was that.  It wasn't very big, but who knows it could have been deadly.

So, all in all a great weekend here in the jungle.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  This place is special and they are doing special things for God here.  We start again tomorrow with another busy week.  God Bless!!

Bongolo Level I Trauma Center

Well, I found out today that Bongolo is the Level I Trauma Center here in Gabon.  All kidding aside, we did have a major trauma come to the "ER" this afternoon around 4pm as we were finishing the day.  There was a motor vehicle crash with rollover and the driver sustained blunt trauma to the abdomen.  Just like where I work at MVH, she was evaluated in the ER (one room with a few beds) and then rushed over to the operating room for immediate surgery.  She needed a blood transfusion and with no blood bank at the hospital, they find a relative and do a quick blood type.  If there is a match, that relative gives blood immediately and then it is rushed to the operating room for transfusion.  They found a ruptured uterus, lacerated spleen, and lacerated liver.  The surgery went well and she was awake and recovering well afterward.  Praise God!