Short-term Mission groups for the summer

Lately, I have been studying what the experts are saying about short-term mission trips.  I am most interested since we have been hosting so many visitors.  Most of the visitors we have are medical or nursing students.  As such, they are here to have a learning experience.  They are young minds eager to learn both culture differences and how medicine differs here from their home.  Watching them interact is great as is seeing the differences through their eyes.  Most of the experiences they have are positive and make lasting impressions on their lives.  However, some experiences are not happy ones, but they, too, make lasting impressions and sometimes those experiences will impact their lives in a long-term way.  These students and their experiences are rewarding to both the long term missionaries and the Tanzanians they  spend time with. 


But the real reason I have found it important for me to study what the experts are saying about short-term missions is because of the "other" visitors.  All visitors are well-meaning.  However, these well-meaning "other" visitors mostly make mistakes which are detrimental to the current work being done.  I totally understand that coming into a poor area leads well meaning people to believe the way to help is with money and gifts.  I have been reading a site called "A life overseas".  This site has many good reads on short-term missions including their faults.  It is helping me to understand how short-terms mission can hurt and how they may be performed in a better way.  My prayer is that I can find a way to influence the mission to help do short-term "vision" trips in a better and more positive way.



We have hosted 58 visitors this summer!  This is the excuse I am giving you for my lack of posts this summer.  I have not written since March even tho' I truly wanted to stay caught up with you.  As the time goes by without me writing, I tend to forget some of the things which have happened.  



One of the really neat things we did with the students from the Oklahoma Christian University group was to give a showing of the Ten Commandments at the church where I have been teaching a ladies Bible class.  We just finished Exodus so I had promised the ladies I would show them the movie.  So, the first weekend the girls were here was my weekend to the show the movie.  As it turns out, none of the girls had seen the movie either.  The movie was very well received....of course, I had to tell a translator what was happening, then he translated to the locals...but it really did go well.  Since it was a movie, I had invited the men and women from two churches and the place was packed.  It was really neat to be able to teach to both Tanzanians and Americans together.  



Some of the students we host, are not Christians and so I believe the role of the missionary here is to reach out to those people as well.  Being here at Chimala Mission allows me to teach both locals and those who visit from other countries.  The students and I are often having some deep Biblical discussions.  Of course, I do not know if I have a positive influence in their lives, but my instructions are to teach the Word.  It is God's place to change their hearts.  I pray that God does allow the hearts of those I have the privilege of touching to turn to Him.



The first weekend the OCU students and some friends from Memorial Road church of Christ in Edmond, OK (MRCC) were here, I enlisted them to assist me in shucking our maize which we harvested this year.  None of us knew what we were getting into.  It was a back-breaking, tiring job which took us almost 6 hour.



After having this experience, I now know I would do it completely different and hopefully in a much more organized and easier way.

Through the mobile clinics which we perform throughout the month, we have been assisting two families who have albino children.  Life in Tanzania is more difficult for them in several ways.

  • Due to the lack of color in their skin, they burn quite easily.  Many live in homes without any conveniences which prompts them to spend most of their time outside in the sun.
  • People with albinism often have eye problems such as astigmatism.  And with lack of color to the skin and hair, they also have major changes in their retina of the eye.  One of the children we help is also cross-eyed
  • Many believe that the organs of albino people possess healing powers.  This leads to them being kidnapped and killed for their body parts.

There are some services available for these children, however, those services are about 1.5 hours away and so they need funds to get there.  Often the amount of time and the fees are too high for the family which leaves the children without any help.  With some financial assistance from some donors, we were able to take both families and children to an eye doctor and purchase them some glasses.  Unfortunately, the eyes of these children are pretty bad, so the glasses will only help so far.  Praying that the glasses can help enough to help them read and learn.  The next step is to get them to a skin doctor.

The young students who are here from OCU have had quite an experience this last two weeks.  We had a set of twins born in our OB who were, of course, pre-mature and very tiny weight less than 3lbs each.  They were discharged home at the insistence of the family.  They said they had some help waiting for them to get home.  So with much hesitation, the Doctor released them after only 4 days.  When the babies were 6 days old, they were brought back to the hospital.  Patrick wasn't sucking well and the mom was not producing enough milk.  Both babies had lost weight.  The girls and myself got very involved with this mom and the twins.  The girls spent every day and evening syringe feeding Patrick while the mom attempted to breast feed Patricia.  The mom still could not produces enough milk, so we had to insert a tube for feeding.  The students continued to poor their hearts and energy into these babies.  We said prayers, we crying and we continued day after day.  On this past Thursday, Patrick was taken home to his Heavenly Father.  This was a very difficult day for the students and the family.  However, on Saturday, the students saw the dad at the market.  He thanked them for all they did for his son.  Patrick will live forever in the hearts of many.
Patrick and Patricia


The hospital has been very busy and the staff have been working hard as well as teaching the students.  We have put our projects on hold due to all the visitors, but we are looking forward to getting started again.  Just to remind you, we are praying for financial assistance for a mortuary with a refrigerator, a new surgical center and completion of computerizing our hospital.  If you would like to  assist us in these projects, you can send donations to NYA church of Christ with a notation for the hospital.  
 
Throughout this  summer, the assistance I have been receiving has dwindled.  Perhaps due to my long absence on the blog; perhaps because the mission has not sent out any newsletters of late; perhaps because times are tough in the states.  I am not sure what the reasons, but at this point I am running very short of funding for continuing my mission here at Chimala Mission.  I do not feel that it is time for me to return to home.  I strongly believe God has a plan with more for me to do.  Therefore, I am requesting help from all of you with financial support.  The information for sending support is on this blog.  I ask that you pray and do what your heart guides you to do.  Any amount will help.


Thank you for following us, praying for us and for your support.

Cheryl and the Chimala Mission Hospital Staff



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