My Journey

Wow.  Two more months have just flew by!  It is absolutely amazing to be in a place where time is not a priority, yet be so busy that the days just run together.  May and June were jammed full of activity and visitors. WATER PROJECT in partnership with New Life International.  As I previously informed you, we have installed a water purification system for the hospital.  I am pleased to say that after a few trials, we are successfully providing purified water around the clock to all areas of the hospital.  We praise The Lord for bringing New Life  and Chimala together and for providing funds for this project through Harding University.  I also want to thank Steven Uhde for the many hours he put in training our staff to run the system. OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY students.  We were blessed with a visit from 7 students this year.  They helped with painting at the schools, organizing at the hospital and unpacking boxes from the cont...

I cannot believe it has been two months since I posted an update for you.  I guess time flies not only when you are having fun but when you stay busy as well.  March and April have been really full months for me and May is shaping up to be the same.  When I look back and when I look forward, the only thing for me to do is Praise the Lord!  There are so many wonderful things happening for the people of Chimala. The week after my last post, the hospital had a big problem arise.  Our accountant left for another position without any notice.  This affected me because I had to step in to help with alot of the accounting work; the payroll, general ledger, etc.  I spent the majority of March trying to learn the ropes so to speak of the insurance, social security fund, payroll and other accounting systems.  I already had a good "over-view" of the systems, but not all the detailed ins and outs.  This has kept me very busy all on it's own.  Howev...

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7-8 " Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks , the door will be opened." I know without a doubt that God has ALWAYS been with me and provided for me.  He has done this even when I was not following him as I should.  I continue to trust in God to provide for my needs as I strive to follow his path for me.  However, I do not believe I have been doing my part.  I have not been doing enough Asking, Seeking and Knocking.  ASK:  Will you please help me with the financial support I need to stay here? I have been here at Chimala Mission for 14 months.  I have worked very hard to help those who are poor and sick.  I am providing mobile medical clinics to rural villages as an outreach program for the local church to reach out into the community opening doors to teach the Gospel of...

Thought I would update you on what has happened in the last few reports I have given you.  First, Eli has gone back to school.  I have heard from him once informing that he was getting settled in. The circumcision clinic officially concluded with 668 circumcisions completed.  However, more men and boys continue to come every day, so our staff have continued to perform the procedures.  As of yesterday, the number was close to 800. As for the bathrooms which are in the toilet.  I will be receiving updates on the amount of donations at the beginning of each week starting next Monday.  If you have not put a check in the mail yet, please stop and take a minutes to do so.  If 100 people would send $50, we would almost have the amount we need.  But in order to get 100 people to donation, I need you to be first. And finally, I have some very sad news concerning the 4 month old little girl who had been treated by a local doctor.  She had been...

Help!, I have fallen (into bad disrepair) and can't get up without your help! Below I am going to show you a picture story of the bathrooms at the Chimala Hospital.  When I arrived one year ago, I found many areas which were in need of improvements but sadly could only do one thing at a time.  I am now looking to fix the horrible disrepair of these bathrooms, but without financial assistance from you I sadly will not be able to fix this short-coming. As you look at this pictorial, please remember that you (one person) does not have to pay for it all.  If each of you would send what you can then with God's help we will reach the amount needed to bring these bathrooms into a good state of repair.  We need $6,000 to complete this project.  As you look at the pictures, let me explain that it is hard to clean concrete walls.  When we recieve help from our friends to repair the bathrooms, we are going to tile the walls in order to keep them cleaner.  Als...

  Home visits are a part of mobile clinics.  Meet Zabibu (on the right) and his brother Doto (on the left). Zabibu is 37 years old and has been paralyzed from the waist down since a bicycle accident 9 years ago.  Doto works for the Chimala Estate.  Both are members of the Mfumbi Church of Christ.  Since he is paralyzed, Zabibu gets around in a modified bicycle pictured below.         Currently,  Zabibu is having severe difficulties with deep wounds to his bottom from sitting so much and not being able to move much.  Rene and I have taught Doto how to perform wet-to-dry dressing changes.  On each Thursday, we go to  house to check the wound and do a dressing change.  I have placed him on antibiotics due to an infection and we will pray for quick healing.  Please keep them in your prayers and pray for the work we are doing in Chimala.

The government of Tanzanian Health Authority has recently begun a campaign encouraging all males to be circumcised.  Most of the tribes and villages here do not approve of circumcision until the young men reach their teenage years.  Some of the males are never circumcised.   Our hospital began its 10 day campaign for our area on Monday.  We converted one of our minor theatre rooms (ER rooms) into a procedure room with 6 beds.  Along with the staff from the regional hospital, we have 15 - 20 staff working this clinic throughout the day. Each day the team will work from 7am - 9pm.  I am not sure what I expected when I was informed we would be holding this clinic, but I don't think I expected this....   The above picture shows a couple of the beds set up for the procedure.  There are actually 6 beds in this room.     At the beginning of Monday, there were over 200 men and boys waiting to be registered for the proced...