Hello everyone!  Thanks for taking the time to look at our blog; we really like reading your comments! Before I start telling you about what’s going on here in Kenya I want to tell you a little bit about what happened in me before we came.

Most of you know that we were in Kenya last January-February for six weeks. Everything was great and God really used us. But I really felt like God talked to me before we came on this trip. Last time we were here I was excited, but I felt that Africa was far from where I wanted to be. My passion is music and I feel like there is a ‘calling’ on my life in this area.  But I found when I was in Africa it was really tough to practice my music.  Before we left my schedule was God, family, music.  Music was all that I thought about.  I was constantly telling my parents about the big dreams I have, what I want to do, college I want to go to, and so on. But what I didn’t realize was that I wasn’t putting things into perspective!  I still have a good 5 years before I leave my family and go to college! I began to realize I was totally rushing things.

So back to Africa, last time I was here I was questioning God, why do you have me here? So far away from my dreams?! God you know the desires of my heart, why am I here when I want to be over in America? But then I remembered the scripture that says ask and you shall receive. Well, I will let you know that I took that scripture a little too seriously, I asked God about a million times to make me a better musician, for amazing windows of opportunity to open, and what did I get? Nothing. It wasn’t that God didn’t hear me, I know He did. But He just didn’t reply. Well, sometime last month I heard God speak to me. He said, “Georgia, why are you so focused on yourself? I have planted a dream inside you, just like the dream I planted inside your parents. Your dream still has time to come to pass, but your parents dreams are happening now.” That blew me away. I felt so selfish, that I couldn’t express my feelings to my parents. I then realized that my parents are living their dreams now, my dreams still have their own time!God has a plan for everything, don’t ever forget that! If he wants me to be a great musician, I will be, no doubt. But that’s all I was ever focused on, me. It might be years until God fulfills that promise he put in me. God put a dream inside of my dad at 12, and 30+ years later he’s fulfilling it. And guess what?  I get to be a part of his dream.  That is the greatest honor ever, to be a part of one of God’s plans—even if it is for someone else. So what I want you to know is don’t give up on a dream God put in you. And be ready to be a part of making someone else’s dreams come true. And make sure you don’t miss out on all of the great things and great people and great opportunities God has placed in your life right now.  I’m only 12 years old but I guess I’m learning that you can trust God with your dreams.

Georgia Grace

Wow!  It seems like just yesterday that I spoke at the weekend service for my brother (remember the banana photo?)!  It’s been a whirlwind ever since.  We left the following Tuesday with four of our children to spend the next ten weeks at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya, East Africa.  God granted us safe passage—all of our flights were on time, all connections made without problems and twelve bags (yes, I said 12!) arrived without any problems.  What a blessing!

We spent 3 nights in Nairobi getting over our jet lag, gathering supplies for our prolonged stay and seeing some of our friends.  We then drove 4 hours across the Great Rift Valley where we saw a herd of wild zebras!  We have now comfortably settled in to our home away from home for the next two and a half months.

All the staff here has really made us feel welcome. Jenn has done an admirable job making our small apartment have the warm feel of a home.  You may not know this—but Jenn is an amazing cook.  She can take the local vegetables and fruits that are available here and combine them with what we bought in Nairobi and produce some pretty incredible meals.  Rachael Ray has nothing on this lady!  The kids have really enjoyed re-connecting with their friends here at the mission compound.  Jackson has so enjoyed seeing his Kenyan friends—the Bii’s.  If Jackson is missing, all we have to do is find the Bii’s and we will have located Jack!

The children started back into their home school studies this week.  Georgia is in the 7th grade; Olivia the 6th, Sophia the 5th and Jackson is in pre-school.  They spent part of Saturday helping sort out medications that a visiting team brought to the hospital.  It’s really great to watch them volunteer to help however they are needed.

It’s been an easy transition back into the world of surgery here at Tenwek.  I didn’t realize how much time and energy it took last time we were here just learning the physical layout of the hospital, the drugs that are available, the way the clinics run and the routines of the different departments.

I’ve completed my first week and the very first patient I saw had been gored in the chest by a water buffalo.  The rest of the week was filled with a conference on the current treatment of malaria in Kenya, lots of endoscopy, two cases of typhoid fever with intestinal perforation, and a case where we resected the entire esophagus and replaced it with the colon.  The case took a little over eight hours!  Trust me, I slept well that night.

Yesterday (Saturday) morning, I operated on a newborn little girl named Rose who was born with her intestines outside of her body (gastroschisis).  Her surgery went well, but it usually takes about 2 weeks for the intestines to be completely replaced into her abdomen and begin functioning well enough so that the child can eat.  Supporting the child nutritionally is critical during these two weeks.  In the States we have a special IV fluid (called TPN) that can give adequate nutrition until the child can take milk.  If a child with gastroschisis receives TPN (a great majority of the time) they will survive.  If they don’t the survival drops considerably. Even though little Rose’s surgery went well, unfortunately, that special IV fluid isn’t available here.

As I thought about this little girl, I thought about all the children around the world that don’t have the one thing they need to survive into adulthood.  That ‘one thing’ may be enough food, or clean water or a mosquito net or a vaccination or dose of antibiotics or an available doctor to perform a simple life-saving operation.

If you think about it this week, remember to pray for little Rose.  And remember to pray for all the other little Roses all around the world.

Keep us in your prayers.

Paul