For the last couple of years my friend Dr. Zach and I have dreamed about a time when we could make a trip to northern Kenya where the Pokot tribe lives. Dr. Zach is from the Pokot tribe and God has placed a burden in his heart to return to his people, provide medical care to them and share with them the good news of the Gospel. He wanted to introduce me to his family and we wanted to explore areas where we could come with short-term missions teams. This weekend that dream became a reality as Dr. Zach and I loaded up our gear in his four wheel drive Land Rover and set off from Tenwek mission hospital to explore the territory seven hours north.
Our route took us through Kericho, Ahero, past the Nandi hills to Kapsabet and then Kitale. In Kitale we had a brief lunch and then were off to Eldoret, Soy, Kipsain and then Kapenguria. Kapenguria a small town on the southern edge of the country of the Pokot tribe. We visited the government hospital in Kapenguria where many of the Pokot people come for medical care. We then traveled north where the terrain changed from the lush highlands similar to the area around Tenwek hospital to a dry, hot desert climate. This area has had very little rainfall this year, the crops are failing and severe shortages of food are expected later this year. What struck me though, was the fact that there were virtually no vehicles on this remote road heading north. We stopped at the Ortum Catholic Mission hospital—a 100 bed hospital served by one dedicated medical officer and only an occasional visiting surgeon. The area served by this hospital includes the northern border of the Pokot tribe, extending into Uganda. Dr. Samuel was so excited about the possibility of surgical teams coming to Ortum to help care for the people. We then left the tarmac and headed west up the Cherangany hills 30 rough kilometers to the area of Dr. Zach’s home, the village of Sina. It was dark when we arrived, there was no electricity but I noted in the headlights several older men beckoning us to a small room dimly lit by a kerosene lantern. As I stepped in, I realized I was being greeted by the elders and chiefs of this area. We exchanged introductions, they kindly welcomed me to their village and we drank chai (milk and tea) together. In the dark, we traveled another kilometer to Dr. Zach’s home. Dr. Zach’s father welcomed me to his home, they brought water for me to wash my feet and hands and we shared a delicious meal of chicken soup, ugali (corn made into a paste), milk and chai. His father presented me with a beautiful hand carved chair as a gift. When I gave him a new pair of dress shoes as a gift, he put them on and literally jumped up and down with gratitude. I got bundled into my sleeping bag, blew out the kerosene lamp and slept like a baby until almost daybreak.
When I woke up and went outside, there was the most beautiful panoramic view of the surrounding hills and mountains. There were baby twin lambs bleating for their mother, chickens with their broods and a cow with her calf grazing just outside my door. The women were already up and working getting the children ready for school and you could smell the fires warming the water and milk for breakfast. I met Dr. Zach’s mother and sister and had breakfast of boiled eggs and Nescafe (mine!) for breakfast. The rest of the morning was spent with the village elders and chiefs thanking me for my visit and expressing their sincere desire to have a small clinic for mothers to deliver their babies. We then visited several dispensaries where nurses and doctors occasionally visit to provide health care for the area. In the entire area there are no doctors, only an occasional nurse that visits, everyone must travel many miles over difficult roads to receive medical care. The one thing that so impressed me was the fact that wherever we visited, everyone knew Dr. Zach, loved Dr. Zach and so wanted him to come back and help them. One elder said it well when he said, “This is our son, he will come and help us.” At another dispensary 500 children were sitting on the grass under the shade awaiting a measles vaccination. [Apparently there is a measles outbreak in this area and they are strongly advising all the little ones to be vaccinated.]
We said our good-byes to Dr. Zach’s family and as I left they presented me with gifts: a hand-carved sugar bowl, a laying hen, a sack of potatoes, 6 eggs and a pint of honey with the comb. After prayers of thanksgiving and prayers for “journey mercies” I felt I was leaving my own family as the Land Rover pulled out of their village.
We headed southwest for 100 kilometers arriving at Kapsowar mission hospital at 5 p.m. I spent almost a month at Kapsowar last year, so I was well acquainted with the facility and the staff. We were warmly greeted by our friends Dominique, Wilson, Jonathan, James and Michel. That evening over a meal we met several new missionary doctors serving at Kapsowar. We rested well after our long journey and the next morning toured the hospital, saw several patients and began our seven hour journey home.
As the red dust of Africa spilled through the windows of the Land Rover we talked about all the ways that perhaps we could come back and help the Pokot people. God has placed that burden in the heart of Dr. Zach and God has placed that burden in my heart as well.
Journey mercies,
Paul

Many people have been asking if we are adopting the children we are caring for in Kenya. While we are open to God’s leading, it is not possible for us to adopt them. Kenyan law says that you must live in Kenya and be citizens to adopt. So we will continue to care for them and love on them as we all continue to pray that Caleb, Lydia and Benjamin will be adopted quickly by a Godly, Kenyan family.

My foster babies

Benjamin, Lydia and Caleb came home with us a few weeks ago after being orphaned when their mother died shortly after childbirth. The girls and I spent many hours up in the nursery feeding these three small babies. After spending a couple of weeks in the hospital nursery, they were ready for discharge but their long-term placement had not yet been arranged. The nursery was packed with 47 babies in a small cramped space. The doctors and nurses were overwhelmed with taking care of so many sick children so they asked if we would be willing to care for the children while arrangements for long term placement are being made. The legal officer for the hospital and the social workers gave approval for them to come home with us until they are placed in nearby orphanages to await adoption.

It has been very exhausting and at the same time absolutely one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I am up at least every two hours at night. It seems as if one of the babies is always crying, needing to be fed, burped or changed. Like all newborns, they want to be held and cuddled. It is a 24 hour job just making the formula and cleaning the bottles. And I am still trying to school my own children, cook, clean and maintain a family life on the mission compound. When I think about it though, all the hard work and sleepless nights has really been the easy part.

The difficult part has been all the unanswered questions. I have struggled with not being able to change their situation or to predict what their lives will eventually look like. I want desperately to manipulate their futures. I want to know the ‘plan’ for their lives. Will they be adopted? Will they stay together as triplets? Will they be able to go to school? Will they be raised in a Christian home? Will they be safe and loved?

I hardly ever pick them up, hold them or cuddle them without whispering prayers over them and asking Jesus to protect them and care for them when I no longer will be able to. I pray they would come to know Him at an early age and serve Him all the days of their life. I ask God all the questions that float around in my mind. I have even struggled with God over the injustice of their situation.

A few nights ago around 3 in the morning I was questioning the Lord and even telling him how very unfair things seem to be sometimes in this life. Could He reassure me that He was in control, of even, this situation? A very familiar scripture came to my mind. I hear it quoted frequently but in the quiet of the night it took on special meaning.

God whispered Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for Benjamin, Lydia and Caleb…plans to prosper them and not harm them. Plans full of hope and a future.”

He knows the plan. I can trust He is aware of the situation and knows the outcome. I am here NOW because we are part of His plan. I still have all those questions and they are all still unanswered but I have to trust Him. It’s not my job to figure it all out. My responsibility is to do what I can. And for now that means to hold these little ones, to kiss them and feed them and care for them. But mostly, just to love them. To be the mother’s hands and arms and embrace that they have never felt.

Sometimes trusting God with all the unknowns feels like the ‘hard part’ to me but it actually is what makes all the hard work feel easy. He has given me grace and endurance over the last few weeks to care for Benjamin, Caleb and Lydia and I am learning to trust Him with their future. I thank God for the privilege of caring for them and for the unfailing promise of His word.

Jenn

I’ve spent the last two weeks with a visiting physician couple here at the hospital. Dr. K.E. is a general surgeon and his wife, Dr. Leya is a pediatrician. Their original home is India; their home for the last 30 years is in the Deep South, not far from mine. They have three grown children and are within a few months of retirement age. They have a rich Christian heritage and have themselves been devoted followers of Jesus for many, many years.
For the last two weeks Dr. K.E. and I have spend a great deal of time together—doing rounds early in the morning, seeing the sick in clinic, sharing our thoughts on complicated patients and assisting each other in difficult surgeries. They have been guests for dinner in our home; they have made us Cajun gumbo in theirs’. I have watched Dr. K.E. respond to the daily frustrations we all face, I have watched him interact with the staff of the hospital, I have watched him take care of patients and their families, and I have watched him as he has processed life for the last two weeks here at Tenwek.
And there is something distinctly different about K.E. He is one of the most grateful people that I have ever met—an unstoppable gratitude, in every situation finding something to be thankful for. When you are around him there is an absolute peace, a calmness that nothing seems to disturb, a joy that is always just below the surface, which bubbles up so naturally—in an effortless smile, through his gentle touch, with the kindness that you can see in his eyes. And everywhere he goes he “ministers” this peace and joy to everyone he comes in contact with. He is one of the kindest men I have ever met—to the staff he is so complimentary and encouraging, to his patients he is so caring and compassionate, to his co-workers and peers he is so affirming and supportive. Even though he is an excellent surgeon with 35 years of experience, even though he has great wisdom and great judgment when it comes to difficult clinical situations, there isn’t an ounce of arrogance in K.E.—he deflects any praise to One he serves. I watched him as he secretly slipped small gifts into the hands of those he worked with—a book, a pen, or something else of meaning—small gifts from a very generous heart.
As I thought about K.E., I realized what makes him so distinctly different–he has been walking with Jesus for a long, long time. The fruit has taken root and grown and now looks just like the tree. The branch looks just like the vine. The child looks just like the father. He is being changed into the image of his Savior—and after walking with Him for all these years, He looks more and more like Jesus and less and less like K.E. And just like there was something powerfully attractive about the presence of the Son of God on this earth 2000 years ago, there is still something powerfully attractive about the presence of Jesus in a man or woman today. K.E. is living proof of that. And I am so thankful I had the opportunity to meet him, spend time with him and be challenged by his example.
Take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you. Ephesians 4 Message Bible

Last week our son Jackson developed high fever and a headache. The fever and headache persisted; he became very lethargic and took very little liquid and no food for almost 3 days. We gathered our family together and asked God to touch him and heal him. We then asked a few of our friends to pray for him as well. What happened then was quite overwhelming. Immediately Dr. Russ arranged for him to have blood work. Our friend Vincent and David (both work in the theatre here at Tenwek) arranged for him to have a spinal tap if necessary. Dr. Steve (one of the long term missionaries here) offered to take care of Jackson for us and took the time out of his already busy schedule to come by our house twice a day to check on his little patient. My friend Dr. Andre went to the trouble to bring IV fluids down to our house and offered to start an IV for Jackson. Dr. Carol and Dr. Zach stop by to have a special time of prayer for Jack. Barbara (long term missionary friend and an instructor in the nursing school) stopped by every evening with little gifts to lift Jack’s spirit. Jenny and her son Isaac (long term missionaries) brought a basket of Popsicle trays and videos and children’s Tylenol and ibuprofen. And EVERYWHERE I went—all through the hospital, all around the mission compound—person after person asked me how Jack was doing and let me know they were praying for him. After 3 days of treatment for malaria, our little boy’s fever went down, his appetite and strength began to return and now he is totally healed and well.
As I thought about all the people that were so concerned about my child, about his health and his well-being and how they went out of their way to do what they could for him—this father’s heart was overwhelmed with gratitude. As I passed through the hospital, as I do every day and I saw all the patients lined up in their beds in the male and females wards, in the ICU, in the nursery and pediatrics, as they waited in the crowded casualty and lined the corridors under the awnings of the outpatient clinics, it was as if God gently reminded me that these are all His children. And if they are sick, He is as concerned about them as I was about my Jackson. And that He is equally grateful to all the people of this mission hospital who are doing what they can to care for His children.

Georgia and Jennifer went out to the villages with Community Health.  They were able to help with immunizations, prenatal checks, vitamin distribution and well baby check ups.

One weekend when I wasn’t on call we had a special treat when one of the missionary families took us with them to visit the Aberdares National Park. We drove 5 hours across the Rift Valley, along the edge of the Mau forest then up the Mau escarpment to the national park. We travelled past beautiful mountains covered with bamboo forests. Our cabins were located on the edge of a mountain overlooking a valley full of game. We saw dukier (small antelope), bush buck and water buck (larger animals resembling elk). My kids are convinced they saw another rare animal called a bongo. All along the roads there was sign of elephant and water buffalo. Our cabins were located at an altitude of 10,000 feet—so trust me, without electricity and only a fire in the fireplace, we were COLD at night (all the while we were thinking of all you in Houston with 100 degree weather!). Each morning an attendant built a fire under a water tank so we could have a brief hot shower! What an experience it was to wake up, make a cup of coffee and sit on the veranda to read our Bibles as we overlooked the beauty of God’s creation. We visited several breath-taking waterfalls (see pics), hiked through trails, spotted game and fished in the streams. It was an incredibly refreshing time. In the evenings we would gather our families together, play games, sings songs, read books together, then end the night in prayer. When we left, at the game park exit, the park attendants showed us two tusks they had recently found from a 100 year old elephant that had died of natural causes (see pics). On the drive home, the missionary wife was ill and couldn’t drive one of the vehicles, so for 5 hours I was initiated into driving on the left hand side of the road! Not only did I have to deal with the steering wheel on the right, the stick shift on the left side, the blinker on the right side, I had to dodge pot holes, motorcycles and all sorts of animals! But God gave us “journey mercies” and except for a flat tire (not uncommon in Africa!) we arrived back at the hospital rested and refreshed.

During a busy clinic I was asked by one of the clinical officers if I would be willing to walk over to the medical clinic and see a patient with him. I was happy to help. He took me into a room where a young woman of 19 had been brought to the hospital by her family. Immediately upon entering the room there was the overwhelming odor of a terrible infection. The family said she had a chronic skin disease and four days before she had suddenly developed open, draining sores covering most of her body, sparing only parts of her head and face. When I examined her, 80% of her body was covered with open, draining, bleeding sores that were adherent to and soaking through her clothes. When I saw her for the first time, my heart went out to her. As I looked into her eyes I saw a combination of pain, and despair and a longing plea for hope and help I’ll never forget when the clinical officer asked me if I would be willing to take care of this patient. I remember thinking that I was not only willing, but honored to be asked to care for her.
We immediately took her to the ward, gave her some pain medicine, and slowly and gently several of the interns and nurses pulled her infection-soiled clothes off of her, ever-so-gently applied medical salve to all her wounds and carefully covered them with pure white, sterile bandages. As I watched the scene I was reminded of the Good Samaritan who “went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.” (Luke 10:34) When I saw her the next morning on rounds, she looked totally different, she was smiling and in no pain, still surrounded by her loving family.
Later that night I got a call from one of the resident doctors informing me that one part of her bandages had become soaked with blood (not at all unusual) and that she (Dr. Rosalind) had immediately attended her, making sure she was OK , changing and reinforcing her bandages. About an hour later we were stunned when the nurses said she had suddenly become short of breath and despite all measures to resuscitate her, she had passed into eternity. All of us where overwhelmed with sadness and grief.
I couldn’t sleep the rest of the night as I thought about the fact that I had never asked her or her family if she knew Jesus as her personal Savior. I had assumed that I would have many more days caring for her in the hospital, time to ask her about her faith and give her an opportunity to accept Jesus. But now, all I could do was grieve the opportunity lost.
The next morning at 6 a.m. rounds I discussed this patient with the residents and interns. We discussed the fact that we didn’t know her eternal destiny and that next time, we (myself included), needed to make sure we talk to our patients about their relationship with Jesus before it was too late. Dr. Rosalind gently interrupted when she said, “Dr. Osteen, when I changed her dressing last night, I asked her if she was a Christian. She wasn’t—so I had the opportunity to lead her in a prayer of salvation”—less than an hour before she passed into eternity.
So the lesson I learned, is to never assume that you have another opportunity to ask people if they know Jesus as their Savior. Take advantage of the moment, you may not have another. Thank God Dr. Rosalind was there to attend her; thank God she took the time to ask her if she was assured of her salvation, thank God she took the time to lead her into a prayer that allowed this sick little girl to pass from death into life. At the moment she prayed, Jesus removed the soiled, foul-smelling clothes (filthy rags) of her old life and had replaced them with new garments white as snow. And because of that we will spend eternity together in heaven.

The last weekend I was on call was incredibly busy. It seemed that every patient we admitted through casualty (emergency room) was very sick. Several patients were involved in serious “road traffic accidents”, others had severe infections (typhoid, malaria, meningitis). It didn’t take long before all of our ICU beds were full, all our ventilators (breathing machine for the sick patients) were in use and we were scrambling to make take care of all the sick patients. Needless to say, many times it seemed that the needs were overwhelming and the resources were inadequate. But it was amazing to see all of the staff doing what they could to make sure each and every one of these sick patients was well cared for. I was reminded of when the disciples were faced with the overwhelming need to feed more than 5,000 people with only 5 loaves and 2 fish. When they put the limited resources they had in THEIR hands, into the hands of Jesus…a miracle occurred. All of the people were fed and there were 12 baskets full left over. This last weekend, the needs were overwhelming, but we simply put our limited resources into the hands of Jesus…and miraculously…the patients were well cared for. And on Monday morning, after being up for almost 48 hours straight, amazingly, we still had the strength to work all day. I guess that was our 12 baskets full left over.

Currently we have between 60 and 70 patients on the surgical service here at the hospital. As I was making my rounds the other day, I realized how very different the surgical diseases are here in Africa. Presently we have one patient who was attacked by an elephant with a tusk injury through his back. Another was stepped on by a water buffalo. One who was bitten by a donkey. Another gored by a bull. We have patients with rabies and tetanus, malaria and typhoid and tapeworms . During all my years in surgical practice in the U.S., I don’t recall treating any patients with these conditions. But the one thing that IS the same is that each and every one of these very sick patients respond to the compassionate care given by the men and women here who are doing their best to be the hands and heart of Jesus.