"When it's HOT, you're HOT!

This past week has been wonderful in many ways. I was at the Church of Christ Medical Clinic in Yendi, Ghana and made several more great friends. The clinic sees between 60-100 patients daily in the dry season and around 150 per day in the rainy season. It is the dry season at this time. Yendi is in the northern part of Ghana. The temperatures this week were 100-110 during the day and very dry. One day the wind picked up and it was a horrible dust storm and, of course, I was walking from town to the clinic. I still had about 2 miles to go and was sandblasted along the way.

Dr. Peter, Asana, Victoria, Diane, Kojo, Liz and Huda are just a few of the wonderful people who work every day in this heat with minimal supplies attempting to make the lives of others better. I must say that I got a dose of reality on this trip. In the first couple of hours, I saw some of the worst wounds I have ever seen. And here's the deal....the dressing changes are done with NO PAIN MEDICATIONS! Americans would never stand for this! On a few of the wounds a little lidocaine was used but there is no morphine, lortab, percocet, etc. The wounds are scrubbed, debrided, flushed and re-packed while the patients cry, scream or quietly moan. The patients response depends on whether it is a child 1-2 years old or someone in
their 40's. After the morning wound care was finished, I went back to my room crying and praying for strength.

Dr. Peter and Asauna taught me about the medications (which are all called different names than what I am used to), about how to diagnose without labs, x-rays,etc., and what meds to use for what diagnosis and why. He then had me see the patients and do all the paperwork with him there for advice. Some of the illness I saw included TB, female issues, more malaria
than you can imagine, chickenpox, lots of muscle and arthritic pain, abscesses, skin infections, intestinal worms, ringworms, burns, wounds and more wounds. I have a lot to learn!

Yesterday we traveled to Kumasi, Ghana. This trip took approximately 8 hours. It was so tiring, but watching the terrain change from dry to green was encouraging. I did like Yendi though and I was asked why I not change my mind and come to Yendi instead. It sprinkled
yesterday here and is trying to rain now, but the temperature is still HOT and now we are adding HUMIDITY. Probably about 90 and no air-conditioning, but there are ceiling fans in every room! Looking forward to the clinic here in Kumasi tomorrow. More specific details later.

Change of subject....new book recommendation for everyone. "A Message from God" by Retha and Aldo McPherson. Thank you Tammy for giving it to me.

Thought for the day. Being HOT.....with everything I have experienced this week, the heat has been a constant as well as my reading the above mentioned book. Together they made me think of the following passage in Revelations 3:14-16.

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

What am I HOT for? I pray to be HOT for the Lord, my Savior. I need to devote each and every day to God's work. I pray you will too.

PRAISE......PRAYER.......

As I mentioned before, my church is encouraging each of us to write our own Acts 29 by finding a mission work to get involved with this year. In conjunction with our individual chapters, the church as a whole is writing an Acts 29 which will focus on one action or thought each month. January was PRAISE and our monthly Bible verse was John 3:30 - He must increase, but I must decrease. This month we will focus on PRAYER.

I was so surprised when I saw our Bible verses today...it is the passage I used just last night. I Thessalonians 5:16-18. "Be joyful always. Pray continuously. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.". I used that passage last night for a couple of reasons.

First, I truly would like for you to all pray for the success of OAVI and the clinic. But, here's the other thing....I am finding that I am praying even more now than I did before August last year. I have always prayed frequently, but since making the conscious decision to move to Ghana, I find myself praying even more. I am sure that I do not always pray in the way God would want me to, but I am sure that my relationship with him is getting stronger through my time talking and listening to him.

I am also spending more time in his word. I want to be prepared to study with the women when I have the opportunity. I heard about a bible study called the Essential 100 (E100) from a friend on my Guatemala trip last year and so have been working through that study this year. I have found it to be very thought provoking for me.

I hope that you can figure out where I am going with all this....but I will explain. When I move to Ghana in April, helping with the clinic is a goal...but God is the main thing! Praising Him, Glorifying Him, Serving Him, Worshipping Him, Sharing Him and bringing Honor to His Name.

Be joyful, pray continuously and give thanks in everything......

My Excitement is Building!!

Here's an up-date on my moving plans..... February 18th, I will be traveling to Ghana for 2 weeks with IHCF. We will spend time at two active clinics working beside them in whatever way we are needed. This will allow me a wonderful opportunity to learn from successful operations. I have been communicating with Avril, one of the nurses at the Yendi clinic, by e-mail. She informed me of the items I would need in order to apply for my Ghana Nursing License. She told me she would give me information when I visit about what all is necessary to get approval for a clinic.

Dan, the director of OAVI, will be here in the states From March 1st thru April 15th. He is bring his youngest son, Joseph, with him. Dan will be traveling to churches who have supported the school in the past to give them a report on the activity and, hopefully, secure support for thenext year. He is also hoping to raise an additional $15,000 to purchase a second school bus. The school has a current enrollment of 300+ students. The majority of these students need transport to and from school as the cost would be too much for them to continue to attend school. With only one bus, it is necessary for the bus to make 3 trips to transport students to and from school.

I prepared about 22 information packets and sent them out to Churches of Christ in our area requesting the opportunity for Dan to meet and speak to them. I pray that God will present Dan with several avenues for additional funding. This school has only been in existence for 2.5 years, has graduated 150 students, and is very successful. The Ghanaian people have embraced this school and are interested it seeing it succeed. At the graduation ceremony last August, the Ghanaians donated approximately $90,000 to the school. This is an amazing amount of money in this country for a one day gathering. I say this to let you know that this school
is a partnership between the Ghanaian people and several American Churches of Christ.

Dan, his son and I will return to Ghana April 16th. My last day of work will be March 18th. That will give me 4 weeks to spend wrapping up things here, packing and spending valuable time
with family and friends. Please continue to pray for the success of OAVI and the clinic.

 Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I Thessalonians 5:16-18