Wegners 4 the ROC

2012-02-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

There were some friends and family members of a patient who would relax on a blanket beside the chapel. We would see them from our front door or windows.
They would rest, eat, pray, or talk when they weren't taking care of the patient.
I wanted to get a picture, but didn't want to just walk up and start snapping. I used the telephoto lens and took pictures of Ian playing and climbing in the yard.
Then I zoomed in past Ian's shoulder and took a few pictures of the group. In the picture of Ian below, you can see the group over his shoulder.

2012-02-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

One of the ladies that does our wash was dressed up for a celebration. When she knocked at the door, I almost didn't recognize her!

For some reason people don't like to smile in their pictures. If you want to take someone's picture, you usually get a solemn pose.

Choir

2012-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

We had a special treat in church one Sunday. A choir from the local church came to sing for us. They had great voices and a variety of instruments. We really enjoyed listening to them.

Guess who the speaker was that Sunday?

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is a picture from this summer of the doctors and nurses making their rounds. It makes me smile each time that I see it.

Laundry

2012-01-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

With no washing machines available, all our wash has to be done by hand. Fortunately, I don't have to do this all myself!
The clothes are washed, rinsed and hung on the laundry lines to dry.

Faces

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Canoe

2012-01-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago David Marsh and I took a little canoe trip into a tributary of the Ubangi River. It was quite a fun time and a good stress reliever for both David and I.

here Stephen and David are unloading the canoe. The painting on the side of the canoe was done by Claire Harvey
Another pict of unloading the canoe. These are hollowed out from trees. They cost about 60-80 USD to buy. The hand carved paddles cost about 4 bucks each. Two dudes spending a day going upriver? well you know.
We went upriver about 45 min and then pulled in a little inlet. This is David getting a little water out of the canoe
On the way down river we stopped at a refugee camp to say hi to some people. we have quite a few patients from there and everyone loves a pict.. You see how long the paddle is. This is because the style is to paddle standing up. This takes a bit of balance and learning how to do it in front of others is a nice bit of humble pie.
This is a reenactment of meeting landfall in the dark dark jungle.

Faces

2012-01-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

One of our nurses

Christmas Morning

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

After church on Christmas morning, we had a chance to pass out presents to the patients who are in the hospital. They each received some food items: kwanga, cookies, sardines, juice, and candy.
Thanks to donations from Samaritan's Purse, we were able to also give stuffed animals, blankets, scarfs, hats and mittens.

Faces

2012-01-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

A few pictures from our Christmas morning service.

New hope for H.E.L.P.

2011-12-27T03:37:00.000-08:00

We at HELP (Hôpital Evangélique ‘Le Pionnier’) are excitedly awaiting the arrival of a new missionary family. The Samoutou's are preparing to come to Impfondo to set up the first eye center in the Congo.

There are many eye problems that go untreated because of a lack of resources. The town of Impfondo and the whole region will benefit enormously from this care.

There was an article about them in the BBC News explaining some of the process. Here is an excerpt:

They are hoping to set up a clinic helping patients with eyesight problems in Impfondo, capital of the Likouala Region.

Dr Joyce Samoutou said she had worked at the Leeds practice for three years but she and he husband felt they had to help those with limited medical provision in Africa.

She said: "We found out that Republic of Congo has never had eye centre offering surgery before.

"According to World Health Organisation four out of five people in that region are either blind or visually impaired for avoidable reasons.

"Simple cataract surgery costing about £50 will change lives.

"Imagine you've got an eye problems so life is hard, it's even hard to get to visit a doctor because of either distance or money.

"Yet, with a simple operation these problems can be resolved, but the doctors out there cannot carry out the work and there are no referrals, so we're really passionate about going.

You can read the whole article "Leeds couple to open Congo eye clinic." Please keep the Samoutou family in your prayers as they finish their preparations and prepare to move.

Consultation?

2011-12-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

One day as I looked out the kitchen window this is the scene that caught my eye. I had to chuckle at that. What exactly was going on?
It turned out that Stephen was bringing a wheelchair home to write the hospital name on it before placing it in maternity. A few people stopped him to ask a question before he made it. Fortunately, he had a ready made seat while he listened.

Ambassador- Part 2

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

After the ribbon cutting ceremony and a brief tour of the hospital, everyone made their way over to one of the houses on the hospital compound to enjoy a light breakfast: juice, coffee, tea, doughnuts, muffins, bananas, and sugared peanuts.
Stephen was busy corralling the kids while I tried to finalize details for our trip and the breakfast itself, so we didn't get any pictures, but Laura got this one of Stephen and the kids. :)

Amabassador- Part 1

2011-12-19T00:14:00.000-08:00

Dr. Harvey and the Ambassador

At the beginning of October we had a visit from the Ambassador. He came to do an official ribbon cutting ceremony for our new oxygen filling station. The station was purchased with funds from a grant we received through the US embassy.

Dr. Harvey showing the Ambassador how the filling station works

The filling station in one of the OR rooms
(it may not look exciting, but it has helped to save lives and improve the quality of care)

Monkeys

2011-12-16T23:02:00.000-08:00

One of the challenges we have for school is focusing (or refocusing) despite the constant interruptions. Many people come to our door during the course of the day. Two men came with some monkeys to sell. I politely declined in spite of their insistence that they would be great pets.

Faces

2011-12-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Mashed Potatoes

2011-12-09T22:55:00.000-08:00

There is a potato here that is similar to a cross between a white potato and a sweet potato. It is slightly darker than a white potato, very hard, and sweet, but not as sweet as the sweet potatoes in the US.
We use it in stews, soups, for french fries, chips, and at Thanksgiving for mashed potatoes.

The children really enjoyed the mashed potatoes that we had on Thanksgiving. I thought it would be a good idea to ask our cook to make some. I explained that I wanted her to peel the potatoes, cube them, cook them, and then mash them. My explanation didn't go far enough.
The photo above is our mashed potatoes. After mashing, she formed them into balls and cut them into pieces. With a little margarine, they still tasted (sort of) like mashed potatoes.

Faces

2011-12-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

There are two of the ladies who cook for the missionaries who have babies. We were able to get some cute pictures of them recently.

Update

2011-12-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

When I last wrote an update, we were in the midst of preparing for a trip to Brazzaville while participating in a ribbon cutting ceremony and breakfast with the ambassador and some of his staff.

We were able to make it to Brazzaville that day, and the next day I had my last dentist appointment to finish the long process of having a crown replaced.

We had planned to spend a week in Brazzaville, but due to complications with the last minute cancellation of flights we were there 11 days. I wasn't really disappointed since it gave us some extra time with our CMA missionary friends in Brazzaville.

Since we have returned, I have been busy with homeschool, visitors, guest housing, and the many details of daily life. Stephen has been busy as usual, wearing many hats at the hospital: seeing patients, teaching, administration, preaching various times at the morning devotionals for the staff and the Sunday morning service, meeting with 2 nurses for discipleship, dealing with electrical problems, supply shortages, and much more. He fits a lot into each day.

But he has had a few chances to take some time away from the hospital. He has been out in a canoe with David Marsh whenever they both have a free Saturday.
v
We've been having lots of candlelit evenings lately. Our electricity comes and goes, and we have to be very conservative with what we have. Our hospital is somewhere between "orange alert" and "red alert" for the electricity system.
I've been thinking about this post for a little while. I had the pictures, but I wasn't sure how to explain the way things are without sounding negative or complaining.
Things are inconvenient and hard at times, but we've also enjoyed having a quiet family dinner by candlelight, sitting together while we read a book by candlelight, playing games together by candlelight...
Now even when the electricity is working, we sometimes choose to turn off the lights and light the candles.
We were without propane gas for our stove and refrigerator again, but mid-November we were able to get some propane gas for the stove. We've only had a working refrigerator for 4 months this year.
It's not as bad as it sounds, though. For one thing, there is not much available to buy that you need to keep in the refrigerator. There's no butter, cheese, milk, yogurt, etc.
We also have a cook who shops for fresh produce and meat five days a week. Then she prepares it using the kerosene burners and a charcoal burner that we keep outside. We're trying to save the gas for the stove for baking. I'm hoping it will last through Christmas.

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

What's for lunch?

2011-12-02T00:49:00.000-08:00

We've had many different types of meat since living here: beef, chicken, turtle, various fish, crocodile, antelope, goat, and sheep. We've also had the opportunity to try bats, monkey, and caterpillars, but I've chosen to refrain from each of those.

I've had a few moments of confusion when our cook is trying to tell us what she bought for the day. She knows the words for many foods only in Lingala. Once she told me that she bought horse. I knew that horse is not sold here, and we (fortunately) knew the Lingala word for goat. I was glad to realize that it was not horse, but goat meat that we were having for lunch.

Today she bought another meat for the first time. She didn't know the name, and the only description that she could give is that it is similar to an antelope. I was stumped,so she suggested that I pull out our animal encyclopedia.

I waited somewhat nervously while she flipped through the book, breathing a sigh of relief when she passed the section with monkeys! It turns out that she bought pig, and I was able to reassure her that yes, we eat pork. :)

Faces

2011-10-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Some of our hospital employees by the guard station.

Roosters, Gift Giving, and Communication

2011-10-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever received an unexpected bonus at work? Or maybe a thank you gift for a job well done?
When that happens here, it looks a little bit different.
We've been given various gifts by patients or their family members. Sometimes it's a pineapple, or another fruit of vegetable.
Once we were given a rooster. At the time Stephen was in surgery, and I really wasn't sure what to do. Fortunately, our cook was here and helped me to deal with the situation more gracefully than I would have on my own.
The kids named him "Peter Pan." I thought they would be upset if we ever ate him. It turned out that he was really annoying, and eventually became lunch.

One of our visiting doctors receiving a rooster as a present.

We had some other visitors who asked one of the merchants for a coke. He told them he would have it for them the next day. You can imagine their surprise and amusement when he had a rooster for them the next day. When they said "coke" he heard it as "coq" or (rooster in French.)
We all had a good laugh over that mistranslation, and someone was happy to receive a rooster as a present.

Faces

2011-10-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Which of these is not like the other?

Heavy Load

2011-10-07T03:20:00.000-07:00

The women here carry heavy loads on their heads. Some of the things they carry, I can't even lift!

October Update

2011-10-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

September was a whirlwind of activity.
Our trip to Brazzaville did not go as planned. First the permanent crown didn't work, and I had to have an impression made for another. Our return flight Saturday was canceled, so we had to wait until Monday to return.
We started school the day after labor day, and the kids and I have been busy with that. We're studying the Eastern Hemisphere and the human body among other things.

The hospital had an employee meeting to review the year and address any concerns. At the meeting, each employee was presented with a new uniform, scrub set, coveralls, or other clothes appropriate to their job. The employees were all excited to see the new things. It also helped to encourage them and let them know they are valued and appreciated. It has been fun to see everyone walking around in their new outfits.

Stephen's work at the hospital continues to be challenging. The baby previously pictured in this post, came in at 2 months old severely malnourished. He was doing a little bit better, but his mom had given up hope and wanted to take him home to die.

The doctors were able to convince her to leave him at the hospital to continue receiving care. A missionary family took him into their home, and became responsible for his care. This means feeding every two hours, medications as needed, and all the typical care for a newborn baby. They are working with him to try to develop in some of the areas where he is behind.

Every time I see him he looks better. He's gaining weight, his color has improved dramatically, and he's alert and beginning to take interest in the world around him. Please keep this baby in your prayers. We are hoping that he will be able to go home with parents and continue taking a special supplemental formula.

It's the rainy season here, so everything has been growing quickly. The workers spend lots of time keeping the grounds looking nice and things in working order. The hospital is looking its best today as we welcome the US Ambassador to Congo.

He's here today to have an official ribbon cutting ceremony for our oxygen filling station. Then we're going to have a small informal breakfast. ( I'll have a full post with pictures on his visit coming later.)

As soon as that is over, our family leaves for Brazzaville for yet another dentist visit. I'm praying that it is the last. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement.

Now I'm off to breakfast with the Ambassador!

Faces

2011-10-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Until the Cows Come Home

2011-09-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

During the rainy season, we see the cows being herded to the fields each morning, and then home again in the afternoon.

Faces

2011-09-21T06:48:00.001-07:00

Faces

2011-09-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Lots of faces this time! This is the group from the CMA conference in Brazzaville that we attended at the end of June. We have four pictures, but this is the one with the most people looking at the camera!

Community Health

2011-09-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

While our parents were here (Stephen's parents and Anna's mom), they had a chance to do some health care in the community.

Quick Update/Prayer Request

2011-09-08T03:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, some people may have seen the question Stephen posted on facebook/twitter yesterday, "Which would you rather have- water or electricity?"

While we've never had a choice, we have had many opportunities to talk about this lately.

The hospital continues to have ongoing electrical problems, which affects the water pump as well.

This is a summary of what Joe (Dr. Harvey) said in our meeting last night with the names removed.

The white generator will start, but the motor is shot and needs to be overhauled. The big yellow generator is starting to have problems again. The cable between the Sunday school building and Casa Blanca is fried. The underground cable between surgery and maternity that provides electricity to half of the hospital is not working either. (This effects maternity, administration, blue house, x-ray, lab, chapel, etc.) The best we can hope for now is a temporary fix.

We are in dire need of a full time electrician. Our electricity is becoming more and more of an urgent matter to the point of emergency. A volunteer has designed the system, but doesn't have time to order and assemble the system. Someone else is willing to install the system once assembled. For the time being we are back to a precarious electrical system.

Now the power has been restored to the water tower. We should only use electricity when absolutely necessary and remember that someone's life could depend on the electricity you are using. We should also try to conserve water so that we will not have to run the generator too often. There is a fuel crisis in town. (diesel fuel which is needed to run the generator.) We have payed for the fuel, but cannot get it.

Last night after the meeting, Joe continued working on the electricity and was able to get power back to some parts, including our house. But at best, it is a temporary fix. Please continue to keep this situation in your prayers.

Faces

2011-09-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

At the Market

2011-09-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

These are some shots of the market from December. The lady pictured here is at the market seven days a week selling onions and garlic. Sometimes she will have eggs or dried beans to offer as well.

I couldn't resist adding this cute face! To the side of him are some DVD's for sale.

This is a shot down one of the main aisles of the market.

I'm not sure what I'm doing in this picture, but I'm probably arguing about math in French. It seems to happen at least once every time I'm at the market.

September Update

2011-09-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy but enjoyable summer. We finished our homeschool year on June 2, just in time for our month of travel.

Our traveling began June 4 with a trip to Brazzaville. The plan was for me would go to the dentist before we left for a conference in Spain. Unfortunately, the dentist was nowhere to be found. On the plus side, we were able to enjoy a few days of relaxing in Brazzaville.

We left the Republic of Congo for the first time since our arrival in November 2009 to attend a conference in Malaga, Spain. We had an amazing time looking at the Mediterranean Sea, connecting with old friends, meeting new people, and spending time as a family.

All too soon, it was time to return to Brazzaville. We had another conference in Brazzaville at the end of June. With only 10 days between the two conferences, we didn't have enough time to return to Impfondo and then go back to Brazzaville.

This gave us time to relax, spend time as a family, visit with the CMA missionaries in Brazzaville, and run some errands for the hospital. We were also able to locate the dentist, and I was able to have an impression for a crown made.

At the end of our time in Brazzaville we were joined by my mom and Stephen's parents. We spent a few days in Brazzaville with them, and then traveled to Impfondo together.

Stephen had to jump right back into the work schedule, but the rest of us had lots of time to spend with the grandparents.

We enjoyed showing them around our house, the hospital, and the town. They even had a chance to get out into the town to do community health and go on a jungle walk while they were here!

We were so sad when it was time for them to go, but grateful for the time we had together.

Since then, the kids and I have been doing some light summer school to review things like math facts and memory verses, plus learn a few more thing . (We call it "learning activities." That sounds so much better than school!)

Stephen has also been doing some teaching. He was one of the professors for the Nurses Aids Training Program, and also got to be a part of their graduation. The graduates are now working
in training programs at the hospital.
Stephen is also continuing to work through "Experiencing God" (in French) each week with one of the nurses. A second nurse has joined the study this month.

We've also stayed busy working on projects around the hospital. Besides the medical work, there are many things that need to be done. The kids and I are able to help with some of the behind the scenes work. It's nice for us to be able to be involved.

(The picture to the left is some of the curtains that I made for the remodeled maternity building. More pictures of that project to come.)

We were sad to say goodbye to the Fuka family last week. Dr. Fuka has been working at our hospital as a surgeon for the past four years. Now he and his family are returning to the DRC. Our hospital is currently without a surgeon.

The hospital continues to see many patients on a daily basis, and we are glad to have the opportunity to provide physical and spiritual care.

What's next?
1. I'm hoping to finish my dental treatment. We were unable to return to Brazzaville in August because of a shortage of flights. Our current plan is to leave today and return Saturday. My permanent crown is ready and at the dentist office. I just need to have it attached.

2. We start back to school Monday, September 5. (Yes, Labor Day. No one celebrates here.)

3. The hospital is continuing to search for a surgeon- long term would be best, but short term people to fill in will help us, too.

4. Dr. Laura Foudy will be traveling for two weeks. Stephen and Dr. Harvey will be "holding down the fort" in her absence.

Thanks to everyone for their continued prayers and support!

Faces

2011-08-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

No office, no problem

2011-08-29T01:48:00.000-07:00

Dr. Laura Foudy showing that consultations aren't limited to an office.

Faces

2011-08-24T03:33:00.000-07:00

Graduation

2011-08-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

This year Stephen had the privilege to teach in a new "Nurses Aid Training Program." The hope is that we will one day have a full school for nurses.
The lady in the middle of the picture below is Delphine Bambemba, our nurse midwife. She has done much of the teaching and coordinated the program.

We had four graduates, and we were very proud of all of their hard work.

Faces

2011-08-17T03:20:00.000-07:00

I'm starting a series entitled "Faces" each Wednesday. I hope to give you a little glimpse into some of the things we see each day here at the hospital.

Mother and Son

2011-08-13T02:44:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a visit from grandparents this summer. (Stephen's parents and Anna's mother).
Stephen's mother is a nurse, and she was able to assist with surgery one day.

Conference in Spain

2011-08-11T02:49:00.000-07:00

We spent the month of June traveling. We began with a conference in Malaga, Spain. It was our first time to leave the Republic of Congo since our arrival in November 2009.
Our family was able to spend time together, relax, and reflect over the past 18 months.
I will be sharing more about our summer activities over the next few weeks.

Making a leg at Help

2011-06-08T05:04:00.000-07:00

Another update from Ginny Vandevoorde:

In all the things you have made, have you ever made a leg? Two of the most lucky amputees in the whole region are here at the hospital, and another man is on the waiting list! Kyria, physiotherapist from France, our niece, has been working on a new leg for Joselyn, a young man in his twenties. It is so exciting to see how it has taken shape! Every day we saw the leg 'grow' towards completion. More than once she had to throw it to the scrap pile and start again. With plaster, a few socks, tape, leather, and a piece of bamboo that we went out to cut down ourselves, and many hours of work, Kyria has been creating a prosthesis. Never had she made a leg before, but with the encouragement from Christine Groves, a short term re-hab doctor who was here for only 3 weeks, and with the help of a book, Kyria has made a leg for Joselyn and he is walking without crutches, only a cane, with his new leg. The first day he wore it only 10 minutes and will increase the time everyday. Joselyn reads his Bible every day and with the help of a patient-pastor, is growing in the faith.

Another amputee is 10 year old Sammy, the most smiling boy you have ever seen. His leg is almost finished but in the mean time he has been busy playing frisbee, football, and can do almost anything that we do with both feet. I could go on to tell other stories of different patients, like a little girl named José who accompanies Sammy everywhere, who gave her life to Jesus...

All these people will stay ingrained in our memories as we leave. Saying goodbye to the patients, nurses and doctors, friends, disciples and fellow missionaries is not easy. One chapter ends and another begins. God makes all things work together for our good and we know that He is leading us on to other pastures. We have been enriched and immensely blessed during our time here seeing the hand of God working wonders in and through us and in the lives of many others. Jean-Pierre has taught so many and now it is time for them to disciple others. We will leave but who will obey His voice and come help?

This is my last mail from Congo. We will be returning to Quebec, Canada to see what God has in store for us next. It has been my privilege to tell you a bit about what God is doing here at HELP. Please continue to pray for His work here at the hospital.

God bless,

Jean-Pierre and Ginny

from H.E.L.P.

Impfondo

Rep. of Congo

Burn Patient- Scarred but Shining

2011-05-30T03:53:00.000-07:00

The following is a hospital update from Ginny Vandevoorde.
Last Friday I spent some time with Marie, the burn patient. Kyria had told me that she was worried about the color of her skin. Her arms and hands are pink, not black. As much as black people like to get their skin to a lighter shade, they don't want it to be completely white (pink) like ours. She is a pretty woman no matter what color she is and her face is mostly black. I talked to her about God's perfect plan for her and that he saved her life from the flames maybe to come here and learn more about Him and receive Eternal Life. She understood that she was a sinner and needed to repent and she also understood that God had trusted her with a heavy trial (being burned and scarred for life ) because He knew she could come out shining, that God can fill her heart and life with a joy that comes only from Him, and that she can show the light of the love of Christ, so that people don't see her scars but will see God's love. I think she understood.

Now she is healed enough to go home by boat, but who should pay the hospital bill besides the boat captain who is responsible for the fire/explosion in the boat...? He has fled the country and she is waiting/wanting him to pay the bill.... Thanks for praying for this difficult situation where again, we know God is in control.

In His hands,

Ginny and Jean-Pierre Vandevoorde

H.E.L.P.

Impfondo,

Republic of Congo

Picture with Marie's sister and I: note her pink hands and how the black pigment is coming back into her face.

The "other" part of the hospital

2011-05-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you knew this but I'm a doctor. Its what I do, not really who I am but there it is. I'm not....well I'm not a lot of things. Recently this was brought home to me last Tuesday when in the midst of a busy medical day we lost power to the hospital.

Dr. Fuka was taking out an uterus when, oops the lights went out.

I was helping some premature infants get oxygen and making rounds in the hospital at that same time.

I assumed that it was a breaker of fuse or something and strolled back to the "other" part of the hospital to nod knowingly while Molimo our mechanic extraordinaire explained electrical things to me in french and put it all together. But that is not what happened. I went back and he and Jean Pierre (carpenter/pastor) were looking at this.

This little device is called and inverter/charger and it converts our solar electricity to usable current for us at the hospital. It was fried. Even I could tell that it smelled bad. This is the mechanics version of the "janitor" lesion we talk about in medicine. Without this device even though we have lot's of batteries like you see below we can't use that energy.

The other problem was that even though we have a diesel generator that fuels the hospital a large part of our circuitry goes through this box. Therefore even though the generator was working the circuitry that went through this box did not go to the hospital.

For now the team of Molimo and Jean Pierre have worked out a system to get the electricity from this "other" part of the hospital to the patient care part of the hospital using the generator but this is not a long term solution

1. it is too expensive to run the generator 24/7

2. it is too much wear and tear on the generator.

3. there are still parts of the hospital that are not working

Currently our plan for the "other" hospital is:

1. We run the generator from 11pm through the night for the nurses and keep it going until 3pm which is the end of our day shift.

2. From 3 pm to about 7pm we run two small generators to fuel oxygen concentrators to keep some kids alive.

3. From 7pm to 11pm we have "city" power that runs our services.

What happened to the cases that we were working on when the lights went out? Well we got a light for Dr. Fuka and he finished the case without further mishap. The children I was working with were not so fortunate. They both died that evening after a long day of struggling to find ways to give them oxygen.

So as you pray or think about our patients here remember that the care they receive in part depends on our "other" hospital. Pray that we can get this repaired or replaced ($2k to $4k), thank God that the city electricity is working and we have the other generators to give a break to the big one we have, and continue to uphold our team in prayer.

Update

2011-05-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, our hospital received a container of medical supplies from Samaritan's Purse. The supplies have been running low at the hospital, and many of these items were desperately needed.

The container arrived in Pointe Noire on January 20. After a lengthy process, the container was released on March 25, and transported to Brazzaville via cargo flight. There is no way to get the entire container to Brazzaville at one time; we are bringing items as there is space available on cargo planes or humanitarian flights.

While on an unexpected trip to Brazzaville for the dentist, we were able to help prioritize the most urgent items for shipment.

The following is an excerpt from Dr. Harvey's latest newsletter. It explains some of the difficulties with the transportation of the items. Life here can be challenging, but we continue to remember God's faithfulness in the midst of difficulties.

One friend commented, “Tell us about the shipment having arrived and being all squared away and tidy and useful…”

I wish I could. In reality, over a month has come and gone since our container was released from port, but still only 1/6^th of the contents have made it to Impfondo. We still have 8 ½ tons of donated supplies and equipment sitting in our warehouse in Brazzaville (900 km to the South), with no way to get them here. (Thank God for the warehouse). For 2 months we have had 1 ton of medicines that we ordered from Europe (and paid for) back in September, sitting in a storeroom in Bangui (200 km to the North). (Thank God the medicines have made it thus far). No boats are coming to Impfondo, because the river is too low. The humanitarian flights that are supposed to bring our stuff for free have begun charging $2 a pound, or are alternately cancelled or too full. (Thank God a commercial airline has agreed to start bringing things a little at a time for 50 cents a pound, and 118 boxes arrived yesterday). Every day at the hospital, many times a day, people tell me “we are out of suture” or “we are out of bandages” or “we are about to run out of IV fluids.” We are also out of fuel and natural gas (which we use for refrigeration and cooking). I don’t know what to tell them except “they’re in Brazzaville” or “we bought some 8 months ago that hasn’t arrived yet.” I try not to get discouraged. . .

Read the full newsletter at Congo Harveys.

Life here can be challenging, but we continue to remember God's faithfulness in the midst of difficulties.

Pangolin

2011-05-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

What do you usually do after church?

Maybe you have a routine that you do each Sunday before heading home: talk to friends, check the bulletin board, collect the baby from the nursery, view some exotic wildlife...

I was talking to someone inside after church on Sunday, when one of the hospital employees came up to me. He let me know that there was someone waiting outside for me.
It turned out to be "something" rather than someone.

For the equivalent of about $2, I could have had a new pet- or lunch!

Opportunity

2011-05-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

Below is a link to a CAMA services website. CAMA stands for Compassion and Mercy Associates and is connected to the Christian and Missionary Alliance. We have connected with them to help underwrite some care of children here at the Pioneer Christian Hospital. Click on the link to see how you can help a child get a blood transfusion or combat malnutrition in the Congo.

CAMA-HELP

Faces- Isabelle and Benjamen

2011-04-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

I snapped this picture after church on Palm Sunday. Aren't they adorable?

2011-04-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

The newest doctor on our team has a blog. Check out The Life and Times of Master Dr. Laura for pictures and info.

Donkey Therapy

2011-04-26T09:04:00.001-07:00

We were blessed to have a doctor who specializes in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation here at the same time as our Physical Therapist. The patients greatly benefited from their combined skills.
One of the things they were able to offer was hippotherapy, a form of physical, occupational and speech therapy in which a therapist uses the characteristic movements of a horse to provide carefully graded motor and sensory input. (definition from Wikipedia)
There are no horses in Impfondo, but there is a donkey! He is very gentle and mild mannered, and he enjoys the attention he gets while helping with therapy.

It is incredible to see the joy and confidence that comes over each individual's face as they are given this opportunity.

Note: You may recognize this young man from Random Saturday part 3. He's adjusting well, and gaining strength daily.

A Wegner introduction video

2011-04-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a new photo montage we put together to introduce ourselves. Lots of picts of our family and hospital activities.

Random Saturday part 3

2011-03-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

Here is part 3. The men surgery ward, the women's and men's medical wards and pediatrics.

All of these people and more needed care on that one random Saturday.

This young guy rocks! Great attitude and work ethic after receiving a leg amputation because of a severe leg infection

This gentleman has a leg infection but still managed last week to go to church and even translated for us.

This gentlemen suffers from stomach ulcers and a chronic wound infection

This child came in when he was 1 yo and weighing 10 pounds. he is now 14 pounds 3 weeks later.

This is a child who we suspect has had a stroke from the combination of sickle cell anemia and malaria.

This child suffers from an infection he caught while still inside his mom.

The child did not breath on his own for the first 10min of his life. His name is Grace.

His mom is now sick with a breast infection

This lady has a chronic lung infection which has spread to include areas around her heart

Believe it or not this lady has gained 4 pounds in the course of her treatment here

This lady has been here almost two months to treat her lung infection

This lady is here for longterm treatment of a lung infection

This lady is far from home and here for long term antibiotics for a lung infection

This is a young man with bleeding uclers whose blood level were 10% of normal.

This elderly man is a rare case of elder abandonment. he has severe hip pain and chronic lung problems.

This young man has severe spasms related to meningitis and low calcium levels

I can't say this enough. Thanks for praying for these patients and hundreds like them that we see all the time as we try to shine God's love and heal the whole person

random saturday part two

2011-03-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the postpartum and "women surgery" rooms in the hospital

A lady who is 16weeks pregnant with twins but her placenta is in the wrong place and we are trying to keep the children and mom alive.

One of the twins from the lady in the first picture

The older sister of the twins. Recovering from polio

32 week premature twins slowly gaining weight to go home

This beautiful smile belies the fact that this 10 yo has lost 7 pounds in 2mos from typhoid fever

Recovering from life saving cesarean that Dr. Fuka performed last week.

Trying to avoid surgery with antibiotics

recovering from appendectomy

29 yo woman who has an abdominal fistula after a botched surgery in a "health clinic"

70 yo woman, Dr Fuka did a mastectomy for breast cancer

29 yo who had to have a hysterectomy because of tumors. No children.

Keep up the good work of prayer

A Random Saturday

2011-03-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

Since most of my last posts have been word heavy I thought I would give you a tour of patients that I saw today.

These first group were from our emergency room

This first lady came in for abdominal pain and we are considering surgery

This child is 10 yo orphan with malnutrition who weighs less than 24 pounds!

This man suffers from the stigmata of leprosy and has pneumonia.

This child just came out of a 2 day long coma and trouble breathing after drinking kerosene

These two are of the same girl, who has pneumonia and sickle cell anemia.

This child is recovering from dehydration because of a stomach bug. Getting ready to go home.

This elderly man is in a coma from dehydration and tuberculosis. We are the last resort for him.

More picts to follow. But know your prayers undergird our work here and I encourage you to not lose heart in doing good.

Yika Mpiko

2011-03-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is a new Lingala phrase we’ve picked up. It means to take courage, be strong, don’t give up. That’s a good phrase for us. We are 15 months into our first term, and sometimes staying the course and keeping courage can be a challenge. Everyday life can be difficult, and the medical work here is more complicated than in the United States.

Some examples from everyday life...

...making bread but sifting the flour for bugs first...

...teaching home school then having home school interrupted by someone trying to kill a poisonous snake in your yard (then letting it get away!)...

...not having a dishwasher or a washing machine...

...going to the market (on a bicycle) trying to find produce, not succeeding, and then going back again to try again...

...making supper only to have the bottled gas go out without any replacement for several months...

...having internet go in and out, cutting of reliable communication with family and supporters...

From the medical side...

...wanting a consult and not having one...

...making a diagnosis and saying “you need a surgeon” and then realizing that it’s you...

...fighting to keep parents from taking their kids out of the hospital to soon because (a)they don’t want to pay the bill, (b) they want to try a fetish at home, (c) the dad wants the mom to come back home...

...receiving sick patients and realizing that if you only had “one more thing” or more organization or something, you had a shot at saving the patient...

...watching patients die and wondering what you could have done differently...

...doing all of this in a different language and culture...

Then there are other things...

...hearing your kids say Sunday is their least favorite day because they take the malaria medicine and have to go to church in a language they do not understand...

...trying to explain the peace that comes from the Prince of Peace to someone who is too scared to listen...

...being exposed to communicable diseases regularly...

Yet, God is proving that He is more than faithful:

The kids are seeing a culture that makes them evaluate their own; they are seeing God answer prayer; they are happy and healthy.

We see babies start to breathe who would not be resuscitated in the past;

we speak love into downtrodden forgotten women;

we see God answer prayer; and with that we can say, “Yika mpiko.”

You have a part. Your gifts, your prayers keep us going, keep us determined to follow Jesus wherever He is and to bring light into an area of darkness in the world. So we say to you, “Yika mpiko.” Keep praying, keep giving, and keep in touch.

Right now we can use prayers for: family health, reliable internet communication, team unity, for a medical container to clear customs, and for a better understanding of the gospel for ourselves and the people around us.

Thanks,

Stephen

Back Online!

2011-01-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

We are back on line after almost 6 months. Yea!!
We will be trying to catch up on e-mail and blogging. Our connection is slow, so we appreciate your patience.

Okei Wapi

2010-12-13T01:55:00.000-08:00

As we continue to learn lingala this helpful phrase pops up from time to time. It means Where are you going or where did you go? I am sure many of you are asking that same question. Wegners, okei wapi? Even across the miles I am hearing that question being asked of us.

Well it’s been over a year since we “went” to the Congo and even since we “went” to Impfondo. God has blessed us with a good adjustment in this first year and it’s been neat to see how he has strengthened not only our relationship with Him but with each other as well. But we have each “gone” in other ways as well.

Anna went back to school with the kids in October (the Congolese school year is October through June) and things are going pretty well. The courses are a little harder for both Ian and Isabelle but they are hanging in there. Caleb told me that his first day of school was “amazing” and he still enjoys doing it a lot. Anna has also gone a lot with various short term visitors to make sure they are feeling welcomed and have what they need to adjust to life here in Impfondo.

Isabelle goes to play with some girls of our nursing supervisor here and is using her French and picking up lingala pretty well.

Ian went up in a tree almost a month ago and then had a nasty fall that resulted in a mild concussion and a broken arm (we think since we don’t have xray in town right now) and now a cast for the arm.

I’ve been going to the hospital a lot and continued to get pulled and stretched both in my medical knowledge and in my faith. We continue to do the best we have with what we have. We continually need more nurses to carry the load for us and that is about to get worse when a couple of people who have been helping us out this year return to the states in December. We are also struggling to get official government approval to open our nursing school. There is a lot of duplication in the bureaucracy and so we get conflicting reports as to our prognosis and timing of the opening.

Also our family just went to Brazzaville for a bit of a vacation and to pick up Anna’s brother, John, from the airport. He is coming to spend a month with us.

But the prhase “okei wapi” makes me think of something more poignant as well.

Recently we had a child who came in pretty sick. He had malaria in his brain, was having seizures and was unresponsive. Despite all our efforts the child died. As the wailing began I picked out a question that the mom was screaming. Okei wapi, my child, okei wapi? Where did you go my child where did you go?

Even in the midst of my own pain and frustration I caught that phrase and the more it resonated in my mind the more I thought that the question is a pretty good one. Where am I going now? Am I going further from God or closer to God? Since the child was in a coma when he came in and I am not sure if he has heard what God has done for him I am not sure where he went either. I know at least where I am going when I die. How about you? How about your neighbors?

We hope all of you are going in the right direction as we enter Christmas season. We invite you to continue to pray for us.

Praise God for his protection in our lives

Praise God for the gift of His Son.

Pray for nurses for the hospital. We need more, and for the strength for the ones we have

Pray for a Congolese friend for Ian

Pray for traveling safety.

Thanks again for all everyone is doing to aid God’s work here in Impfondo.

MIC (missing in communication)

2010-09-15T02:48:00.001-07:00

Fortunately we are not missing in action just missing in communication.
Since our last post in (dare i say it ) the beginning of July we have been busy and have missed opportunities to communicate to you. For that we ask your forgiveness.

First a summary of what's been happening with us.
From a communications standpoint we've been handicapped by two events in August. One is the death of the hospital's modem for satellite internet. This left us for the month of August without a way of mass communication. We let some of you know but for the rest of you we apologize. The other event was we had a malfunction with our main laptop computer. Apparently the video processor is melted and now we cannot access anything on the computer. We are grateful to some tech savvy fellow missionaries who confirmed the diagnosis for us. In response to the former we have purchased a cellular modem that is slow and charges by the minute so we will not be uploading a lot of picts for you to see and we ask that you do not try to send us attachments or forwards as well. We will also try to get the laptop back the states for repair as well.

From a family standpoint: The children stopped school in July and August and will start up again in October. However Anna has been tricky and is doing some "learning activities" during that time to keep up with the structure of school. They also have had some fun doing some biking trips and other outings as well. Currently we are on a bit of a vacation in the port city of Congo called Pointe Noire. We are enjoying the hospitality of some friends with the CMA here. We have eaten chocolate, drunk diet coke, played, bought toys (with money from chores and the AW in the RMD), gone to the beach, relaxed, and generally enjoyed ourselves. We will be returning to Impfondo in 3 days. Then in October, school will start back again.

From the hospital standpoint: In August Dr. Harvey left for the states to see his oldest off to college and so Dr Fuka, Joan Hornick and I held down the fort at the hospital. We stayed pretty busy during the whole month with not a lot of time off for relaxing and recharging. During that time we lost 3 people to HIV and 4 children died as well. So our planned vacation to Pointe Noire came at a very good time.

With that summary you can discern some prayer requests for yourselves but we would like to highlight some for you as well.
1. Travels
2. School starting in October again
3. the goals that i shared in an earlier post
4. Our internet situation
5.Our computer situation
6. Continued improvement in team unity and communication

thanks again for praying with and for us. Thanks for all who remained faithful in prayer despite the fact that we weren't communicating well with you.

Thoughts from Gideon

2010-07-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is a corollary to my last post about goals.

While I was thinking about the last post our staff was working through the life of Gideon in the morning devotions. I saw some similarities to his life and where we are. I would like to share some of those ideas with you

#1. What God sees and what we see
When God met Gideon, He and Gideon had two very different perceptions of who Gideon was.
Gideon's view of himself is captured in Judges 6:15. "I am the least of the least" he says.
God's view of Gideon was captured in Judges 6:12. "...O mighty man of valor". When we look at Judges 6:11 you think maybe Gideon is the one who is right. He is hiding from the bad guys trying to threshing wheat down in a wine press. However we know God is right from reading the rest of the story. The difference is found in Judges 6:12 and 6:16 where God says the Lord is with Gideon. This realization in Gideon's life leads to worship (6:19) and peace (6:23). It also leads to something else

#2. faith equals action
Gideon saw God and had peace. The same night God said to tear down certain idols (6:25). Those idols just happened to be his dads. He did it, and God protected him (6:30-31). God's Spirit rested on him (6:34). God's Spirit is linked to obedience.

#3. God's brings the victory
Judges 7:7 and Judges 7:15 tell us that God is going to win the victory.

#4. God uses us to accomplish the victory.
In Judges 7:17 Gideon tells his men "look and do as I do." Even though God is responsible for the victory, these men did something.

#5. Expect some people to join you, and expect others to not do so.
Gideon had 300 men who joined him in the victory over Midian (judges 7:7,19,21) but he had others along the way that weren't so helpful. Judges 8:1 shows us people who were jealous.
Judges 8:5-6,8 shows us people who wouldn't give food. This happens as we follow God. Not everyone will be on board.

I encourage you all to read Gideon's story from Judges 6-8, and as you do remember that Gideon is in the faith chapter (Hebrews 11:32).

As we go into the second half of this year, we are seeking God's presence, His peace, and seeking faith to be able to obey. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to accomplish what He has for us to do.

Semiannual Review....just a little late

2010-07-02T00:32:00.000-07:00

Both Anna and I are trying to remain focused, and we trying to make the most of our time here. You can call it being more goal oriented, or you can call it redeeming the time (which is much more biblical sounding). Whatever you call it, we are trying to do it. To help, I wanted to give you some of the things we would like to see happen over the next several months.
I have divided them by categories to help you pray with us.

Family:
1) Continued homeschooling success
2) Some cross-cultural friends for our kids. especially for Ian.
3) Continued health and safety for our family

General Life
1) Continued language learning. More focus on French but continued learning in Lingala as well
2) More ministry opportunities as a family
3) Puppet Ministry on Sunday for hospitalized kids
4) discipleship times for the staff here

Medical Issues
1) more ob training
2) Training of staff in neonatal resuscitation, neonatal stabilization course then Pals but in a situation specific manner
3) Continued improvement of pediatric care in well child clinic and improving follow up

Mobile Clinic with Médecins San Frontier- Part 2

2010-06-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from the MSF trip.

The first three are of people waiting to be seen and of kids.

Kids always want their picture taken and then to be shown it. Digital photography is a good way to break down barriers
Below is the traditional way to get by the river instead of using the ferry. These next two picts were taken from the ferry. The piroques (canoes) are carved out of trees and are used to carry people, motorcycles, supplies and sometimes people drive a truck on to two of them placed parallel in the river to navigate smaller crossings.

And finally on the way back we had more mud. there was rainstorm on the way back and the driver had a lot of fun navigating that.

Mobile Clinic with Médecins San Frontier- Part 1

2010-06-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Stephen had an opportunity to take a trip with a group of medical personnel who work for Doctors without Borders or Médecins San Frontiers (MSF). MSF started working in our area in December and since then we have shared a lot of patients. One of the things they do is surveying refugee camps for health status and doing mobile clinics. Stephen was invited to go on one of their trips.

The first couple of pictures are of the trip there. The village is about 70 km north of Impfondo, but it took about 3 hours to get there. The roads were difficult to navigate, and there was a wait for the ferry.

The ferry is free for use in Congo.....if you buy the diesel fuel to put in it. If you don't bring the fuel then you don't go anywhere on the ferry.
The picture below shows how full the truck was. There were plastic chairs and tables on top, and the back was filled with medicines, supplies and the four nurses that went with the team. There were also three people in the front.
This picture is the photo of the church that was transformed into the clinic. There were tarps placed in the front of the church to provide consultation rooms. The other half was devoted to a pharmacy and "observation area."
These are some of the people who were waiting to see the MSF team. Everyone had vital signs done, a rapid malaria test done and received medicines. They were limited on Tylenol though, so only the kids got it.

More to come...

Hospital Update from Ginny Vandevoorde

2010-06-02T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hopital Evangelique Le Pionnier May 23, 2010

Speaking to the women's groups in churches on HIV/AIDS has been so much fun, or should I say very interesting to say the least. This gives us a real insight into their lives.

Arriving on the spot, we usually find one woman, maybe the pastor's wife, sweeping out the church made of mud floors and walls, with a short common palm-reed broom. She welcomes us then brings 2 plastic chairs for us to sit on usually outside the church in the shade. Today (this Tuesday) we went out to a village where the church had just fallen over: the mud walls had worn out and one side had fallen down. For the security of everyone it had to be completely pushed over. So the meeting was outside and what a blessing that God held off the rain and the sun stayed behind the clouds! This time we were too late for the sweeping act. As you see in the picture the benches were logs sawed in half posed on bricks. Big arm chairs were there to welcome the visitors. A half an hour before the meeting was to begin, or rather before the people slowing started coming, they rang the bell which is the rim of a wheel. Our first experience was that we were sitting under the 'gong' while she hit it. Can you imagine that resonance pounding in our ears? In this village today, the pastor had announced our meeting to everyone in the village even though our intention was to speak only to women, but this time men, women, youth, and children were present. One of the preachers spoke on adultery and then I gave my devotional after which Joan taught them about AIDS. Then came the questions they bombarded us with. Even though the men were present, both men and a few women asked questions. We've learned a lot about the people and their situation and the universal sinful condition of man. Whether we are here or in any other country, man's iniquity is the cause of most/all of his problems. AIDS is just a surface problem. What they need is to repent and be transformed in their heart. Our last speaking engagement is next week until we start up again in the Fall.

Joan and I are about to go to Epena for our second follow-up visits on HIV patients. On our first trip we saw others than our planned patients and the Sous Préfet told us of the great need in all that region, reaching more than 400 km away, with barely a health center where they don't have enough appropriate medicines nor the medical personnel needed.

On the hospital grounds, four buildings have been renovated for the nursing school, which we hope will start in the Fall. Albany, Bethlehem and Casablanca are the three closest buildings to our house on the far end of the grounds and are being changed into two dorms for short termers and the middle: Bethlehem (house of bread), is the dining room for missionaries. So it has been a heavy job for Jean-Pierre trying to direct his workers and watch that everything is done correctly. You will see him working harder than all of them...I don't know how he keeps on going. He has found a carpenter who does good quality work and with whom he can trust the wood shop and several jobs this summer.

New missionaries: the Marsh Family, Monique le Grange, Sarah Sizemore, and Candice Gullung are bearing up well under the heat and add spice to our group. Dr. Fuka is planning a trip for he and his daughter Kelly to go to Gabon for her tonsillectomy, and Melanie Madinga has gone for vacation to DRC. Next week a short term team of nursing students is coming. That's just a little bit of what's going on here.

Thank you for your prayers for all of our growing team:

Dr. Joe Harvey and Rebecca, Olivia, Claire, Isabelle, Noah;

Dr. Fuka and Patience, Laurent, Perpetue, Kelly;

Siko and Delphine Bambemba;

Art and Danielle Ralston & Michael;

Sarah Speer; Suzy Lardner, Sarah Sizemore, Candice Gullung, Melanie Madinga; Monique le Grange, ;

Dr. Stephen and Anna Wegner, Ian, Isabelle, Caleb;

David and Brenda Marsh & Tabitha

Yours truly, Ginny and my husband, Jean-Pierre Vandevoorde

P.S. Jean-Pierre sent out a mail asking if there was anyone who could take his place during July and August: both him and the mechanic, Art Ralston will be gone during this time and there is always so much to do just keeping things running. Does anyone hear the call?

Medical Vignette

2010-05-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

This post has no redeeming value but is just an example of the challenges of diagnosing things here in the Republic of Congo.

Last week we received a 5 yo in a coma. He had a fever for several days, had been seen at another medical facility and started on quinine for malaria. 2 days before he came in he developed a huge mass in his abdomen and his parents brought him to us to see if there was something we could do. He also had developed seizures as well.

When we originally saw him he responded only a little to pain, had a fever but had no other signs of meningitis. He did have a mass in his abdomen that moved pretty easily. He was anemic (hematocrit of 27) on his blood work but other values were ok. I did a spinal tap which was normal as well. We performed an US and found out the mass was actually a huge bladder that went up to his belly button. We placed a urinary catheter and got an urine sample. He had an urinary tract infection. We continued antimalarial treatment and started antibiotics for urinary tract infection.

Our initial thoughts is that he had a partially treated form of cerebral malaria and a secondary urinary tract infection and that with treatment for the malaria he would wake up.
2 days later he did not wake up.

Below are three pictures that should help with the diagnosis (tentative) that we made

Big sluggish eyes bilaterally.

Chart showing fever curve, without a lot of sweating.

shows the urinary retention

So what do you think? If you care to respond just leave a comment

Top Ten Reasons I like working in Africa

2010-05-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

#10. I can blame my poor penmanship on French
#9. There is no electronic health record
#8. I can make comments to myself in English and not insult anyone
#7. Everyone in the room knows the patient diagnosis and will tell me if they aren't telling me the truth
#6. I don't have to worry about ICD-9 codes.
#5 I get to pray for patients without getting flak.
#4. No paperwork (well very little)
#3. No commute.
#2. I can now ask someone "are you passing gas?" in 3 different languages.
#1. No Lawyers

The one that is bigger than the list though is that God has pleased that our family and I should be here. Thanks for helping us through prayer and giving

Little Things

2010-05-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's amazing the cliches that have popped up around "little things"
"The devil's in the details" "Don't sweat the small stuff" "Details create the big picture" "God is in the details" "It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen" Are just some of the few that I've come across. Our past few weeks and months have been full of "little details" The list that follows is only partial and has good things and bad things in them.

A irritant rash on Caleb which is taking a long time to go away. We've gotten our money's worth of free advice of how to rid it and he is still dealing with it. Where's a doctor when you need one?

Bot fly infestations on Caleb. These little bugs burrow under your skin to grow into flies and Caleb has had about 10 of them now. At least we are getting better about recognizing and treating them.

Anna had two moles that popped up on her shoulder and back and were growing pretty quickly. We were able to get them removed and sent them to the US for pathology reports. Both were benign.

Leaky roofs and bathtubs.

Venomous snake in the front yard that was killed by one of our guards about 15min after I had walked through the same area without a flashlight.

Going a week without internet.

Going on a month without gas to cook with and using a small kerosene camping stove to cook meals.

Now makes one week of no gas for the refrigerator and so we can't keep the same quantity of food on hand.

Our new stove arrived this past week.....but we still are waiting on the gas.

team dynamics. I you read the last hospital newsletter on our blog site you know that our team is growing. the two nurses are breathing life and advocacy for the nursing staff here. The others are trying to fit in as well. With the growth comes change and with change often comes conflict. Change also allows old wounds to open again. Our team needs to love. To receive God's love, to love each other, and to love all we come across during our day. Ok this isn't a small one this is a big one. But this big one is affected by all those little things.

thanks for continuing to pray for us.

Follow up

2010-04-18T05:01:00.000-07:00

Now that we've been in Impfondo a while we are starting to see familiar faces when we go on outings to the market or to visit others people. this is a pretty fun. One particular familiar face was particularly satisfying to see. He was one of our patients in the hospital when we arrived in November. He is a refugee who has not let his life circumstances dictate his view on life. He was shot as he was fleeing the Democratic Republic of Congo and ended up losing his right arm secondary to infection and tissue damage.
I showed a picture of him in our Christmas post and he continues to do well. Since it is not safe to go back to his home he began a "boutique" here. We stop by often and try to buy things from him to help him a little. He also has come to church several times as well. Continue to pray for Gerrard and other refugees as they heal physically and leave the hospital. Pray that they continue to remain rooted in God's love. Thanks for you continued prayers for us as well.

Hospital Newsletter

2010-04-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

Here is our latest hospital newsletter from Ginny Vandevoorde.

The need for Repentance April 8, 2010

At the morning chapel, Jean-Pierre preached on the two men who went to the temple to pray: the Pharisee and the humble sinner. Of the 25 people present, eleven were touched by this message and responded to the invitation to repent. Jean-Pierre had barely given the call when one man stood up and said, "Just because I'm a pastor, it doesn't mean that I don't need to repent!" At that moment you could sense the presence and the work of the Holy Spirit. This man realized that he had missed the essential ingredient of salvation. A few days later, when he came back to visit a patient, he discovered our small library at the hospital where he found a book by Watchman Nee. So amazed to find books on Christian living and hungry to learn more, he came to Jean-Pierre wanting to read whatever he could offer.

In the office, Joan and I follow up on HIV and tuberculosis patients. As she is still learning French, I translate when necessary and, at the same time, am able to present the Gospel to these patients. Two-year old Patricia is HIV positive; therefore, her mother had to be tested and was also found to be positive. When I asked her how she was going to get to heaven, she said, by obeying the commandments and doing her best. After explaining how it's only by the grace of God that we can be saved, she prayed, repenting from her sin and accepted God's gift of eternal life. She will be here for at least 4 more weeks, then will come back for a check-up after another month before going back to her city some 280 km from here where she will continue taking the medicine (for the remainder of her life). Most weeks we have new patients, and most weeks one of these accepts the Lord. What's encouraging is that we can follow up with them each time they come back for more medicine.

We have organized a monthly support group meeting where the HIV mothers can come and voice their fears and receive encouragement. Only two women came to our first meeting; the next month there were six. The two from the first meeting were glad to come back and encourage others. We read a passage from the Bible, explained more about the illness and gave advice; the women chatted among themselves and asked us questions. April 22 is our next meeting. Now we are planning to go into the churches to speak with young girls and mothers about AIDS, to explain God's plan for their lives, and encourage them to get tested. If the virus is detected early and treated, they have an opportunity for a longer and better quality life. Since some of these patients must come more than a hundred kilometers each two or three months for check-ups and refills for their medicine, we have decided to go to Epena and to Dongou to treat them to save them the last, most expensive lap of their trip. (Epena is 85 km and Dongou 45 km from here). Please pray for these patients as we do follow-up and encourage them in their Christian walk.

Comings and goings here at HELP: in the last few weeks we were privileged to have a number of visiting doctors: Brantly Baynes, Ravi Morchi, Warren Cooper and eye specialist, Henri Samoutou. Each one of them brought their own expertise and we profited immensely by them. It's always hard to say good bye to these short term missionaries. Another good bye difficult to say, is to Rachel Maurais who will have finished her 2 year term as administrator. It will be hard for any one person to fill her shoes. But we wish her God's best as she continues to follow Him in other avenues of service back home in Quebec. On the other hand, we are happy to welcome others including Monique LeGrange who is learning the ropes in administration. She is from South Africa, and more recently from Quebec. We are happy to welcome back Sarah Speer and Suzy Lardner who had left big holes during their absence. Along with them comes a new young nurse, Sarah Sizemore. After so many years of planning and preparing to come, David and Brenda Marsh with their daughter, Tabitha, are finally in Congo (waiting for a plane to Impfondo from Brazzaville). We are very glad to welcome them on our team here at HELP. One important addition to our team is Dr. Fuka and Patience's new big baby, Benjamin.

May God bless you as you hold us up in prayer.

On behalf of the missionary team:

Dr. Joe Harvey and Rebecca, Olivia, Claire, Isabelle, Noah;

Dr. Fuka and Patience, Laurent, Perpetue, Kelly, Benjamin;

Siko and Delphine Bambemba;

Art and Danielle Ralston & Michael;

Suzy Lardner, Joan Hornick, Melanie Madinga, Monique Le Grange, and Rachel Maurais;

Dr. Stephen and Anna Wegner, Ian, Isabelle, Caleb;

David & Brenda Marsh & Tabitha, (waiting in BZV, waiting their flight)

Sarah Speer, Sarah Sizemore (waiting in BZV waiting their flight)

Yours truly, Ginny and my husband, Jean-Pierre Vandevoorde

Joan with the Group.jpg

Pastor Marc.jpg

Brief Update

2010-03-17T06:19:00.000-07:00

We had an enjoyable visit in Brazzaville while attending the CMA conference. We ended up being there 5 more days than we had planned. (That's what travel is like here sometimes.)
We have stayed busy since returning, but other people have done updates, so I thought I would just use theirs for now.

An expert from the Harvey's latest news letter:
After visiting Pioneer Christian Hospital a couple of weeks ago, the Honorable Alan Eastham, US Ambassador to the Republic of Congo commented, "Impfondo is the most positive place in Congo...at least with the Harveys and the rest of the team."
You can read the rest of the newsletter at Congo Harvey's.

The Ralston's latest newsletter is available at Laborers for the Harvest.

Hospital Newsletter

2010-02-23T03:19:00.000-08:00

While our family is in Brazzaville enjoying a CMA retreat I have another hospital update from Ginny Vandevoorde:

Follow up on war victims February 20, 2010

I was going to say that we have heard less gun shots from across the river, but last Sunday we were surprised to hear more than we had ever heard before. Please don't worry, there is an explanation and since last Sunday nothing has been heard. From a boat in the middle of the river, government soldiers from DRC (Zaire) were shooting at the rebels on the other side. This had nothing to do with us nor with this Congo. Impfondo is peaceful and seems to be safe, in spite of the fact that one of our guards had an unpleasant encounter with some rebels while fishing. Hmm.... is that why we haven't eaten fish for a week..?

Most of the first war victims from the beginning of November have left us, but we still have a few who are slow in healing. It's sad to say goodbye to these patients who have become friends, like Ruth, the eleven year old girl whose leg was amputated. But she'll be back when her stump will be hardy enough to be fitted for a prosthesis. Gerard, the man with the amputated arm has moved out of the hospital and into the town. He has started a little booth selling a few miscellaneous things: soap, little packages of sugar, rice, cookies, beans, candies and cigarettes. His son is in school and he wants to send him to university. He told us that this is the second time he has lost everything he owns and has started out again from zero. In French we have a word 'se debrouiller' which means more than 'cope' or 'manage': this man is making the best of his situation.

Please pray for Josué, a young 22 year old whose upper leg bone is not healing. This is very discouraging when he sees the others get better and able to leave.

Guy's leg is also slow at healing which is not surprising because he is HIV positive. What a change we've seen in him since he gave his heart to the Lord. Please pray for his wife who is not supportive...

A great disappointment to us was loosing Julien, our valuable surgeon's helper. We all loved him and his family who were our close neighbors. He resigned one day and walked away from his contract! One of our mid-wives had walked out the week before. Please pray for our workers and that the spirit of unrest will be replaced by a spirit of thankfulness and contentment.

Please pray for Dr. Joe who was away at a medical conference in Kenya and is coming home today. Once again it was questionable if the airline would let us down... but it did fly today. The Wegner's are taking a little break for their mission's retreat in Brazzaville.

We are privileged to have another surgeon, Dr. Ravi Mocha, to help out Dr. Fuka. For three months Dr. Brantley Baines, pediatrician, is here helping Dr. Stephen Wegner, and Joan Harrick, a doctor's assistant is helping Dr. Joe. It's really fun having 'so many' doctors. For some hospitals that might seem like just a few! Ready to fill in wherever needed is Nurse Peggy and her husband, Steve Briggs who is a great help to Jean-Pierre as they rush, rush to finish the house for the Marsh Family who will be coming end of March. Olivia, Guilvie and I have been helping with translating for the doctors who are still learning French.

Thank you for your interest and prayers for the missionaries, the medical work, the workers and Evangelism. We need your prayers.

On behalf of the team here at the Hopital Evangelique Le Pionnier:

Dr. Joe Harvey and Rebecca, Olivia, Claire, Isabelle, Noah;

Dr. Fuka and Patience, Laurent, Perpetue, Kelly;

Siko and Delphine Bambemba;

Art and Danielle Ralston & Michael;

Sarah Speer; Melanie Madinga; Joan Hornick and Rachel Maurais;

Dr. Stephen and Anna Wegner, Ian, Isabelle, Caleb;

Short termers: Dr. Brantly Bains, Dr. Ravi Morchi; Peggy & Steve Briggs;

Yours truly, Ginny and my husband, Jean-Pierre Vandevoorde

Ruth.jpg

Gérard's store.jpg

Dr. Joe & Olivia.jpg

photo of one-after

2010-02-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post some updated pictures of Sarah. She is doing well and is at the cusp of another great challenge. She is about to be discharged from the hospital!

To the left is her at the beginning of treatment with a lot of edema not much life and some skin peeling

Here she is in the middle of her treatment getting weighed. She still isn't happy, but the peeling is getting better. She looks skinnier because the edema is going away.

Here she is today with not her biggest smile but a girl with a genuine personality nonetheless who smiles, runs to be weighed, and is alive again.

We really like to see that!!

Thanks for praying for us.

Happy Parting

2010-02-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

I wanted to you to meet a patient who is leaving the hospital today. His name is Hènoc (french for Enoch).
He is now almost 6 weeks old. He came in about 6 weeks ago weighing 2lb 12oz. He was with his twin brother who, unfortunately, was dead. He has overcome some major hurdles.
One is that he was a twin that was born at 33 weeks gestational age. Another is that on his second day here he forgot to breath (premature infants sometime do this) and needed chest compressions to get his heart and lungs going again. Then when he was about two weeks old, he caught the flu and almost stopped breathing again. He needed oxygen for about 1 week with that episode. Since then he has done remarkable well and today weighs 4lb 6oz.

His mom has been incredible during this time as well. She hand expressed breast milk to feed him by a tube that went from his nose to his stomach, she maintained hope when it seemed to be lost, and she has been a good teacher to other parents with premature infants as well.
The only thing she has not done well is pick me to name the child. I picked the name Enoch for two reasons. One is that I hope like Enoch the child will walk with God. The other is that like Enoch I hope that this child will not die and will leave to see the return of Christ.

Also during Hènoc's time here there have been several other infants who have received the same care but not lived. Why? I am not sure. I know that we live in a fallen world where we see through a glass darkly. One day things will be set right. In the meantime, I rejoice in these victories and pray that my hope for Hènoc will come to fruition.

I also want to thank you for praying for us during this time. Those prayers have been answered in the life of Hènoc.

A photo of one

2010-01-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Previously, I did an overview of all the patients in the hospital. Today I will switch gears and talk about just one.
This is a 6 year old girl we will call Sarah. When she came to the hospital, she weighed only 11.7 kg (25 3/4 lbs.)
She is one of the many who have lost their home in the fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She and her family had to flee into the forest. She went with her dad and her little sister went with her mom. They were in the forest for 10 days before they made it to a refugee site. Since she was already borderline malnourished, after those 10 days she became even more so.
This picture was taken after about 3 days in the hospital. The areas of skin peeling you are seeing is related to vitamin deficiencies, and the fact that she had a lot swelling is due to her lack of protein.
Her arms are very skinny. (That is a reliable place to look or malnutrition because the upper arm will not swell like the rest of the body.) The area around her biceps was 12 cm, with 14cm being the borderline for normal.
Her apathetic look is from hunger. When you are hungry to the point she is, you don't really care about much.
One of my prayers is that I will be able in a couple of weeks to show you the "after" picture of a child on her way to health.
There are a lot of obstacles though. One, because of the refugee situation we are having trouble getting the specialized formula we need. It is not a question of money but a question of logistics and organization. A lot of that is outside our control because it involves UNICEF and other alphabet organizations. Another is her parents understanding the need to give her food rich in protein and vitamins. The third and biggest is making sure the parents are able to get her enough "regular food" that when they leave she will not drop back into malnutrition again.
The good news is that the family is reunited. Also, for the past two Sundays they have been able to come to church at our hospital, participate in the worship, and hear the gospel being preached.
Please join with us in praying for her.

Updates

2010-01-15T10:07:00.000-08:00

This is our lastest hospital newsletter, prepared by Ginny Vandevoorde:

On Christmas Day we visited all the wards and Jean-Pierre preached a short message of God's great Gift. One man, a rebel soldier, sobbed tears of repentance as he prayed the sinner's prayer. Later we learned that before being solicited into the rebel faction, he had been a soldier in the regular Congolese army, but not only that, he had been an evangelist before being a rebel. No wonder the bitter tears. In becoming a rebel he had received a chain for his neck and an arm bracelet and a smooth stone was rubbed on his forehead which 'would make him' invisible to the soldiers of the Congolese army. But while in the pirogue (dugout boat), already wounded with bullets, he heard a voice telling him that he wouldn't die. In fact, he was the only survivor in the boat.

This Sunday he was in church and reconfirmed that he had repented and now wanted to come back to the Lord and serve Him with his whole heart. He had run away from God, like Jonah, and now was coming back, consecrating his whole life to serve Him whom he had deserted. Jean-Pierre told him that his wounds would always be a reminder of his consecration to God. Bullets hit him in one hand, in one foot and in his side; doesn't that remind us of Jesus' own consecration to the Father, even unto death!

Please pray for Momo that he would stay true to God, and once again tell others of God's grace and forgiveness.

On behalf of the team here at the Hopital Evangelique Le Pionnier:
Dr. Joe Harvey and Rebecca, Olivia, Claire, Isabel, Noah;
Dr. Fuka and Patience, Laurent, Perpetue, Kelly;
Siko and Delphine Bambemba;
Art and Danielle Ralston & Michael;
Sarah Speer; Melanie Madinga; and Rachel Maurais;
Dr. Stephen and Anna Wegner, Ian, Isabelle, Caleb;
Yours truly, Ginny and my husband, Jean-Pierre Vandevoorde

Updates

2010-01-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

The following is an excerpt from the Harvey's newsletter.

We have received 36 war-wounded, 30 very sick refugees, 12 suspected cases of severe H1N1 infection, 12 cases of malnutrition, and 6 high-level government & UN delegations, in addition to all our regular patients, in the past two months. Many of the wounded and malnourished take a long time to heal. We have gone through a year's supply of pain medicine, compresses, and rolled bandages in one month, because of the daily dressing changes. We continue to field questions from the media.

To read the complete newsletter visit Congo Harveys.

CMA Article

2010-01-13T00:37:00.000-08:00

The CMA website has a brief article about the hospital with some interesting links.

Republic of Congo: Refugees' Needs Overwhelm Missionary Hospital

Note: Currently, there are 106,000 refugees in our area. There has not been fighting near us since New Year's Eve.

A tour of words

2010-01-09T22:21:00.000-08:00

I wanted to give everyone an update of what is going on here. You have seen pictures and heard stories of what is going on here, but today I wanted to take you on a little tour of our hospital with words. I would like to tell the story of every patient, but that would be too long. Instead, I will give you a few examples. This post WILL CONTAIN MEDICAL INFORMATION. If that is not your thing, you can skip to the bottom where it says SUMMARY. The most important thing to realize is that there are a lot of people who need help, and we are trying to provide it.

There are seven buildings that we are using for inpatient care areas right now, and then there are some available for overflow as well.

We will start as the doctor usually does in the Salle de Soin (literally room of care). This is a nursing station, post op care room, intensive care unit, and emergency room rolled into one. Currently there are three patients in this room.

One is a 33 yo refugee who paid to have an abortion, and the nurse doing it ruptured her uterus, pulled out her intestines, and then told her there was nothing more to do. After she arrived here, Dr. Fuka was forced to do a hysterectomy, cut out all of her rectum and create a colostomy. The colostomy is a piece of intestine hooked to the skin and functions to let stool out. This will be permanent for her. The other is a 6 yo boy with severe anemia (hematocrit of 7 w normal being 35-45) and hepatitis C as well. The 3rd is a 15 yo who chose (or was forced) to fight with the rebel forces and now has several wounds. The worst is in his right arm where the bullet injured his nerves in his arm. Now he has electric pain shooting down his arm.

Moving on to the maternity ward, we have 2 preemies in here, a handful of normal deliveries, and one very large full term infant born to a refugee mom. The mom started her labor 2 days before she came to us. On the second day of her labor, she went to a health clinic about a 1/2 day away. They saw she was 8cm dilated, and they decided to rupture her membranes. The baby's hand came out, but he was stuck. He was not head down like he should have been but was lying cross ways. She came to us the following day. We looked for signs of life in the baby with a doppler and ultrasound, but saw none. We did a c-section to get the baby out and to save the mom's life. Just before we did that, we placed the baby's hand back in the uterus. However, once the baby came out, he started to cry! He is now off oxygen and is trying to nurse.

The next room is the woman's medicine ward. Here we have a woman who received HIV and probably her Tb from her now deceased husband. She has been here for 6 weeks. She is all alone with no one to care for her. We are trying to show the love of God to her while she is here.

The next room is the pediatric ward, and I could write a post just about that. I will say that it is full-- 10 kids in 8 beds. (We have two sets of twins here.) There are 3 with the flu, 3 with malaria, 2 with dehydration, and one with malnutrition. All three of the kids with flu were born premature and then caught the flu. One is critically ill.

In the men's medicine ward we have a man who has conjunctivitis and something called iritis in both eyes. He is now functionally blind. He is slowly responding to treatment but really needs an ophthalmologist or optometrist. There is also the man who is newly diagnosed with HIV, and he is struggling to have the courage to tell his wife and get his kids tested.

Moving to the surgical men's ward there are 8 men, 7 of which have conflict related wounds. This ranges from a police officer with cut tendons in both hands, to two men with broken femurs; from gunshot wounds, to an amputation of an arm for the same.

IN the surgical woman's ward there are 5 women. One who had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, three war wounded and one elderly lady who had her gall bladder out. One of the war wounded is an 11 yo girl who needed her right leg amputated at the knee for infection after a gunshot wound. She has displayed remarkable spirit and his slowly getting better.

SUMMARY:
We currently have about 37 patients around 15 of which are here because of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I would ask you to pray for the 3 infants with the flu, Heretier (who is a 15 yo with pain from a gunshot wound nerve injury),the 33 yo woman who lost her uterus secondary to a botched abortion), and a man newly diagnosed with HIV. Pray that he would have the courage to tell his wife and that there would be reconciliation there.

Pray also for our team at this time. Some of our patients are very hard to love, and there is so much loss and sadness sometimes it hurts to much to care. Pray that we would be able to live with the Joy of Christ even as we weep His tears of pain for the pain and suffering that we see around us. Thanks for partnering with us and showing interest in what God is doing through us.

Christmas in the Congo

2010-01-01T01:42:00.000-08:00

How did your family celebrate Christmas this year?
Although we missed some of the usual Christmas activities, it was fun for us to have a laid back relaxed day for our first Christmas in the Republic of Congo. And it was also nice to see palm trees, feel warm weather, and leave the house without a jacket, mittens, hat, etc.
We started the morning with homemade doughnuts. After breakfast, Stephen went to round at the hospital, and the kids decorated some wrapping paper while I wrapped presents.
The kids and I then headed over to the hospital to help Siko (head of the lab and a missionary from the DRC) and the Van Devoordes pass out gifts to the patients. It was a good experience for us to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and giving to others.
Many of our patients are extremely poor, so the gifts we gave them were very practical. I have included below Ginny Vandevoorde's description of the morning, as she says it so much better than I could.
Since Christmas, we have been keeping busy with work (for Stephen) and school (for the rest of us). We have heard gun shots from the other side of the river from time to time, but we do not feel that we are danger at this point. We continue to keep our evacuation bags packed just in case. Thank you for all of your prayers for us, the hospital and the people here.

Excerpt from Ginny Vandevoorde's newsletter:
What could we give to our patients on Christmas day? Bananas? No that is nothing special. Cake? That's special but not too nourishing. Siko thought that sardines and kwanga = Manioc - their 'bread' would be a good idea. So that was the plan. Jean-Pierre, Siko, Anna Wegner, the pediatrician's wife and their three children and I went along (as if we were going caroling) to visit all the sick patients and distribute the hospital's small Christmas 'food basket' to each.

So in each ward Siko explained what we were doing then started singing 'Yesu azali awa' (Jesus is here) to which most of the patients heartily joined in. Then Jean-Pierre preached a short Christmas message telling of the great gift that God gave in the person of His only son. Then with the help of the 3 missionary children we distributed a big piece of their 'manioc-bread' along with a can of sardines, a small package of cookies, an envelope of powdered juice and a sucker. This we did in each of the 7 wards or small pavilions as we call them. There are from 5 to 8 beds in each of these little houses. For the moment the hospital is at its limit with about 45 patients. So Jean-Pierre preached 7 times Christmas morning, but in the last pavilion which is the emergency ward there are 5 rebel soldiers. Here, as he preached he explained how we are all sinners whether we lie, steal or kill and that God gave His only son to pay for our sins. He emphasized repentance and felt called to give an 'alter call'. With each patient there is at least one or 2 members of the family who accompany him to prepare food and care for him, so there were at least 10 to 15 people in the small room (not counting us) where the Gospel was clearly given. Of the 5 wounded 4 lifted their hand, as well as 2 of the wives. But our attention was drawn to one man who cried, with heavy sobbing, probably weeping tears of repentance. Isn't God wonderful to forgive us all our sins. There is more joy in heaven over one who repents than over 99 who are self-righteous.

A heaping HELPing 12 days of Christmas

2009-12-30T10:46:00.000-08:00

One way to cope with stress is to find some humor so I redid the ole Christmas classic "The 12 days of Christmas" and turned it into the heaping HELPing 12 days of Christmas. HELP of course stands for Hôpital Evangélique le Pionnier or the Pioneer Christian Hospital

On the first day of Christmas HELP gave to me.....a case of salmonella typhi.......
On the 12th day of Christmas HELP gave to me
-12 gunshot wounds
-11 kids on oxygen
-10 operations
-9 blood transfusions
-8 nosy visitors
-7 dressing changes
-6 kids with flu
-5 refugees
-4 power outages
-3 amputations
-2 malnourished kids
and a case of salmonella typhi!!!!

More Updates

2009-12-29T01:40:00.000-08:00

Here are the most recent updates from the Ralstons and the Harveys. The hospital is full, and we continue to be very busy. Pictures to come soon.

Christmas, Update on the DRC Conflict (from the Ralsons blog)

Prayer Net 306b (from the Harveys)

Situation Follow up.

2009-12-21T12:23:00.000-08:00

Below are two posts that Dr. Joseph Harvey had made. i thought I would just share them so you can better understand the situation here.

Here is Prayer Net 305
DRC-CONGO: Needs unmet as refugees flee from Congo to Congo

BRAZZAVILLE, 9 December 2009 (IRIN) - Aid agencies have been unable to fully
meet the needs of tens of thousands of people who have fled inter-communal
clashes http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87252 over natural
resources in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the UN
Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

And according to the Humanitarian Affairs Minister in the neighbouring
Republic of Congo, the refugees' destination, time is of the essence.

"We are also afraid of low water levels in the River Ubangi [which
separates the two Congos]," said Emilienne Raoul.

"From 15 December it will be difficult for boats to navigate the Ubangi,"
she added.

"There are now 77,488 refugees in Congo-Brazzaville," said UNHCR's crisis
unit chief Ben Boubacar Diallo.

"Given the number of refugees, the aid would appear to be insufficient. The
needs are enormous," he said, adding that the situation in DRC's Equateur
province had yet to improve.

"We will keep supplying domestic kits [comprising mattresses, mosquito
nets, blankets, basins and jerry cans] while mobilizing agencies," said
Diallo.

"Conditions are harsh. We have not yet registered epidemics because
agencies offering health services have been efficient and vigilant," he
said.

So far the humanitarian response has involved:

- The World Food Programme on 8 December sent a boat with almost 300MT of
food and 1,500 litres of fuel up the Ubangi river to the northern Likouala
region, where the DRC refugees are now living along a 160km stretch of
riparian territory. Some 90 percent of the refugee sites can only be reached
from the river.

- The Italian government announced it has donated 300,000 euros
(US$442,597) to help meet the most pressing needs of the refugees for the
next six months.

- The World Health Organization has made 2MT of medical supplies available
to the Congolese government for delivery to the refugees.

- Some 500MT of food is warehoused in the southern city of Point Noir but
wagons are needed before they can be railfreighted to Brazzaville, from
where they will be sent to Likouala.

And here is prayer net 306

Since October 28, 2009, we have been in a state of heightened security at Pioneer Christian Hospital here in Impfondo, Congo. That was the day that we received the first civilian casualties from fresh fighting in Dongo, a town in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Since October over 77,000 refugees have flooded across the Oubangui River into the Likouala Region of Congo from the Equateur Province of DRC.

We received two more waves of war wounded in November, and hear that more are on the way. From collateral damage, streams of very sick refugees and residents have been flowing into Pioneer Christian Hospital for HELP. Currently more than 50% of our patients need nutritional support, have only the clothes on their backs, and no means to pay for the care we administer. At the same time, we are trying to stem the tide of a confirmed Swine Flu epidemic that has already taken the lives of 3 of the 10 contagious children.

We are glad to be here doing our best to stretch our limited resources and minister effectively to very real needs, but the stress of being so close to a war zone is starting to take its toll.

Things seem to be getting noticeably worse instead of better. God knows if things are about to turn around, or descend into complete chaos, but I believe He wants us to be prepared either way.

A lot has happened just this week:

- On Tuesday, Laurent Fuka (17 year-old son of our surgeon) arrived home after evacuating from Bwamanda, DRC, where he has been attending boarding school for the last year and a half. He and 7 classmates spent a week, fleeing from the rebels on foot, pirogue, UN motorboat, and truck. They had several close encounters on the way. Before leaving one of Laurent’s classmates went to the market to buy some food and was killed by the rebels.

- Tuesday evening we were called upon to treat two wounded rebels at the government hospital. One is a 14 year old boy with a bullet in his right humerus. The other is a 22 year old with a bullet in his buttocks.

- Tuesday night some people came to the government hospital looking for the wounded rebels, intent on rendering vigilante justice. The staff was able to hide the patients, but this significantly delayed them from getting the care they need.

- Wednesday morning during morning report at Pioneer Christian Hospital our maintenance staff heard gunshots coming from the river. This was around the same time a Central African Riverboat was released by the rebels after being held overnight. Occasional gunshots have been heard several other times this week too.

- On Thursday local public high school students went on a riotous rampage after the government teachers went on strike instead of administering final exams for the semester. The students trashed their school, then attacked several private schools in town, beating up other students and staff, destroying classrooms, and smashing computers. The gendarmes and police were called in and ended up arresting 11 students.

- Thursday night a river boat and barge hired by the United Nations to bring emergency food rations for the refugees came under repeated attacks from armed men in dugouts, and motorized longboats recently stolen from the UN refugee agency in DRC. The barge was flying the UN flag and the pusher was flying the Congo-Brazzaville flag. The attack was finally repelled with support from a Congolese military attack helicopter.

- Friday we were interviewed about this crisis by a correspondent from Bloomburg News Service. Maybe it will play on National Public Radio.

- Friday night a river boat barge loaded with fuel for Impfondo was also attacked. Congo-Brazzaville government soldiers traveling with the barge opened fire, reportedly killing a number of DRC rebels, whose bodies fell into the river. The boat arrived in Impfondo this morning with a helicopter escort.

- Saturday the regular Air Congo flight was postponed, and some people say it is because of the increased military activity downriver from Impfondo.

I think we have no choice but to raise our security alert level and review and implement emergency planning.

I didn't want to write this message. As far as we know, we are not in immediate danger, but we do need your help. If you would be willing to join our intercession team to pray for our protection, wage spiritual warfare, and ask for peace on this part of the earth, please send a short message to Danielle Ralston and let her know what day(s)/time(s) you will be praying.

In the meantime, we continue to prepare for our special Christmas Celebration at the hospital chapel scheduled for

this morning, Sunday, December 20. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Harvey New Year. Bon Dimanche!

For Health & Hope,

Joseph & Rebecca Harvey

Olivia, Claire, Isabelle & Noah

Merry "Roc"in Christmas

2009-12-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

Tis the season to be...???? Jolly? Content? Hot? Evacuated? Yes all the above are possibilities for the Wegner family in the ROC this Christmas season. I wrote last update that the situation had calmed down a bit, but since then there have been some "rebel" attacks on some of the boats coming up the river and this past Thursday there were some R.O.C. troops involved in some shooting as well. There are lots of refugees along the river and it is good to be able to help them, but there are always more. For a sampling last week, we evaluated a woman after a rape and her husband for a spear wound to the thigh, there was another child who came in with 9 days of malaria and a hematocrit (blood count) in the teens. (normal is in the high 30's and 40s) then there was the child with malnutrition and the woman who need an operation for an abscess and.....I could go on. Suffice it to say that we have a lot of work here and there are is now fighting to the north and to the south of us as well but all (so far on the Democratic Republic of Congo side of the river. Our team has mad some evacuation plans to be prepared, and we have some bags packed (just in case) although i must say we feel pretty safe so far.
So continue to pray for our situation here, it is very fluid and can change very fast.
We also have a small epidemic of premature births here. They keep getting smaller and younger but by God's grace they are doing ok.

I also wanted to post some happy holiday Christmas pictures for you from our Christmas service this Sunday.

Here are the "Mary and Joseph of the Christmas play.

Here is one of the refugees singing praises. He has made a remarkable spiritual and physical recovery. One of his songs today he sang was "Jesus M'aime" Go Club Jeunesse of Sherbrooke.

Here is the required children's choir. We actually had a lot of singing today, and the only songs that were not full of joy and excitement were those with European origins (like silent night).

It is sometimes a little to much singing as you can see with Caleb here.

But we are all happy to be celebrating the birth our Savior who was born into a volatile situation of his own. From our family to yours Merry Christmas!

updates and corrections

2009-12-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write and thank everyone for praying for us in our time of transition. We are all learning a lot and trying to adapt as quickly as we possibly can. I wanted to write and give you some brief updates and to clear up some things that I told many of you as we were speaking in churches.

First an update. The conflict has settled down in the Democratic Republic of Congo and as of now no new refugees are coming our way. This situation can change rapidly so continue to pray for peace in that area. The refugees really do not have a lot but are very grateful to be here. They also do not want to leave since they have no place to go. Our surgeon who is doing a lot of good work with the casualties told one man “You can go home if you want.” The man (who speaks a little English) replies “You go to my home first, and if it is good I come. I not go back first”.
Another update is that we have all but 5 or 6 of our boxes that we shipped on the container. A little is coming on each plane flight that comes into Impfondo (tues, thurs, sat). The kids have had a lot of fun opening the boxes and discovering toys (which should’ve been in every box apparently) and other things. Anna and I are also happy to get some of the stuff we’ve been waiting for.
Correcting some impressions. Number one: we don’t have to iron our clothes. I had told many of you because of the mango fly we would have to do that. One reason we do not is that the mangoes are not in season but the big reason is that we can also just let the clothes dry for over an hour then the larvae do not live. Of course getting our clothes dry here has been a challenge because of the humidity. We usually end up hanging our clothes up inside overnight to dry.
Number 2: our clothes are not being washed in the river. The lady that comes and does them uses an outdoor spigot that we have to do that.
Number 3: The town’s electricity doesn’t even work ½ the time. You can see which part of the town as electricity and who doesn’t sometimes a night. The other thing about that is that since we are on the hospital compound we are hooked into the generator (both solar and diesel) system. Therefore we have power for all the time except it usually runs out on Saturday or Sunday if no big surgeries were done over the weekend.
Number 4: Since we are hooked into the system on the hospital we are working on a 220v, 50htz system which doesn’t work with all of our electric equipment. We can use transformers to get it down to 110-120 volts but things with motors (like sewing machines, and kitchen aid mixers) are more limited use only.
Number 5: mail. It seems that the mail is running on average about 6wks to get here. We’ve gotten some very early birthday cards for the boys already. However, it is hard not to open a letter you’ve gotten so we didn’t make the kids wait. Again, packages are still very iffy as to whether or not they will make it.

I think that takes care of that. I am sure there are some other things that I did not think of that so I will come back to this at a later time.
This week pray on
Monday for the children and Anna as they start another school week which is getting more strenuous.
Tuesday for the patients at the hospital. Pray that we can aide in their physical and spiritual healing.
Wednesday Pray for the hospital staff (both expatriates and nationals) as we are always searching for more nurses and looking for ways to make sure we can pay everyone here.
Thursday pray for the hospital equipment. We need our diesel generator to work ( we are currently using a tractor to run a smaller generator). Pray specifically for Art and Jean-Pierre as they are involved in hospital maintenance .
Friday pray for Anna that she would have the energy to do the things to keep our house running, that she would have opportunity to speak Lingala and French to others as well.
Saturday pray for me to not get discouraged when children die (4 have died since I’ve been here) and that I would succeed in communication with others
Sunday pray for our family to be a family and that Anna and I would maintain a healthy relationship and that we would be good parents to our children.
Everyday praise God that He is faithful and will sustain us as we abide in Him.

Hospital Update

2009-11-28T23:25:00.000-08:00

The following is an update from Ginny Vandevoorde (reprinted with permission).

Smiles after tears.
HELP News of the war Nov. 24, 2009

In the hospital chapel Sunday morning many or our war victims were present and gave testimony of God's grace and protection during their recent traumatic experiences. To hear Gerard testify of how God is good and to thank Him for this painful ordeal was very gripping. He was shot and then spent 6 hours floating along the river edge waiting for help to take him to the other side and be treated for his wounds. After inadequate care of his injuries, he arrived at our hospital four days later in a critical state and the amputation of his right arm was necessary in order to save his life. He not only accepts this situation but thanks God for it, knowing that He is in control of his life and He makes all things work together for good. Gerard says that he will praise God for eternity. How often are do we thank God for tribulations in our lives?

The conflict on the other side of the river has changed from the original tribal fighting over fishing waters into a political battle. Out of fear, entire villages have been evacuated and refugees are streaming across the river by hundreds. (This could be an underestimation.) For the We do not feel at all in danger being on the safe side of the river, but at the same time we are alert to anything that could take a turn for the worse. We just pray that the shootings will completely stop. Our hospital received the most severely wounded victims while there are many other less serious cases in small clinics closer to the place of the first conflict. Last week 2 more injured persons arrived. Thank you for your prayers for our patients, peace on the other side of the river and our safety. We certainly do feel surrounded by God's protective hand.

Our patients are making much progress. Ruth, the 11 year old war amputee, is up and using her walker. What a joy to see how much she has changed and made the necessary effort to move and walk on her one leg- a complete turn about! Praise the Lord! Her neighbor, Elise (not a war victim) is also making improvements in her walking. You wouldn't believe the wonderful sight we had of Elyse riding the hospital donkey, and a few days later Ruth mounted the animal behind Claire Harvey. What a joy to see her smile. God has answered many prayers!

Who is ready to do anything from helping to fix the X-ray machine, welding, babysitting, or helping Jean-Pierre with electricity, and even masonry? No other than Amy Riedy, short term missionary from California!

Please continue to pray for our doctors, the patients, peace in RDC (Zaire: the other side of the river), and that many will come to know the Lord during their stay at H.E.L.P.

May God bless you as you hold us up in prayer.

On behalf of the missionary team:

Dr. Joe Harvey and Rebecca, Olivia, Claire, Isabel, Noah;

Dr. Fuka and Patience, Laurent, Perpetue, Kelly;

Siko and Delphine Bambemba;

Art and Danielle Ralston & Michael;

Sarah Speer; Melanie Madinga; and Rachel Maurais;

Dr. Stephen and Anna Wegner, Ian, Isabelle, Caleb;

Our short term doctors: Drs. Eckehart & Klaudia Wolff, Dr. Juan Carlos Panchi;

Amy Riedy, short term missionary

Yours truly, Ginny and my husband, Jean-Pierre Vandevoorde

R smiling.jpg

Amy the welder.jpg

Gerard.jpg

Hospital Update

2009-11-22T06:22:00.000-08:00

The following is a hospital update from Dr. Harvey. To read the complete newsletter visit Congo Harveys.

Things have been busy at the hospital. There is a new armed conflict going on northeast of Impfondo in the Equateur Region of neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. About 26,000 refugees have crossed to our side of the Oubangui River in the past month or so. At Pioneer Christian Hospital we have received 3 waves of wounded refugees, injured in the chaotic violence. We are taking care of 7 patients (ages 11 to 57) with gunshot wounds, and 4 with serious machete wounds. All have had one or two surgeries, and most need more to reattach tendons and further mend broken bones. Our hospital is now a stop on the humanitarian assistance/UN/government/media circuit as a number of delegations have come through to assess the situation. The Congo-Brazzaville & Congo-Kinshasa governments have responded quickly and effectively to the needs that we have presented, and we and our patients are very grateful.

Our need for nurses is even more critical than ever! It's really good to have 3 doctors on full-time staff now, but we don't have nearly enough nurses to carry out the doctors' orders. We hope to start a nursing school in January, which should help in the future, but we need nurses now! Often we have only 1 nurse on duty for 25-35 inpatients! This is unacceptable. Please pray for God to provide 4 RN's, 2 physician's assistants or nurse practitioners, and 4 LPN's as soon as possible.

Picts of the new digs....outside

2009-11-21T00:26:00.000-08:00

I think we have all adjusted pretty well to life here in Impfondo. Caleb does seem to be having the most trouble with the food, the schedule and general adaption but even he is doing pretty well. The Pioneer Christian Hospital was kind enough to give me a week to be with the kids and Anna as we settle in as well.
Our house is indeed the blue house, and it seems like everyone here we talk to here and even get emails from the states mention "oh yeah, I stayed in the blue house". We hope to have a long stay here.
Our week was filled with firsts for us....First meal in the blue house, first fou-fou dish (just for Stephen), first church service, the first bike rides in Impfondo, first time to the market for Anna, first time for having our clothes washed by hand (not in the river though, our washer just used the spigot from outside our door), first tour of the hospital, first visit into a congolese home ( to do a dressing change on a man with Hansons Dz--aka leprosy), and we are all doing well. Thanks again for your prayers and your interest.

This next week holds more adjustment for us as well as I will begin more action at the hospital and Anna hopes to gradually reintroduce schooling to the children since its been a while.

Here is a list of things to pray for on each of the days of this next week.
Sunday- pray for the first church service for the kids, and for monday's adjustments
Monday-pray for me as I interact more with patients and for Anna and she continues to navigate new cooking styles, shopping and child care
Tuesday- pray for Ian as he gets continues to be the big brother and we seek to get more protein in his diet
Wed-pray for Isabelle as she continues to adjust to the heat and deals with her brothers
Thursday-pray for Caleb and is continued adjustments, better sleeping, and better eating habits
Friday-pray for the situation in the DRC and the refugees here in our Congo.
Saturday-pray for good relaxing for all of us and preps for the next week.

Now the picts....
the house and a tree house. more picts to follow and remember to check out our family blog as well to see other picts.

take care.

Stephen

We interupt this scheduled broadcast.....

2009-11-20T08:36:00.000-08:00

We will get to more pictures on our house and our impressions here and correct some info generalities about our situation here. However, I thought I would share a news article with you about some skirmishing in the Democratic Republic of Congo that is not to far from us.
You can read a story on it at all africa.com For about 2-3 weeks at the hospital here we have been receiving machete and gunshot victims of the violence and although it is technically close it isn't really...but it is. Here is a pict from google earth. the green arrow is the fighting area and if you look down at the bottom of the screen on the left side of the river you can see Impfondo.

Take a moment to pray for these victims and the perps for that matter as well.. The youngest here is a girl who needed her leg amputated after infection secondary to a wound.

More to come as we have news.

The Team in Imfondo

2009-11-19T02:35:00.000-08:00

Our second day in Impfondo (Sunday), we were able to attend a worship time with the team here. We have really enjoyed getting to know each of these people. They are a great bunch, and I hope to share more details about them later.

Brazzaville Beginnings

2009-11-16T12:05:00.000-08:00

We first were in Brazzaville (BZV) for one week before we went to Impfondo. Brazzaville is a big dusty city and the hub of the R.O.C. We were there for a bit of the rainy season and it rained mostly a night and almost every night.
There was a true "alliance" of people from different walks of life who helped us a tremendous amount from the native Congolese who helped us eat, change money, get around town, to great commission fund supported C&MA missionaries and SIL missionaries who patiently explained things to our small overheated brains and offered encouragement by their presence, food, and patience.

Here are our kids playing with some SIL missionary kids.

Here is Mr Brazza himself. Founder of European Brazzaville and by all accounts fairly decent guy as explorer conquerors go.

We even went to the zoo while we were there....a depressing but effective way of passing an afternoon. They have some monkeys, one tortoise, one crocodile, and some birds.

What we really did was spend a lot of time adjusting to the new time zone the new language the new climate and a new way of living. Electricity sporadic, running water as well. Mangoes very delicious and juicy, sweat lots of sweat, taxis with seat belts cut out of them, houses with barbwire, cell phones for $20 bucks and a SIM card to boot for $1-3 dollars. So thank you for your prayers during that time of our stay here in the ROC, and hopefully we will have more updates soon.

back on line

2009-11-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all you prayer warriors.
You have made our first week in Congo a resounding success!
Keep up the good work
We are in Impfondo, our luggage is as well.
We are connected to the internet and will be getting settled in gradually.
There will be picts to follow, I hope, and more details. as well.

Thanks again

Praying itenerary

2009-11-04T06:00:00.001-08:00

note all times are EST.
also all times are estimates!! They are not strict guidelines.
Please fill free to distribute this to all the pray-ers in your various church homes

Before 11am nov 6-pray for packing choices and that all our needed items would fit in our allowed space

11am Nov 6th to 330pm---pray for car travel and caravan space and safety

330pm- 550pm--pray for check in process (pleasant baggage handlers, maybe even allowance on luggage), saying final goodbyes, and boarding plane.

600pm to 200am--safe plane ride, kids settling down quickly to go to sleep, and ease of adjustment, food choices for Ian

0200am- 300pm is a layover in Paris. Pray that we can keep the kids awake mostly and pray for wisdom as we decide whether or not to take a quick jaunt into Paris.

0400pm to 0100 am flight to the Republic of Congo Brazzaville from Paris. Please pray for the check-in process, safe flight, settled kids, and meal choices on board

0100-0300 am getting through customs, speaking french to customs officials and meeting the contact person this will be early (0700-0800am local time) for them on a Sunday so that things would all go smoothly. I am going to post this so hopefully most of you will get it to take it to Wed prayer meeting if you go.

thanks

Stephen

The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?

2009-11-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I was reading 1John 4:18. There is no fear in love, for perfect love drives out fear. The one who fears has not been made perfect in love. The one who fears has not been made perfect in love. One phrase in the french bible we have says....love perfectly banishes fear.

I am thinking that I've not been made perfect in love because boy am i nervous right now. We are very soon taking our kids to the ROC, and beginning a very new chapter in our lives. We are excited relieved and sad to be leaving. There is also a lot of uncertainty left for when we get there. We go knowing God has provided for us in the past, has provided for others in the past, and is providing for us now.

Please know that we are very grateful for your prayers and your support, and that we are going because you are supporting us in prayer, finances, communication, logistics, and moral support.

I now want to be so bold to ask you to pray for us as we travel from 11am EST (leaving Hazard KY) Nov 6th through 2am EST (8am in Brazzaville) Nov 8th.
Tomorrow there will be an hourly schedule and I would like each of you to consider picking an hour to in that 39hr period we will be traveling to pray for us.
Thanks

Stephen

FAQ's Continued General and Financial

2009-11-03T04:19:00.000-08:00

Can you believe we only have just over 72 hours before our plane leaves for the ROC!!! We have a lot to do in that time, and are keeping pretty busy.

Some things we've done since our last post....
We traveled to PA to speak at the church my Aunt Lois and Uncle Bill attend, and we were able also then to see some old friends from a camp Anna and I worked at and even some friends from MT! We then swung by Baltimore MD and met with some members of the CMA church there that we used to attend when we lived there.

We then traveled back to KY and I spoke at another of our supporting churches here in Hazard.

We've also bought more stuff we need for Africa and have been busy packing and organizing as well.

Unfortunately this also brings some tough decisions about leaving stuff or taking it.

Now for the FAQ's

What is the time zone in the ROC?
It is 1+ past the GMT which means we are in the Eastern Hemisphere in the ROC and it also means that we are 6 hrs ahead of EST (-5 GMT) and 8 hrs ahead of MST (-8 GMT) but I think that decreases by an hour for each of them during daylight savings time.

FINANCIAL FAQ's

Are you at your target level for support?
Almost. We need about $200 more per month to be at our target level.

What is your target level?
$3,000/mo.

Is that enough for you to live on in the ROC?
Honestly, no. Other support is coming from one time gifts from jobs that I worked this summer in various emergency departments, and from our savings.

How can we give?
Go to www.wegners4theroc.blogspot.com and scroll down to the bottom of the page. There are instructions there.

What if we want to give something just to the kids for college or whatever?
If you want to give us or the kids a personal gift you can send make the check directly out to us and send it to:
Meznarich Accounting
PO BOX 1113
Cut Bank MT 59427

We have also set up a 529 B college savings funds for each of our children. If you wish to give to that then you still send the check to the Meznarich Accounting address but make it out to Charles Schwab and then put the child's name in the memo section. Our accountant can get it into the right account.

Can we help pay for specific items you need in the ROC?
Yes you can. IF you or your church wants to help us purchase specific things for the ROC just let us know.
Some items we will be purchasing are:
Propane powered refrigerator $3,000 USD
Propane powered stove $200-500 USD
Ceramic water filter ~$ ???
Cell phone and or SIM cards for cell phones with plan $50--200
bicycles $50-150 per bike times 4-5.

Just let me know via email at swegn001@gmail.com and we will let you know how you can underwrite such things.

Now I grow weary of writing of financial matters and I think that covers things. Let me know if there are any other questions.

Thanks for praying.

FAQ's continued

2009-10-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we did General and today we will do travel related FAQ's and also children related FAQs

What is your itinerary for travel to the ROC?

We leave for the ROC on the evening of the 6th from Cincinnati Airport . From there we will fly to Paris France and arrive there in the morning local time. We then leave from there around 11pm local time and arrive in Brazzaville around 730am local time. We then will spend around 2wks in the capital city setting up ways for funds to be transferred to us, getting acquainted with other missionaries, meeting US officials, meeting Congolese officials, purchasing tickets for our flight to Impfondo and potentially buying last minute items to take to Impfondo. About two wks later we will fly to Impfondo from Brazzaville.

How long of a layover will you have in Paris?
We will spend about 12 hours in Paris and may try and see some sights (but maybe not).

Why don't you drive to Impfondo from Brazzaville?
There are no good roads from point a to point b.

Children Related
Are your kids excited to be going?
For the most part yes they are ready to go. They are tired of traveling now and are looking forward to Africa. Each of them in their own way has expressed some degree of grief about separating from friends and things in the US but all are upbeat. They also can tell you why we are going as well, and they recognize the importance of the physical and spiritual condition of people we will be trying to aid.

What will you do for the kids schooling?
Anna will be homeschooling the children. There are a couple of other mothers there who are also going to be doing the same thing but Anna will have the youngest children in the co-op. We will be using Son Light material and will benefit from books already there and books that are in transit to there that we have purchased.

Will you have internet access for schooling?
We should have intermittent internet access and since our home (see post from Sept for picts of location) is close to the hospital we have the potential for using it for schooling, but the connection is tenuous and relatively expensive so we will try and limit that to some essentials

What other things will Anna need for schooling?
We are purchasing another small computer to be used for schooling and Anna's recipes as well. She will also need a lot of patience as well.

What are you doing for the kids schooling for college?
Anna and I have opened 529 B accounts for each of the children to begin saving for college. Hopefully this will get them at least a year or two of financing. IF you are interested in giving just to that just send me an email and I can let you know your options.

What can we do for the kids' birthdays?
If you plan far enough ahead of time you can send them cards? For example sending Ian and Caleb cards now for their birthdays in Jan might get there in time. Other options are to give to their 529 B funds or just save up the dough yourself and get them something when we come back to the States.

Whatever happened to Kathleen?
Kathleen was the child we were trying to adopt (see the june and july 2008 posts for particulars) and we were able to see her on the is last trip back from Montana. See our family blogsite for more info and picts of that. Please keep her in your prayers. Her mom is now a citizen of the US and she and Kathleen seem to be getting along well. Kathleen is in kindergarten this year and is enjoying it a lot. We would definitely like to stay in touch with Kathleen and her mom.

FAQ's

2009-10-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

We are now T minus 24 days and counting for our departure date of Nov 6 2009. We have a lot of things to do between now and then but I would like to do some posts on some FAQ's that people toss our way. I will try and divide them into categories of
General
Children Related
Fiances
Travel Related

We will start off with GENERAL

What is the climate like in the Republic of Congo?

I will start off this answer with two charts. One is for the average rain fall and temp in Brazaville Congo and

the other is for Helena MT

The temp are in C for the ROC but the record low is around 53def F. The high is around 98 def F but w a lot of moisture.

I will also post this from Wikipedia article on the climate as well..
Since the country is located on the Equator, the climate is consistent year-round, with the average day temperature being a humid 24 °C (75.2 °F) and nights generally between 16 °C (60.8 °F) and 21 °C (69.8 °F). The average yearly rainfall ranges from 1,100 millimetres (43.3 in) in south in the Niari valley to over 2,000 millimetres (78.7 in) in central parts of the county. The dry season is from June to August while in the majority of the country the wet season has two rainfall maxima: one in March–May and another in September–November.^[24]

What are some animals there in the Republic of Congo?

There are a lot. There are some small populations of elephants and lions, some larger populations of chimpanzees and lowland gorillas, and these two strange beast. One is an okapi, long heard of but fairly recently confirmed and the goliath tiger fish which swims in the rivers. There is also the occasional hippo as well.

How can we send things to you?

Our address in the ROC will be

The Wegner Family
Mission GO Congo
B.P. 10
Impfondo (par Brazzaville)
Republic of Congo

We have heard but not confirmed that small packages (dvd sized envelopes) will take about 3mos to get to our address if they get there at all. Please take a chance. Larger packages often do not make it however.

What will Stephen be doing at the hospital?

The first several months i will be given a gradual amount of more and more responsibility with inpatient pediatric services with also freshening up on French, learning Lingala, and freshening up on OB techniques, and maybe some surgical procedures as well. In the end i hope to concentrate on pediatrics and teaching triage techniques to nursing staff. We will cover Anna's responsibilities in the "Children related" FAQ's

Coming soon are FAQ's for finances, travel, and children

Please continue to pray for our visas to come through, goodbyes that need to be said, and last minute items that always need to be done.

thanks for praying

Updates, info, and other stuff

2009-09-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Its been a while hasn't it?
Here are some things we've done so far.
We've spoken at our church in Cut Bank, First Alliance in Billings MT, Fellowship Alliance in Columbia Falls MT, Central Bible Church in Kalispell MT.
I've worked 7 of my 9 schedule shifts in Browning.
We've been to a dessert auction in our honor.
Anna and the kids have started home school
We've purchased our tickets to The ROC.
We leave on Nov 6th from Covington KY (the Cincinnati area airport) and arrive on Nov 8 in Brazzaville.
We know where we are going to live in Impfondo now.

Here on the map of the Pioneer Christian Hospital it is at 2 o'clock and listed as the Van Achterberg or the "blue house".
Also if you go to IMPFONDO and see the compound on the north (top of pict) east (right of road) and can zoom out to see where it is in relation to the rest of the ROC.
One word of disclaimer, the pict from google earth is just me picking out the compound from the map. I did not confirm this with missionaries there.

Some Praises
We bought our tickets
We are getting more financial support
We are slowly getting more communication support at each of the churches we are visiting.
Safety on all of our travels. We are driving a lot but God has been very good to us.

Some Prayer requests
Pray for our visa applications that are going out on Monday. The usual turn around is about 2 wks but can be longer. Obviously we want the visa's prior to leaving so pray to that there would be a quick turn around
Pray for us as we speak at churches that we would represent God, our calling and our selves accurately and positively.
Pray for continued traveling safety.
On the way back to the East we are going to try and meet Kathleen. Pray for that rendezvous.

Coming Soon
FAQs about our job in the Congo, living conditions in the ROC and other miscellaneous stuff
Future travel arrangements and our "to do" list before we go to the ROC

Thanks again for praying, Continue to do so...

So when are you going?

2009-08-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

I get that question a lot. I get it from family members, from churches we are speaking at, from random strangers I to whom I explain why I am "minimally employed".
The honest answer is we still don't know. We do know we are getting closer though and we are going through a checklist what we need to do before we go.

We need more supporters--we are almost at a level to go for the first 3yrs and are about 3/5 for a full time support. We still need more communication support (See last post), we love the moral support we are getting, and we are needing some types of logistic support as well.
We need immunizations.
We need plane tickets
We need visas
We need to do wills, powers of attorney and other stuff like that
We need to finalize plans for our vehicle
We need to stay the course
WE NEED PRAYER

Given those "needs" here are our plans for the next two months
MONTANA PLANS
Yes we are going to MT this September. We are trying hard to get there. We had originally planned to leave for MT on the 24th of Aug but we did some dental check ups this week and we need to take care of those things before we go to MT. Nonetheless we still are going to keep our speaking engagements (unless something else occurs) for Septemeber
Travel Plans
Leave for MT sometime the last week of August.

Speaking Engagements
9.13-Billings MT
9.20 Columbia Falls MT
9.27 Hamilton (waiting confirmation) MT
10.4 Richey MT

Misc Plans
Reconnect with friends and supporters in our home church of Cut Bank Community Bible Church
Sometime in there I might work some shifts at the IHS site I worked at in Browning as well.
Obtain needed vaccines for Republic of Congo
Apply for Visa for the Republic of Congo

Return East in OCT have more dental work done, do one last round of visiting family and if we have our visas, our plane tickets and all else is a go then we will leave the end of OCT.

Please pray for our children as we continue to bounce around from house to house, help us to stabilize their routine,
Pray for Anna and the kids as they start homeschooling this Sept.
Pray for us as we speak at churches
Praise God for the health our family so far and traveling safety.
Praise God I was able to do some work to gain finances to mitigate unexpected dental costs.

thanks so much for your prayers, your communications and other support.

Communication

2009-07-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all of you who continue to come along side of us with prayer, moral, logistical, and financial partnering to help us further the this radical goofiness that is the good news of Jesus. We have had a busy month in July. I am going to talk about two areas of semiurgent needs from us. See the bold type and follow that up with a wrap up of prayer requests and where God's been working.

I need some help in two areas .
One is with the communication support aspect of our partnership though. I am looking for volunteers to help get these words to people who do not use computers but who attend a church that you attend. This maybe printing them off for a bulletin board post once a month or just giving them to people you know in your church who exceed in the area of prayer.

An illustration of this need is a lady in E KY named Peggy Manchini who has been serving God for a lot of years and who now spends a lot of her time praying. My parents will fill her in on our needs as they hear of them and she prays for us. She is a huge part of our team but if not for my parents she would not know how to pray effectively for us.

The second is for speaking engagements.
If you are in the eastern United States and would like us to speak at your church in August we need to know within 5-6 days so we can plan the next months of whereabouts for us. Also
So I hope you see the need.

If you are in Montana or points between MT and KY and would like us to visit your church we are traveling out to MT either the middle or end of August and will stay there through a good protion of September. Please let us know if we can come along with your church and partner with you to spread the word about us, IFAP, God's goodness etc.

IF you want to help out with these just send me an email at swegn001@gmail.com and let me know. This would also encourage Anna and I greatly as well.

Now for updates.

TRAVEL: We have been to Hazard KY, Lewisport KY, Chattanooga TN, Lewisport KY and now we are back in Hazard KY. We plan to be in WV this weekend then back to Chattanooga TN and Lewisport KY. After that we are planning to get to MT in September but see above for details. Thank God for travelin mercys so far and pray for contninued.

SPEAKING: We had a good week at Camp NAthanael, and we also enjoyed our visit at Hunter Memorial and Augst 9th we will be speaking at a C&MA church in Louisville KY. Please pray for that and for more engagements as well.

FAMILY: Praise God our family is doing well. Ian was ill for a couple days this week but we've enjoyed relaxing times and good visits with family

FINANCES: I was able to work some the month of July and will work some more the month of August. I am also trying to secure work in Browning while we are there. I am doing this to offset our living expenses here so as to not to dip into what people have given as gifts for our ministry. We also have recieved some more promised financial support and are about 1,ooo/mo away from being able to go for 3 years, and we are about 2,500/mo away from a more longterm support level. Please continue to pray that God will raise up people to partner with us in this area and prayerfully consider doing so.

Thanks again for praying with us.

Stephen

Famous Last Words

2009-07-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

I bought a book in burlington VT called "Famous last words" and they range from the inane to the funny, sad, ironic, and profound.

One serves as a word of caution from General Sedgwick who was looking over the parapet at enemy lines and said "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist....." he of course was killed while saying those words.

Another even more poignant came from Simeon Calhoun in 1876. He said " Were the church of Christ was she should be, twenty years would not pass away without the story of Christ being uttered in the ear of every living person." Wow.

We are packing up again! We have turned my parents house into a UPS depot again! Tomorrow I go to pick up another UHAUL trailer to take some of our stuff to another destination again! Why? Because I want in 20 years for Simeon Calhoun's dying wish to be fulfilled. 200+ years later but fulfilled. Our family wants the people of ROC to live healthier lives, we want to see kids get physically better, but the root is what Simeon Calhoun was saying. We want people to hear the story of Christ. Not hear religous words laden with incorrect meaning, but to feel and know the love of the Creator for His children.

Continue to pray that we would have the courage and the love to live out God's love for the people we are around. Pray for safety as we travel to NC on Wed to drop off stuff we are shipping to the ROC.

Pray for the ROC, She is scheduled to have elections on 7/12.
Pray for us as I speak at Hunter Memorial Baptist Church on 7/12
Pray for us as we travel to Anna's grandmothers's on 7/12 and as I begin work on 7/13 at a hospital nearby.
Pray for continued financial provision and that we would be good stewards of His money.
Praise God that the week at Camp Nathanael went well.

Moving Again or Take, Store, Trash or Share

2009-06-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

We as a family are getting a little to good about leaving. We are preparing yet again to leave yet another place that wasn't really ours to begin with and heading into a somewhat murky unknown.
Even more fun is that we are playing this really cool game call Take, Store, Trash or Share. Anyone can play the game ages 0-99 are appropriate. What you need is a place full of stuff and at least two destinations (we are playing the 3 destination version). Then you go through your stuff and as your packing you have a mantra going on in the back of your head which is the name of the game. The challenges are that the other game players will not agree with your decisions or worse they will be equally indecisive about the article as you are, that you cannot just quit the game, that you have to keep playing and playing and playing until its all done, that the longer the game goes on the louder the "trash" option becomes and you have to guard against giving in and that point as well, and finally that you are really not sure what you are going to really need to take.
We are really missing the helpers we had last year.

Monday Isabelle graduates from kindergarten.
Tuesday Anna and I graduate from Language School. Tuesday is the last day of school for the kids
Wednesday we leave for US

We have been blessed recently by some addition financial supporters and that is really cool to see other people come along beside and support us.

Our trip to Burlington VT went well. Thanks for all you prayed for that.

Please pray that we will have some speaking opportunities this summer and fall and that we would achieve our financial goals so we can get to the ROC this fall. We are inching towards those goals by God's grace. If you live in the KY, TN, IN,GA area and would like us to speak at your church or want to host a get together at your house to have us share what we are doing just let us know. We have a couple dates open in July still and we have most of Aug open as well.

Thanks again for your prayers