I know your heart has been moved over the last week as the tragedy in Haiti unfolded before our eyes. The needs are overwhelming, the resources extremely limited and the infrastructure almost non-existent. It has been so moving to watch the world respond…the Chinese, first on the scene, the Belgian search and rescue teams looking through rubble for survivors, the Israeli medical contingency and our own government’s massive relief effort, to mention just a few. As the search and rescue efforts continue, the major needs of the Haitian people are for shelter, food and water and medical care. I have the incredible opportunity to travel to Haiti Monday morning with a 10-member surgical team from Samaritan’s Purse. We will stay two weeks, working mostly at a fully functioning (but depleted in supplies) Baptist Hospital 4 miles from the center of Port-au-Prince. They have 200 patients presently awaiting us for surgical care. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. Please keep our team in your prayers as well. If possible, I will keep you updated on my time there. If you would like to make a donation to the Haitian relief effort…please go to the Lakewood website. Many blessings! Paul

I have probably treated hundreds of patients during the last 3 months here at Tenwek mission hospital. Sometimes our patients come to us through the outpatient clinics or through a referral from another hospital or often through the casualty. It seems the patients often come in large numbers, all at once. In just one busy night here at Tenwek we admitted fourteen patients to the surgery service alone. And the patients that come to us are usually very sick, or badly injured or burned or have advanced diseases. It’s not unusual to spend hours at night or on weekends operating on the endless emergencies that need surgery. Quite honestly, sometimes the patients come in at such a frenetic pace they become just a blur in the constant activity of trying to do what you can to help them. And try as you may, it is often hard to put a face with a name with a specific disease being treated or operation that has been done for them. But then there are patients that come to you…and something about their story, or something about their situation, or something about their illness causes you to never forget them. Names and faces like Benta and Jackie and Brenda and Tidcus. Names and faces that, for some reason I will never forget.

One such patient presented to us not long ago. His name is Kipkurui and he is fourteen years old. He is from a small village called Konoin tucked into the mountainside two hours from here. He presented to us because he couldn’t eat…when he tried he would vomit. This has been going on for two years and because of his illness he hasn’t grown properly, he has become emaciated, he can no longer run or play with the other children and he has fallen far behind in his studies at school. He is the last of five children, his dad is alcoholic, and his mother works tirelessly in her shamba (small farm) just to have food for her family. They are very poor. Kipkurui was wearing a tattered, dirty, flowered dress when he presented to us. Here in this part of Africa, you can recognize really poor people when the boys come into the hospital wearing the only clothes available, even if it is a dress. His eyes were sunken, he could stand only with assistance, he weighed just over fifty pounds (at fourteen years) and his arms and legs and face looked like a skeleton with skin tightly stretched over it. We were all very concerned that he had an infection with the HIV virus, but multiple tests were negative. We immediately started IV fluids and took x-rays which showed an intestinal obstruction. When I operated on him later in the week, his intestines were completely blocked by chronic scar tissue from an operation he had had several years before. He is now a few days post op and doing well—slowly gaining strength as he is able to eat for the first time in almost two years. Since I cannot speak his language—Kipsigis, our friend and hospital Chaplain Helen Towett is spending time with him, telling him and his dad about Jesus and letting him know that God spared his life because God has special things for Kipkurui’s future. We remind him of Jeremiah 29:11…the plans God has for Kipkurui are for good and not evil to give him a future full of hope. This past Tuesday Jenn and I took a trip to a larger city—Nakuru where we visited (our) triplets in the Baby Center. While there we bought Kipkurui some new pants and shirts, a warm coat and a back pack for his school books. We were very intentional about tucking a few shillings into every pocket we could find. Probably in less than a week Kipkurui will be leaving Tenwek hospital—on his way to regaining his health, with some new clothes on his back , a warm coat for the cool nights and the first-hand knowledge that here on a hill in western Kenya there is a group of people who demonstrate the love and compassion and care of our Savior.

I will be leaving Tenwek tomorrow, but I don’t think I will ever forget Kipkurui. I’ll never forget his story; I’ll never forget his emaciated little body and face but what is forever etched in my memory are his eyes. When you look into his eyes you might say you see despair or exhaustion or a someone very near death. But it’s interesting, I see something different. What I see in that deep, almost haunting stare is hope—just a glimmer, but if you look close enough, it is there. Hope that someone still cares for him, hope that someone might reach out a hand to help him, hope that someone might offer him treatment that could make a difference in his life, hope that someone might feed him and clothe him, hope that someone might still believe that there is still a chance that his future might be good and bright and full of meaning and purpose.

Just one face in the hundreds I’ve seen this trip…but one I won’t soon forget.

~Paul

We went to visit a new orphanage this week, Kitoben, which is not far from the hospital to assess the needs and see how God might use us there. There are 60 children at Kitoben, 40 of which are in school. One woman and her family run Kitoben and she uses mostly her own resources (she works at Tenwek Hospital as a clerk) to feed, clothe and educate the children. These are just a few pictures from our visit. We were able to give them soccer balls for the older kids, pray with the family caring for the children and bless them with some financial resources. We hope to continue building a relationship with Kitoben as they care for the orphans in the area.

Bosto is an orphanage about an hour from the mission hospital. We have partnered with Bosto before to help them build coops and raise chickens which provide eggs for the children and extra eggs to sell. We have built fencing and purchased a cow for them. A need was presented to us this time for tables and benches to be built for the dining hall so the children won’t have to eat on the floor any longer. We hired a fundi and have transfered the funds through a local missionary who will oversee while we are in the states. The project has been started but is not complete but we hope to get pictures soon to share with you.

Dr. Ralph, a friend of ours who had visited Tenwek previously, sent some soccer balls with us along with pumps and requested that we write scriptures on them before giving them away. So, our children sat down one afternoon and pumped up the balls and wrote scriptures on the balls in Swahili, Kipsigis and English. We have had the privilege of giving them to a few orphanages and some local boys who play around Tenwek. The boys usually roll up bags and trash until they get a good ‘ball’ to kick around so they were thrilled to get a real ball! We hope long after the handwritten message wears off, the gift of love and kindness will remain and remind them that God truly does love them and have a plan for them.