Not in Kansas Anymore

Don't you love your kids?

2011-12-30T08:01:00.003-06:00

We've been asked some interesting (and funny) questions over the last couple of years about Zambia and our decision to move there. I thought I'd share a few of them with you and try to answer them as well. Maybe you've wondered the same thing but never asked. Here goes...

1) Are you taking the children??

Yes, we are taking our children with us. Though after flying home from Florida yesterday with them and facing a 6-7 hour drive to Texas today, I may very well be reconsidering that one later tonight.

2) Don't you love your kids?

Yes, someone really asked me this question before. And yes, of course we love them. It seems strange that someone would come out and ask it so directly, but to be honest, we've heard many, more subtle forms of this question over the years and I fully understand where people are coming from when they ask it. More commonly, we've heard this sentiment in the statement, "It's great what you're doing and all, but I don't think I could take my kids." To quote famous missionary physician, Dr. Thomas Hale, "Gracious, you're not going to the Gulag." That's right on. Zambia is no Gulag! And in a lot of ways we miss the simplicity of the place for our kids. You've probably heard us say it before, but they had a great experience there in that they were always outside playing, getting scraped up and dirty, making friends and using their imaginations. The stuff kids ought to be doing in my opinion. More importantly though, we want them to know that mom and dad are trying to listen to God's calling and follow. I trust God will keep us and them safe and that one day, he'll help them hear and follow His calling on their lives too.

3) Why bother?

This question came up in the context of a discussion about the many health challenges facing Zambia now. The gentleman that asked us this was sincerely looking for any hope in the situation and wondered how we see our work making any difference. Wow, great question! In fact, it is something I probably asked myself on a daily basis while working at Mukinge. In purely physical terms, the situation in rural Zambia is overwhelming (as it is in most of the world) and it's hard to see the answers to such massive economic, social and health problems. Goodness, I feel the same way here in the States! Where's the hope to be found? Only in one place...the Gospel. That's it. I firmly believe that it is right and good to practice medicine in a place where there is little access to healthcare and I want to do that as well as I can. There is value in binding up physical wounds and healing sickness. I believe I can give glory to God through my work. I also know that there's only one Great Physician, and ultimately, the best thing I can do in this life is point people to Him for real hope and healing.

4) Where is Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe is just south of Zambia. The two are confused because they're neighbors and both start with Z. We were in Zambia in 2008-2009 and are going back there soon.

5) What is the weirdest thing you've eaten in Zambia?

The fried caterpillars and flying termites were umm,...very interesting. Taste a lot like Chicken McNuggets....crispy on the outside and mushy in the middle. Fortunately, these were not a part of our regular daily diet. If you come and visit though, I will make sure they are available for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you so desire.

6) Are you independently wealthy? Are you self-supported?

No and no. While we've been blessed in the last year and a half to have a "real" income, this work can really only be accomplished by and through the generosity of others. We're supported, in the full sense of the word, by friends, family and churches who believe in what we're doing and have chosen to partner with us to make it happen. We're are currently at about 70% of our needed support, so there is still work to be done. Praise God though for the progress we've seen recently in this area.

7) When are you leaving on your mission trip?

Well, we're hopefully leaving this spring (April or May). The funny thing about this question, and we've heard it a couple of times lately, is the reference to "mission trip". Nothing wrong with mission trips (we've been on a few and they certainly pointed us in this direction) but what we're embarking on is hopefully more than a "trip". We've been accepted to SIM (Serving In Mission) to their long-term missions track. And while we don't know what the future holds, we're hoping to be involved in this work for a long, long time.

the lost art of the physical exam

2011-10-03T10:20:00.002-05:00

Dr. Verghese shares a powerful lecture on the necessity and ritual of the physical exam in medicine.

What shameless self-promotion???

2011-08-27T13:55:00.004-05:00

Hello friends. Well, I sure hope this won't come across that way, but we're trying to get the word out about our plans to get back to Mukinge. I hope you'll take a few minutes to check out this little video that the nice folks at SIM made for us. Feel free to share it with everyone you know:)

The Tompkins-Serving in Zambia from SIM USA on Vimeo.

Back in the Saddle Again

2011-08-02T11:59:00.001-05:00

We’re actually still in Kansas but we’re not changing the name of the blog because, let’s be honest...the name is really cool. We are, however, making plans to return to Zambia within the next year and because of that, I thought I’d start blogging again to keep everyone updated. Plus, hundreds of people my mom and sister have asked me to start posting again.

The plan at this point is to return to Mukinge Hospital by late spring/early summer of next year. We still have some work to do before that is possible but we trust that God is going to get us back there in His timing. This time around though, we’ll be going through Serving in Mission (SIM) and will be going back on a long-term basis. Previously we were in Zambia with Samaritan’s Purse and the program we were on was only a 2 year deal without the possibility of renewal. The purpose of the program was to link up young docs with long-term sending organizations, like SIM, in hopes that we’d catch a vision for career medical mission work. So, that is where we’re at right now. We’ve caught that vision. The work we’re returning to will be pretty much the same as what we were doing previously, but being there on a longer term basis will hopefully open up some new doors for ministry.

We hope that you’ll continue to follow along with us on this journey. I’ll try to keep interesting updates coming and keep you posted on our progress. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get one of those awesome fund-raising thermometers posted on the blog at some point. If you have or know of any friends, family, neighbors, churches, community clubs, small groups, pets, fishing buddies, people you met once at so-and-so’s...who might be interested in medical mission work in Zambia, let me know and we’ll add them to our list and harass them often. Thanks and stayed tuned...

Home

2010-02-07T16:00:00.002-06:00

Well, we survived the flight and arrived safely in Tampa last Saturday. We've spent the past week spending time with family and recovering from the travel. We'll be staying in Brandon, FL until early May and then we'll head back to Kansas. Elissa is due with #4 (i think we're just going to call him that) in early April and should deliver at TGH. So, for now, I think we'll be shutting down the blog...I appreciate all of you keeping up with us in this way and I hope we'll have a chance to spend some time together soon.

17 hours???

2010-01-28T23:52:00.003-06:00

That's how long our flight is tonight from Johannesburg to Atlanta. Hard to imagine doing that with the kiddos but the whole trans-Atlantic boat thing just takes too long. Were leaving Jo'burg around 9pm tonight (Friday), which is about 2pm your time. Please pray for us and the kids if you remember. Please pray especially that the the Benadryl will work. Love you all and see you soon!!

Twinkies

2010-01-25T10:07:00.004-06:00

I always Vowed that I'd never wear matching clothes with my wife. I know, you may think it's no big deal, but it is. It could start rather subtly, with your wife Handing you a nice tie that just so happens to match the dress she's wearing to the party but one day you'll look up and realize you're wearing matching air-brushed t-shirts that you got together at the state fair and that have inter-locking hearts with your names written in them, Surrounded by Unicorns and puppies ... You see what I mean? Anyway, this weekend, for a very good reason, I was forced to break my own rule. We're headed home to the States in a few days and our friends at church gave us these nice clothes as a gift. We had a big party on Saturday afternoon with Elissa's friends from the praise team and not only were they very kind with their words, but they also fed us and presented us with the outfits. We were honored to sport then our get-ups to church Sunday morning and then to another party on Sunday afternoon. The kids received their matching clothes earlier in the week. So that explains the pictures. We thought you'd get a kick out of them. Seriously though, these last few days have been tough as we've started the process of saying good-bye to some very dear people and good friends. If you remember, please pray for us over the next week or so as we'll be traveling with the kids and leaving this beautiful place called Mukinge. Hope to see you soon!

Lessons from Pastor Mutumbwe

2010-01-21T04:45:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, Pastor Mutumbwe, one of our local pastors and a good friend, stopped by the house to say hello. I happened to notice that he was carrying a small bottle of olive oil in a sack and so I asked him about it. It turns out that he and one of the hospital chaplains had spent the entire afternoon praying over one of his church members. They’d anointed her with oil and spent hours praying with her in her home. When he told me who it was I recognized the name right away because I had actually been caring for this nice lady on and off over the last few months. She’s a young mother of 5 children who is struggling with severe heart failure that started just weeks after delivering her last child (peripartum cardiomyopathy). She’s been in and out of the hospital and we’ve pretty much maxed out her medications but she’s just getting worse. On her last admission, it finally occurred to me to start praying for her. I’m embarrassed to admit that one, but sometimes I forget to do that until I realize that I’m in need of some kind of miraculous intervention.

So, when Mr. Mutumbwe told me where he’d been that day, I was really glad to hear it. While we were talking, Elissa brought him some tea and a little brownie. He was very thankful and went on to explain to me that he hadn’t eaten anything in a while. I thought that maybe that meant he hadn’t eaten since lunch (that’s what I would have meant) but it turns out that actually, he and the chaplain had been fasting for 3 full days in preparation for the anointing and the prayer for healing. Now, I thought I'd done well praying for her a few times and trying to sort out her medications. I even did a little extra medical reading a few nights ago just to see if I was missing anything that we could do to help her. But fasting for three days??? No, I’ve never done that for a patient. I’ve never done that period. Mr. Mutumbwe casually (in no way was he bragging) went on to explain to me that he does that kind of thing pretty often before he goes to pray with the sick members of his church. Now there’s a true pastor for you.

Eddie

2010-01-18T04:12:00.002-06:00

Have you ever tried breathing through one of those tiny little juice box straws? That’s the equivalent of what “Eddie”, a sweet 6 year old little boy, was having to do when he came to Mukinge a few days ago with severe respiratory distress from a retropharyngeal (back of the throat) abscess that was almost completely obstructing his airway. It took all of his effort just to force tiny amounts of air in and out of his little body and you could literally see the desperation on his face. He was fully awake and obviously very aware of how sick he was. If you’ve ever seen this type of air-hunger in someone fully awake, you will never forget it. It is really one of the more frightening things we medical folks ever see.

Dr. Friend got Eddie into the operating theater pretty quickly and he asked me to come in and help out as he thought he might need an extra set of hands. Eddie’s mom stood beside him right up to the moment that we put him to sleep. She obviously knew things were bad (if not by Eddie’s appearance, by the way we were buzzing around getting set-up and the looks on our faces) and that there was some chance he wouldn’t come out of the theater alive. We knew it too and putting him to sleep to get this thing dealt with was scary to say the least. If you anesthetize someone, they stop breathing and you can’t provide for an airway, you’re in big trouble. Thankfully (really…thank you Lord), Dr. Friend was able to quickly drain this abscess and within minutes this little guy was breathing on his own with no more than a little oxygen given by mask. By the end of the day, he was off any supplemental oxygen at all. He spent a few more days in the hospital but was able to go home well a couple of days ago. I’ve said it before, but often the work here (especially on the medical/non-surgical side) is slow-going and not always so immediately gratifying. Sometimes it even feels like your laboring in vain as some folks just don’t get better despite all of the hard work. It’s not every day that we get to see such a dramatic recovery but we’re sure thankful for this one.

Name that baby

2010-01-07T00:32:00.000-06:00

In case you haven’t heard, we’re expecting baby #4 in early April. We’re pretty excited to meet the little guy (we’re thinking another boy) but we’re struggling with guilt over our ever-growing carbon footprint. Actually we haven’t burned too many fossil fuels at all since our van was stolen in August and hopefully by the time all our many offspring are ready to drive, they’ll have those flying cars that run on solar power like in the movies. However, if you can believe it, we actually have an even bigger concern right now than the melting of polar icecaps…a name for the baby. Picking names isn’t easy and we are asking for some advice. So far this is all we’ve come up with (and Zach and Nate have had a lot of input):
1. Bob
2. Baby Bob
3. Bob the Builder
5. JoJo the Baby
6. Harry
….so far this is all Zach and Nate…
7. Amos—my pick
8. Anything that starts with “T”, because alliteration is cool
9. Something Old School/Old Testament, because that would be pretty cool too.
10. Zachary—yes, I know we’ve already used that one, but Zach said we could use it for the baby if we let him change his name to “Larry Boy.” I’m not wild about this one but I’m gonna keep it on the table just in case we don’t come up with anything by the time Baby arrives.

We’d love to hear your suggestions as you can see we need some help.

Loose Change

2009-12-22T07:20:00.004-06:00

Heard enough about “change” recently? I just came across this the other day in G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, which was written 100 years ago, but found it incredibly timely. In writing about the “false theory of progress” he says…

It is true that a man (a silly man) might make change itself his object of ideal. But as an ideal, change itself becomes unchangeable. If the change-worshipper wishes to estimate his own progress, he must be sternly loyal to the ideal of change; he must not begin to flirt gaily with the ideal of monotony…The main point here, however, is that this idea of a fundamental alteration in the standard is one of the things that make thought about the past or future simply impossible. The theory of a complete change of standards in human history does not merely deprive us of the pleasure of honoring our fathers; it deprives us even of the more modern and aristocratic pleasure of despising them.

It’s also notable that making change our “object of ideal” deprives us of the ability to judge ourselves in the here and now. Or at least, it provides us with an overwhelmingly cheap standard. And maybe, just maybe, that’s the point of our fascination (dare I say worship) with change. It’s dirt cheap. As long as things are changing…then hey, we’re doing well. Don’t worry about the quality of our progress…Never mind how hideous the results may be…We’ll just keep on evolving. So, as a campaign slogan "Change!" is great (especially when times are tough), but let's hope and pray that we (and our elected leaders) haven't become so silly in our thinking that we've made it our highest ideal.

Flat Stanley Comes to Zambia

2009-11-26T09:43:00.003-06:00

Flat Stanley recently came out to Mukinge for a little visit. He's pretty quiet but we were glad he came to see us. Hope you all are having a Happy Thanksgiving.

Charles

2009-11-13T03:44:00.000-06:00

Doctors often lament the difficulty in giving patients the “bad news”, sometimes forgetting what receiving that news might feel like. Unfortunately, I end up having those conversations fairly often here at Mukinge as patients frequently come in with conditions that are just too advanced for any medical treatment we can provide. A few weeks ago I had one of those dreaded discussions with a man named Charles, who’d come to our outpatient department with end-stage, metastatic cancer. He was completely wasted, weighing only about 75lbs and clearly in the end stages of his disease. Our surgeon had performed a palliative operation on him just weeks before, but there was nothing more we could offer other than weak pain medicines. As I talked to him and his family about his poor prognosis, he sat stoically, listening and nodding his head occasionally. He had very few questions and agreed with me that “home based care” was his best option. I asked him about his relationship with Jesus (you can get away with that here) and he told me he was a believer. We prayed together for healing of his body, physical comfort and strength to handle the rough days ahead. Again, through all of this, he was completely composed and stoic.

As we wrapped up, his wife informed me that they had come from very far away (he was transported on the back of a bicycle for many kilometers) and she asked if I could help with transportation for Charles as he was too worn out for the long trip home. The translator then told him that I had recently been robbed and that our vehicle was stolen. At this news, Charles’ facial expression completely changed. He looked at me as though his heart had been broken. “Sorry, sorry mwane…sorry mwane”, he repeated over and over. I told him we were fine and that God had really protected us during the robbery but I was really uncomfortable talking much about our little incident in light of the conversation we’d just had about his desperate situation.

I haven’t seen him since but I don’t think I’ll ever forget our encounter. The fact that he was so sad for me says a lot about the Zambian sense of community, family and “bearing one another’s burdens”. The fact that I’ve grown so accustomed to giving the “bad news” probably says something about my own understanding of those things as well. However, I learned a few things from Charles that day and I’m confident that if I don’t see him again here in clinic or on the road, I will see him one day with our Father in Heaven.

Slithering rope

2009-11-10T06:55:00.004-06:00

As I was about to hop into bed I saw something lying on the floor, just 2 or 3 feet between me and a good night sleep. We leave the bathroom light on for the kids and the little amount of light that was shining in my room that night just happened to be illuminating the area of the floor right beside my bed. In that faint light, I noticed a little rope-like something lying about three feet in front of me on the tile. Can you see where this is going? With all of the critters around lately since the rains have started, I thought I’d better make sure about this “little rope” before I moved any closer. Probably just something the kids left out, right? Well, no…unless the kids had been playing with a snake, which is possible I guess. When I flicked the light on, the little rope started moving away, slithering toward the shelter of the dresser. This time, no girly screams from me though, just action. I’ve come a long way in 20 months. I ran and got the broom and dust pan and was able to pin him down before he made it under our dresser. I then chopped him in half with the sharp edge of the dust pan, leaving snake blood all over the floor and leaving Elissa and I a little nervous about where he came from and whether or not there were more.

We examined him closely afterwards and he appears to be the same kind of snake we killed in the back yard a couple of weeks ago…a twig snake. They’re not very big but are still evidently capable of harm due to their hemotoxic venom. Not to worry though, in order to deliver enough venom to do much harm (i.e. to make you bleed to death), they evidently have to gnaw on you for while. Ah, that’s reassuring.

The Long Defeat

2009-11-05T02:32:00.002-06:00

“I have fought the long defeat and brought other people on to fight the long defeat, and I’m not going to stop because we keep losing. Now I actually think sometimes we may win. I don’t dislike victory.... We want to be on the winning team, but at the risk of turning our backs on the losers, no, it’s not worth it. So you fight the long defeat.”—Dr. Paul Farmer

This quote comes from a book entitled Mountains Beyond Mountains, written by Tracy Kidder, which tells of the life and work of Dr. Paul Farmer, who has worked as a physician in the impoverished country of Haiti for many years. While I’ve not read the book, I had heard this quote before. Dr. Farmer was evidently a fan of Tolkien, who initially used the phrase “the long defeat” in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien later said, “Actually, I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect 'history' to be anything but a 'long defeat' - though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory." It seems Tolkien’s philosophical understanding of history, in this regard, was framed by his Christian worldview. I imagine Dr. Farmer’s is as well.

It seems pessimistic to look at the world this way and it certainly isn’t something that the guys with slick hair and fancy suits are preaching about on TV. In no way does it sound anything like that lie known as the “prosperity gospel” which is obsessed with “victory”. But while believing that the world is fallen and corrupt, and that consequently much of our labor in the fight against the evils of this world will be frustrated by failure, may sound pessimistic, there also seems to be a deep truth there that you just can’t ignore. More importantly, though, is the truth that, even as messed up as the world seems, there is a Creator God who is concerned over His creation. The Bible tells us exactly how concerned He is in the story of Jesus Christ. His ultimate victory over death and sin gives us hope in the midst of despair. And while it may be extraordinarily difficult to find meaning or purpose in the defeat sometimes (the poverty, corruption, disease, terrorism….), meaning exists nonetheless.

Ironically, as I was reading about the history of this short phrase last Sunday, I was called in to the hospital as an ambulance had arrived from one of our referring rural health clinics. When I heard which clinic it had come from I knew it couldn’t be good. This particular clinic is notorious for sending people to us too late and at ridiculous hours. The patients they send us are usually very sick, near death or already dead by the time they get here. On Sunday, it was no different. They unloaded two young women who were in need of immediate treatment. One lady was bleeding severely and in shock from a miscarriage and the other had eclampsia as well as a severe intrauterine infection. I was able to attend to both of them pretty quickly and am glad to say that they are doing well now (and miraculously, so is the little baby of second lady). On my way home that night though, I couldn’t help thinking about the battle here at Mukinge. At times, it feels like a long defeat...patients just keep coming and you don’t get the feeling that things are “improving” or that we’ll ever “win”. However, we do have days like Sunday, when sick people come in and get help they need and eventually return home to their families. To give up at Mukinge because it’s hard would mean there’d be no place for that rural health clinic to send anyone. There’d be no place for those two women we cared for this Sunday. No, it’s not worth it to turn our backs... And so we’ll keep fighting head on and we’ll trust God to give us what we need to keep going.

Venting

2009-10-31T04:47:00.003-05:00

We've been waiting to get Emelyn's social security number for months now. The initial application was filled out over a year ago...the repeat application was filled out over 6 months ago because the first one was lost...I recently checked the SSA website (that's where I was frigidly referred by the people at the embassy) and the application tracking function requires you to enter the S.S. number for the application in question. Ummm.....How's that supposed to work as we don't have the number yet!!??!

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the U.S. government to sort out our healthcare woes.

Termites, frogs and snake

2009-10-07T11:53:00.004-05:00

Thought you guys would like this one:) We had our first rain in almost 6 months last Saturday afternoon/evening. So that triggered the flying termites to emerge from the ground (Biblical, plague-like swarms) the next evening...which triggered the sticky, slimy frogs to come out for their annual feast (also Biblical, plague-like numbers)...which triggered the snakes to come out for their feast! (thankfully we only saw one) This particular snake was in our back yard, having already had a few frogs (as you can see by the bulges in its body) but Daren took a shovel to it! Turns out that it was a Twig snake, which is highly venomous (hemotoxic)!, but also, thankfully, usually pretty shy. God watches out for us (as Nate and I were headed straight for it - I saw it in time to stop and flee!)...so keep praying for His protection, as I know that is the reason that we have been kept safe so far. From now on, we'll be staying indoors when the flying termites, frogs and snakes are out!

Baby Steps

2009-09-30T12:20:00.005-05:00

A couple of posts ago I put up a video of Emelyn learning to walk. Well, we've all gotta start somewhere. Years ago, the docs at Mukinge were big-time hunters. Dr. Foulkes would evidently kill an elephant or a hippo every year to provide food for the hospital patients. Thankfully, now-a-days, the patients don't count on us to provide any protein in their diet...You know that if they did, they be in trouble. I've never really been much of a hunter....OK, that is a bit of an understatement...I've actually never shot anything. I did kill that little bat in my kitchen a few months ago (but he'd been asking for it), somehow though, that just doesn't compare to killing an elephant does it?

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to go on a little hunting trip with Mr. Fumbelo, one of the men involved in the Mukinge HIV/AIDS outreach program, and a great guy. I took a much needed day off and with him to the game management area a couple of hours from here. Now, I didn't actually end up doing any hunting myself...I pretty much just went along for the ride. But man, what a ride. We spent the whole day and night out in the bush, driving around, walking a little and seeing lots of game. We saw impala, puku, warthog, and even a hippo. We didn't see any elephants but I did get tripped up in their massive footprints at one point. The men I was with ended up killing a nice sized puku, a small common duiker, and a guinea fowl. Mr. Fumbelo even let me skin the puku (see below--can you believe that?). After the animals were field dressed (I think that's what you call it) we boiled the kidneys and livers in a little pot over an open fire. When they were done cooking, it was time to go. Mr. Fumbelo then put those select goodies in a little bowl, placed the bowl on the front seat between us and we were off. We snacked on bits of liver and kidney all the way home. Not bad.

The whole experience was incredible. For me, just to get off the station for a little while was a big deal. Now, I'm thinking about getting a rifle and a license, so the big game better watch out.

Sabbath

2009-09-10T12:45:00.003-05:00

I'm just starting to learn the importance/necessity of Sabbath. I've misunderstood and neglected it for far too long. I recently read a book some friends of ours sent out last year called "The Rest of God", by Mark Buchanan, and not only is it a good read, but more importantly, it has encouraged me to rethink what Sabbath is all about. We (like you too I'm sure) have been pretty busy here lately. It seems the work never stops. But God knows what we need. This past Sunday afternoon, a few hours in the hammock with a good book and the three cutest kids you've ever seen, were exactly what I needed to remind me of the overwhelming goodness and grace of God...which I think is what Sabbath is all about.

(thanks Neefs for sending out that book)

Watch Out!!!

2009-09-06T02:47:00.002-05:00

She's walking now.

Deep Thoughts by Zach and Nate

2009-08-24T13:01:00.003-05:00

That last post was a little heavy, huh? On the lighter side, Zach and Nate have recently said some pretty interesting, occasionally profound, things in regards to matters of the faith. In addition to those prayers mentioned in the last post they've recently said the following...

"Jesus is my best friend."--Zach

"When you get to heaven, you get a new bottom."--Nate

I think Nate learned at school that when you get to heaven, you get a "new body", but he was pretty insistent that it's actually just a new "bottom". Sounds like a Lifeway bestseller just waiting to happen if you ask me.

Update

2009-08-24T07:23:00.002-05:00

In case you didn't get our recent prayer letter, I've included it below. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us over the last week and thank you for the many encouraging emails.

Here's the letter....

Hello Friends and Family,
I wanted to send a quick update to ask for prayer and to let you know what happened to us two nights ago. Word has already started to get around and I want you all to know that we’re fine.
So, on Sunday night, I returned from the hospital in the dark and met two men waiting in the shadows outside my front door. Elissa and the kids were inside eating dinner. As I was entering the house they came up behind me, one with an AK-47, the other with a golf club and then forced me inside. I don’t know how long they’d been waiting there or if I surprised them when they were about to enter. They then closed up the house and started demanding car keys, phones, dollars…..I pleaded with them not to hurt my family and told them they could have whatever they wanted. They ended up getting away with a fair amount of cash and our van and haven’t been caught yet. None of us were physically hurt but Elissa and the kids witnessed the whole thing.

Elissa and I didn’t sleep at all Sunday night, but the kids all slept well without any problems. Last night, we all slept like babies and things actually seemed pretty normal. We’re thankful to God that he protected us from any physical harm. This could have been bad. We’re praying for the kids especially and the community here as everyone was a little shaken by it. We’re asking you to pray with us that our family will continue to know God’s peace and comfort in this time.

Yesterday, Zach and Nate seemed to be talking about the incident quite a bit, so we tried to redirect the conversation toward how God had protected us. They seemed to get that and later in the day, I even heard Zach telling one of the other missionaries how “God had protected us from the bad men”. Elissa said that boys prayed for these two men, that “God would clean their hearts.”

So, we’re fine and we love you guys and thank you as always for your prayers.

The Tompkins

So, as of today, we're still doing pretty well. Yesterday, however, the police came to inform us that they'd found the suspects after trailing them for a few days. When they approached them to make the arrests, gunfire was exchanged and the man who carried the AK47 was killed in the shootout. I had to go to the station and ID the body. The other man escaped but was unarmed and we expect he'll be captured soon. Just two days ago, these men robbed and beat a man who lived just few minutes from here. I took care of him in the hospital Saturday morning and he should be fine. So far, our van has not be recovered and I don't expect we'll ever see the stolen money again. Again, we're just thankful that God spared our lives but we're saddened by the ultimate outcome of these events. We're praying that the other man will be captured alive and that he'd have a chance, as Zach and Nate prayed, for "God to clean his heart".

After all of the happenings yesterday, the boys were again talking about the incident this morning. Zach was up twice last night with nightmares about guns....This morning Nate said he wanted a gun to shoot the bad men....Please pray for the little guys if you remember. Pray for us too as we try to answer their questions and talk to them about justice, forgiveness, grace...We were encouraged this morning though, that both of them remembered and vocalized that God had indeed saved us. We're thankful for that. Where would any of us be without His salvation?

Happy Birthday Emelyn!

2009-08-19T12:17:00.004-05:00

Emelyn had her 1st birthday today!!! She got a bunch of nice presents and even had her own little cake. She clearly has her mother's sweet tooth (see below). Happy Birthday Emelyn!!!

Perinatal Hospice

2009-08-13T12:09:00.004-05:00

I just saw this article today on World Magazine's website about perinatal hospice. If you haven't heard of perinatal hospice, this will give you a good idea of how it works and why it is such an important ministry.
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15726

Elissa and I had the honor of volunteering at Choices Medical Clinic in Wichita while we lived there. They have a perinatal hospice program that has been running for a few years. Here's a link to a nice story printed in the L.A. Times about that clinic a few years ago. It features one of my medical mentors, Dr. Scott Stringfield and our friends at Choices.
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/28/nation/na-hospice28

Finally, if you're interested in what's going on or how to get involved at one of the best ministries I've ever encountered, check out the Choices clinic website at:
http://www.choicespartners.org/

Trend setters

2009-08-12T10:00:00.003-05:00

Zach and Nate don’t have the best fashion sense. I guess they somehow inherited that one from me. Lately, Zach has really been obsessed with tucking in all of his shirts and wearing a belt. That’s ok sometimes, but not terribly cool when you’ve got on a T-shirt and shorts with an elastic waistband and you’re kickin’ it with all of your untucked hommies outside. Nate’s got his own sense of style which occasionally involves denim shorts (also with elastic waistbands) pulled up high, often worn with Crocs with ankle high socks to accessorize. Sometimes, the only things missing are the fanny-packs and pocket protectors. If we get to that stage though, Dad’s going to put his foot down. I’ve explained to them that one day they are going to want to have girlfriends and that wearing sandals with socks isn’t really going to help in that endeavor. They just look at me with blank stares. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, we’ve got bigger fish to fry…like, “Nate, I know that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are messy, but you shouldn’t use you’re your hair as napkin” and my favorite, “No guys, the front yard isn’t to be used as a toilet.”

No, Mr. President

2009-08-10T00:55:00.001-05:00

From John Piper...

Kwacha for Clunkers

2009-08-06T12:13:00.004-05:00

The "Living Saloon" (a.k.a. Goat Smasher) has been out of commission for the last couple of weeks and I've been pretty depressed. You may not understand from the picture, but this is one sweet ride. And just today, when I thought there was no hope left, the hospital mechanic got it running again. Watch out goats!

Healthcare reform

2009-08-03T05:41:00.000-05:00

I’ve been reading about the healthcare reform issues going on at home. It’s pretty ugly and I’m sure it is going to get worse. In light of that debate and all of the complaining we do about our healthcare services in the U.S., I thought I’d share a story with you about a lady we lost this morning. Yesterday, our on call doc admitted a 33 year old, mother of 6, who had a bowel obstruction. By evening, I heard that she had gone to the OR for surgery. Turns out, not only did she have an obstruction, but a perforation as well (the bowel had ruptured inside the abdomen). She was very, very sick and this morning, after a long night, she died. I heard the wailing during rounds and knew what it meant. It is a sad story, and the fact that this young lady had 6 children, the youngest of which was only 4 months old, just compounds the tragedy. To make things worse, and I guess this is the reason I’m even writing about this one, is that she was seen and diagnosed with “twisted bowel” at one of the big regional hospitals 5 days ago. They made the right diagnosis but evidently didn’t have the means (a surgeon) to deal with the problem, so they told her to get to a hospital that did. Four days later, she arrived at Mukinge. I’m not sure of all of the details about why they couldn’t have dealt with the problem at the regional hospital or why they didn’t at least put her in an ambulance and send her to the right place, but, that’s what happened and the result is tragic.

We see this kind of thing all too often. I’ve got a 15 year old boy that I’m treating right now for meningitis. He’s improving slowly but when I admitted him, he was also really sick. The infection had already taken his hearing, he couldn’t walk and he looked to be within hours of death. He’s at least up on his feet now and his infection is clearing, but his hearing and cognition may have been permanently affected. He spent 5 days in a small clinic (not that far from here) getting under-dosed with antibiotics before he was sent to Mukinge. This kind of thing is hard to deal with. It’s easy to get judgmental about what’s happening “out there” in other hospitals and clinics, but when you realize how limited the staffing and resources are at those places, it makes sense.

Well, if you remember, pray for my young friend “Johnny” and for the family of this young woman who we lost this morning. Six kids now with no momma. Pray for them. Remember Zambia and the whole healthcare situation here the next time you hear or see a news story about the healthcare woes in the U.S. I’m not saying trouble doesn’t exist in our system at home, it does. I’ve been a part of that system too, and it’s a nightmare. But for the most part, the differences in both quality of service and access to healthcare services in the States and those in most of the developing world are beyond comparison.

TV-less

2009-08-01T14:18:00.003-05:00

Have you ever gone one week without TV? How about a month? Or even a year? Is that even possible? Have I already reached some kind of question mark quota for this post? Sorry, but I was on a little roll there. When we lived in Wichita I had a TV, complete with rabbit ears, down in the basement. I hear those days are over now. We only got 3 channels, or 4 if the weather was right, but it always amazed me how much time we could waste watching KAKE news with their 12,000 weather computers and Viper StormTracker technology….that makes for great TV doesn’t it?.... or American Idol (I’m embarrassed to admit that one)…And what about sports? Oh, how I could spend an entire weekend watching football. The fact that I could barely see the ball through the static, or even tell the teams apart, made absolutely no difference to me. Well, I say all of that to say this, since we’ve moved to Zambia, we’ve been TV-less. Sure we still find time to waste on the computer, like I’m doing right now, or watch DVDs but overall, we spend a whole lot less time in front of the screen. So what do we do with all of this free time? Well, we talk to one another and we play with the kids and go for walks. We have people over for dinner. Sometimes we just crash after a long day. We read. I’m 32 years old and I’m just now figuring out that reading can be fun. Wow, that may be the nerdy sentence I’ve ever written. Anyhow, I wish this epiphany would have happened for me 20 years ago. I’m never going back. Sorry kids.

Alright, I know this is starting to sound a little preachy, huh? That’s ok. I’m a missionary. I just thought I’d encourage you guys to try it. You may not have the “luxury” of living in the bush, which will actually make what I’m suggesting even harder, but I’m want to encourage you to try unplugging the ole’ TV for a few weeks and see if you don’t somehow feel better. You may not know who was really bad last night on Dancing With the Stars, but I’ll bet you’ll know more about what’s going on with your family and friends. You might even have time to catch up on reading your favorite blog (hmm-hmm). Or maybe actually read something worthwhile….

Z-MAN turns 5!!

2009-07-18T12:41:00.003-05:00

Can you believe Zach is 5 years old!!! He had a pretty sweet birthday this year. A party at school and another one at home. Elissa made him a rocket ship (or cowboy???) cake and he got a bunch of good gifts from his friends around the station. Here are some pictures of the parties...

afternoon off

2009-07-18T12:32:00.002-05:00

I usually get Wednesday afternoons off. That’s kind of a traditional thing for doctors, right?... Wednesday afternoons off for a round of golf at the club. Well, there just aren’t a lot of golf courses around here and I like to spend that time with Zach and Nate anyhow. So, a couple of weeks ago, the three of us decided to do a little hiking and then climb Mukinge hill together. Zach and I had a great time. Nate on the other hand, wasn’t so excited. It didn’t help anything that the grass/undergrowth on the hill was taller than Nate, but he just wasn’t into it. He wanted me to carry him on my shoulders. So instead of listening to him cry, I picked him up and carried him to the top of the hill. I figured it was good exercise for me as I’ve put on a couple extra pounds since our vacation. When we finally reached the top, I took some time to rest and enjoy the view and the boys climbed on an old, dead tree. After I was satisfied that I could breathe well enough to get down, we started the descent. Again, Nate wasn’t having any of it and I had to carry him down on my shoulders. Turns out, going up is much easier. The hill is quite steep and I kept slipping. At one point, I slipped and fell hard on my backside, but I didn’t drop Nate. He was scared at first but then he thought it was funny. I immediately noticed a little warm sensation on my neck and, putting two and two together, figured that the unexpected jolt had caused Nate to have a little accident. “Nate, did you just pee on me???!!!” “Yeah Dad, but just a little.” Just a little. Not really what I wanted to hear. Anyway, we finished the descent and yes, I carried Nate all the way down. Then we all went home to brag to Elissa about our awesome adventure and show her we were free of snake bites. The boys had a snack. I had a shower. Minus getting peed on (I've had worse happen to me at work), it was a pretty good afternoon off.

different perspective

2009-06-18T05:59:00.005-05:00

I recently came across the following map on a blog post of one of my fellow WMM post-residents (http://www.mccropders.blogspot.com/). The map below re-sizes each country based on ratio of physicians to the general population.

I found the following map at the Worldmapper website at http://www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/worldmapper/index.html.

This map is re-sized to demonstrate the adult HIV prevalence of each country.

These images are striking when viewed separately, but side by side, they really help contextualize what we're dealing with at Mukinge.

I've often be asked about "the call". How did I ever get mixed up in this missionary medicine deal anyway? Well, unfortunately, I don't think I've ever been able to articulate that very clearly. I've heard some say, when talking about missions, that "the need isn't the call", whiles others say it is. I don't really know. I do know that I see the human side of these two maps every day. And when I see that picture in the light of the the Gospel and the compassion and love of Christ Jesus, I know that we, as Christians, have to be involved and engaged. The action side of that equation will look different for all of us, but therein lies the beauty of the Church and it's many different parts--there are senders, go-ers, prayers....We really all do have a part to play in this one.

Bugs and stuff

2009-06-06T13:37:00.012-05:00

After some rather serious postings recently, I figure it's time to stop ranting and give the people what they really want!!!---pictures of bugs and snakes and other tasty treats. Here are some of the better ones from over the last few months. We've been both impressed and at times, really creeped out by some of the wonderful things God has made for this part of the world. I hope you will be too...impressed that is.

This species of moth pictured here has been known to eat small primates...OK, not really but it is pretty spectacular, huh?

This snake was killed by our gardener behind our neighbor's house. He said it was a "bad one" but didn't know the name. He brought it over for Elissa to see and she was just thrilled. Well, maybe not "thrilled" in the classic sense, but she was impressed enough to get a picture. We've since showed it to an expert and found out the good news that it was just a forest cobra. No big deal...just a deadly cobra! At least it wasn't a mamba, which I'm sure puts the grandparents at ease. So yes, it was a "bad one."

The bugs on the plate are a local favorite. These termites pour out of the ground, in every direction and fill the sky just after the first rain. The big ones are gathered (in the morning they accumulate on the ground in piles a couple inches deep under any outside light), de-winged and then fried in a pan with a little salt. They taste exactly like tiny Chicken McNuggets. Actually, I only ate one, but our friend Corey, who was visiting at the time, ate this whole plate full. Mmmm, pass the honey-mustard. Caterpillars are also good-eatin'. When salted and fried, they taste like...you guessed it...tiny Chicken McNuggets. I would say that they taste better than the termites in case you're ever given a choice. Elissa even tried fried caterpillars and said that they "weren't that bad."

And possibly, the wildest, most frightening of all....

The last couple here are not for eating (as far as I know). We like the chameleons and we've been lucky enough to spot a few of them. The slugs, well they're just slimy and gross. I tracked one once by the nice trail of slime he left on our carpet. He was hiding under my favorite chair.

I wish I had more pics to share but sometimes, we're just not fast enough with the camera. We live in a beautiful, exciting place and I just wanted to share some of it with you.

Missing Kwacha

2009-06-04T13:29:00.004-05:00

You probably haven't seen this reported on the nightly news. Recent reports her are saying that some 27 billion kwacha (about 5 million U.S. dollars) have mysteriously gone missing from the Ministry of Health and major donors (who supply most of the MOH budget) are now pulling out. It's a sad situation and we're already seeing the effects of this at Mukinge. You can read the full story on the Voice of America site at:
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-05-29-voa5.cfm

Obama, Notre Dame and Fair-Minded Discussion

2009-05-24T06:22:00.004-05:00

This isn’t a political blog. The last thing we need right now is more political blogging. However, I do occasionally touch on issues relating to medicine and culture and life and death and those of you who know me know I hold a strong pro-life view. My worldview forces that on me. As I’ve touched on before, the belief in the Infinite-Personal Creator, God, has to affect one’s view of life and death. As a physician, that matters. As a person, that matters. Why bring this up and where am I going with it? Well, I bring it up in response to what I have been reading about Mr. Obama’s speech last week at Notre Dame. If you haven’t read the transcript, I encourage you to. So, in light our president’s pleas for “fair-minded” conversation on abortion, I thought I’d respond from the perspective of a doctor who has a particular interest in both maternal and pediatric healthcare.

Now, if we’re going to be fair-minded, we have to be prepared for the pain that that might bring. Right thinking is usually difficult and it usually makes us uncomfortable. Both sides have to be prepared for that. But, in starting this discussion, I think it is fair to pose a question that I recently heard in an interview with Dr. John Patrick, who admittedly, is a Christian physician and pro-life. The question he asks is: “What exactly must one believe about the nature of human existence, in order to believe that this action (abortion) is morally acceptable?” What would the answer to that question have to be to maintain such rigorous defense of the practice? You see, in order to believe that it is acceptable to end the life of another innocent human, you must either believe that that being isn’t fully human (which is not really a position anymore with our current knowledge of embryology/human reproduction/genetics) OR you must believe that human life is meaningless/absurd. It is impossible to be intellectually consistent outside of those two possibilities. Granted, there is a small minority of people who are sincerely atheistic in their thinking, although very few live consistently with that belief, i.e. even if they believe whole-heartedly in evolutionary theory, devoid of any transcendent influence, few accept that their own existence is meaningless. I don’t have to mention examples of what this mindset can look like when carried to its rational end, but 20th century history, with all of its brutality, is a good place to start looking.

What’s got me losing sleep over this one lately is not only Mr. Obama and his stance on abortion, but the very fact that his stance mirrors so many in society. I don’t think he is a bad man. On the contrary, he seems to me to be a compassionate leader, who really does care about our country. I just can’t understand how such a man, with all of his intellect and education, cannot see the fallacy and inconsistency of his own stance. This year, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade he said the following:
“On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman's right to choose.” (See full official White House statement)

I know he isn’t rigorously atheistic in his stated worldview, and neither are most who are pro-choice, but this statement and his record, coupled with his stated beliefs in the Judeo-Christian God, leaves me scratching my head. The only other conclusions I can draw, are that he, like so many others, has never sat down and taken a “fair-minded” assessment of his own position on this issue (hard to believe) or that he is so relativistic in his thinking that he has no trouble at all with blatant contradiction within his own worldview. Both possibilities are exceedingly worrisome to me as explanations of the ideological underpinnings of the leader of the free world. Both possibilities are worrisome for policy makers (have you heard of Kathleen Sebelius?), judges, physicians (do we really want doctors caring for us who hold such schizophrenic beliefs on the sanctity of human life?), teachers, baby-sitters….everyone.

So, in response to Mr. Obama, I agree with him whole-heartedly that it is time for civility and fair-mindedness in the discussion on abortion. I appreciate that many on the pro-choice side are interested in reducing the number of abortions and we ought to work together on that one. I ask Christians to pray for our leaders, particularly our new President. I hope and pray that our lives of compassion will also match our own stated worldview. That we won’t just “speak out” about abortion, but that we’d all be doing what we can to love and care for women and families who are facing tough decisions. May the mighty love of God and the grace of Christ be seen in and through our own lives as we participate in this on-going discussion.

Nurture vs. Nature

2009-05-22T07:04:00.003-05:00

Boys and girls are different. That would seem obvious to most but with all of the questions in our culture about "nurture vs. nature" and gender roles, blah, blah, blah....I thought I'd present a little anecdotal evidence demonstrating the differences I'm already noticing now that we have a little girl.

Exhibit "A"

Elissa caught this picture of Emelyn a couple of days ago. She was sleeping like a little angel and was all snuggled up with her little baby doll. She's just all sugar.

Exhibit "B"

Just hours after Elissa caught that picture of Emelyn, I got this picture of Zach. He and Nate were outside running with sticks (we let them do that sometimes) when Zach came back to the house with a little surprise. He'd found a dead bat and he wanted to show me. He said that he'd just killed it with his stick, but I think he was embellishing a little (that has been known to happen with bat stories) because the little bat was certainly on the crispy side. Nate actually bare-handed it after Zach accidentally dropped it on the ground. He didn't even think twice about picking it up with his hands. Don't worry, the boys are vaccinated.

Now, maybe I have conditioned the boys to be bat slayers (I killed one those monsters in our kitchen a couple of weeks ago with a broom and my Gerber multi-tool! BUT Elissa said I shouldn't blog about it because everyone is tired of my lame bat stories. Sorry.) Maybe Emelyn is already learning how to be sweet and loving from her mom. I don't know. Maybe God just makes us different.

"Allison"

2009-05-20T01:25:00.005-05:00

Last week we had a 72 hour surgeonless window. Dr. Friend left for a much needed vacation and his replacement wasn’t due for a few days. Needless to say, the rest of us were a little nervous about what might walk through the door (or come through on a stretcher) in his absence. At around hour 27 (of 72) one of my worst fears materialized on the maternity ward and I realized that "the window" had suddenly broken. Our young Zambian doc, Dr. Mwanza, called me to see a lady, “Allison”, who’d been laboring for nearly 24 hours in the village. When she arrived at Mukinge, there was no fetal heart rate, the baby’s hand was the presenting part (that doesn’t work well) and she was bleeding. She was also on her 8th pregnancy with 5 living children. All of this was adding up to equal something that neither one of us were very excited about. We took to theater quickly and Dr. Mwanza requested that I do this one and that she assist. When we got into her abdomen, the dreaded diagnosis was confirmed—she had a big uterine rupture and was bleeding badly. Remember “Cheryl” from last summer? This was a similar case but unfortunately, this time, there was no one to call for help (Well, I guess that Dr. Mwanza called me, but in a case like this, that's just not the same as calling on Dr. Friend). So, to make a long story short, we were able to get through this case together and help this nice lady out of a tough spot. Afterwards, the theater staff were congratulating us that we were able to “do it” (that’s always nice) but I told them we could celebrate when Allison went home, complication free. Good news…she went home to her family yesterday and was doing very well. Thank you Lord! If you guys want to keep her in your prayers though, that would be fine with me.

Lily

2009-05-07T15:41:00.001-05:00

“Lily” is a sweet little girl who I met today in clinic. She is very sick. When she walked into the exam room I could tell right away that she was very ill by her rapid breathing and by the horribly sad look on her face. I thought she was probably 8 or 9 years because of her size, but as I gathered more history, I learned that she is actually 15 years old, but very growth stunted and malnourished. She weighs about 45 pounds. Her mother told me her story and my heart just broke for her. She was admitted last year with a diagnosis of TB and at that time also underwent HIV testing. She tested positive. Her father evidently didn’t want her to start the ARV medicines that we use to treat HIV (I didn’t understand exactly what the issues were there—but it’s usually issues regarding “stigma”) and subsequently she was never brought into our ARV clinic for treatment. Today she came back to Mukinge with a terrible chest infection and I re-admitted her to the hospital for more work-up and treatment. I’m praying I’ll be able to sort out her current, acute issues and then, hopefully, get her started on ARV’s as soon as we can do that safely, to allow her little immune system to start recovering. I don’t know how all of this will turn out but I’m asking you all to pray with me tonight for “Lily.”

Awesome!

2009-04-26T08:50:00.007-05:00

We just returned from a much needed vacation in Livingstone where we got to see the Victoria Falls. We met my parents and my sister down there and we spent an incredible week together seeing the sights and experiencing a little bit of Africa. And what an experience! There is just no way that pictures or words can describe Victoria Falls. It is truly awesome to see, feel and hear the power (and not in that “Oh, that movie was like, so totally awesome” kind of way, but truly awe-inspiring, stand in fear of your Creator kind of awesome). The Zambezi River happens to be at a 50 year high right now, so the water coming over the edge is just tremendous. The Falls are about one mile in total width and fall a depth of 300 feet. It’s estimated that 550 million liters of water pour over the edge of the falls every minute. Hard to believe until you see it and get absolutely soaked by it.
We had a great time together as a family and we did some pretty exciting stuff . Hiking down to see the “Boiling Pot” where all of the water coming over the Falls gets forced through a narrow gorge was pretty impressive. But it was more impressive to see my family wading through knee deep water and climbing over huge boulders just to get there. And yes, we took the kids down to see that too (probably shouldn’t have done that but they enjoyed it and the view was just amazing.) Microlighting over the Falls and the Zambezi was another highlight but we didn’t take the kids along for that one. The best part for the kids was of course, getting to see Mimi, Pops and Auntie Tracy but they also thought the crocodile park was pretty cool. Anyway, if you ever get a chance to come to Zambia, after you come see us, you have to get down to Livingstone before you leave. Enjoy the pictures.

Finals

2009-04-04T01:40:00.001-05:00

This week, the boys had finals at their pre-school. They were tested in pre-math, pre-reading, pre-science….Every day, a different test on a different subject. Intense huh? I was a little worried how prepared they were when I asked Zach if he was ready for his science test and he replied, “What’s science?” I didn’t think that was a good sign, but as it turns out, they’re both pretty good students. They did very well on their tests and the report cards they brought home yesterday showed many “excellent” and “very good” marks for both of them. Zach had mostly excellent marks with exception of music, in which he only got a “good”. That’s OK, he comes by that naturally. In the third grade, Mrs. Craven made me lip-sync for the Christmas concert. It seems my voice wasn’t quite in tune with the other kids. Nate on the other hand got “very good” marks in music. He’s more like his mom in that respect.

I know a lot of you were worried about the boys’ education and what we were going to do about it here (so were we—it is a tough issue for missionary families). I just wanted to put you at ease, knowing that they’re doing really well in school. They’ve been attending this little pre-school for the last few months and are both doing well. The school is run by “Auntie Mesa,” who is a member at the same church we attend and who is becoming one of Elissa’s good friends. She’s the one who got Elissa involved with the choir at church. She does a great job teaching about 20 pre-schoolers out of a very, very small shelter behind her house. The boys both love her and they both love school.

Zambian Idol

2009-04-01T01:45:00.000-05:00

Sunday was a big day for Elissa. She made her debut singing with the Kyakabuka Praise Team in the morning service this past weekend. She’s been attending rehearsals for the last month or so, but Sunday was the first time actually singing with the group in the worship service. The team consists of about 10 people and they usually sing 3 or 4 songs every Sunday morning. It’s a lively group and there is usually quite a bit of clapping and dancing when they perform. Elissa’s having no trouble with the dancing (reference “It’s Electric”) but singing songs in 4 or 5 languages isn’t easy, especially when none of the songs are really written down anywhere. She was singing a Bemba song in the kitchen a couple of days ago and I asked her what the words meant. She said, “I don’t know, something about God,” and then she continued right on singing her song.
Joining the group has really helped her make some friends through the church. It takes time (even for Elissa) to build relationships here, but I can see that starting to happen for her. Saturday, she went with the praise team to do a fund-raising project. The project was to build a garden for one of the hospital workers. She happily marched off at about 3pm, carrying a big Zambian hoe with her and returned a few hours later, dirty and with blisters on her hands. She didn’t seem too bothered by the blisters and told me how funny she thought it was that one of the Zambian group members said, “I didn’t think you could work like that.” Anyhow, she’s tough and beautiful and I’m proud of her and the work she’s doing here.

Happy Burf-day Nate!

2009-03-22T08:53:00.003-05:00

Nate had his 3rd birthday last week. Elissa made him a special dump-truck cake. (Guys--Don't ever ask "What's that?", until the cake is done...) Anyhow, he had a pretty good 3rd birthday and got a bunch of presents from the folks around the mission station. The morning after the party, the first thing he asked me was, "Dad...am I still 3?".

I love my Auntie!

2009-03-22T08:40:00.004-05:00

Emelyn loves life! This is pretty much her baseline. (She's got her momma's disposition--if you couldn't tell). Here you go Tracy and Megan ...Her shirt says, "I love my Auntie."

Chicken+8-1

2009-03-06T12:39:00.006-06:00

Chicken is the proud momma of 8 (well, now just 7, but I'll get to that in a minute) cute little chicks. She hatched 8 of her 11 eggs a couple of weeks ago. I won't tell you what happened to the other three. She's pretty protective but has started to let her guard down a little and a few days ago, the boys were actually able to get close enough to feed the little guys some maize. Now, about the untimely loss of one of the chicks. You may remember "Bouncer", our neighbor's big black lab, from a few posts ago. He comes over quite a bit and when he came over yesterday, the chicks were all out in the yard with Chicken. Can you see where this is going? Yeah, our buddy Bouncer found himself a tasty treat in the form of one of our little chicks. It just happened to be the bright yellow one. Reminds me of the proverb..."the nail that stands the tallest gets hammered down first." Something like that. In this case, "the cutest little chick with the yellowest feathers, gets gobbled up first." Zach and Nate witnessed all of this (don't worry it was quick--like one gulp quick) and were both mad at Bouncer for a while but I think that will blow over. I talked to them about how we like to eat chicken (not Chicken) and how Bouncer does too. They seemed to understand that as far as I could tell.

Not wrong...just different

2009-02-28T14:49:00.000-06:00

“It’s not wrong…just different.” That was the statement we heard over and over at our cross-cultural orientation last year before moving to Zambia. Also, we just recently attended a two day seminar on “multi-cultural teams” and the same theme kept reoccurring. In many cases that statement is true, but at the same time, we have to be very careful not to let our cultural sensitivity turn into moral relativism. Some things are just wrong. Right? On the other hand, some things really feel wrong, but aren’t necessarily. I recently had an experience that surely felt wrong, but in actuality, probably represents one of the major milestones in my transition to life here in Zambia over the last 11 months.

Last week, I was walking past the male ward when one of our male staff stopped me and asked me to come see a patient with him. He then proceeded to take my hand and walk with me into the main entrance of the ward. I’ve seen men holding hands quite a bit since I’ve been here but this was a new experience for me. In my mind I kept saying, “it’s not wrong, just different…it’s not wrong, just different!” but I was uncomfortable to say the least. It’s actually very common for men who are good friends to hold hands and walk together here in Zambia and the idea that it might suggest something other than friendship is, to Zambians, incomprehensible. To me, it’s incomprehensible to want to hold another man’s hand but there we were, strolling hand-in-hand into the ward together. Nobody on the male ward even noticed but me. I kept imagining the same situation (me holding hands with a male nurse) happening at, let’s say, one of the VA hospitals at home. Not a pretty picture.

Well, there you go. I read one book from Oprah’s Book Club and now this. I’d like to thank my friend Rob for mailing out recordings of all of the college bowl games this year. Watching football has helped me through this ordeal. OK, I’m overstating things just a little. I don’t know if my Zambian friend was bestowing some great honor on me (probably not) but he was at least saying, in a very Zambian way, that we are friends. And that’s not wrong. Right?

Hippo vs. Mother-in-law

2009-02-24T11:55:00.000-06:00

Nate ran in to the house the other day saying, “Dad, we were being chased by a hippo!” Now, don’t worry, there wasn’t really a hippo in our front yard but after some of the recent happenings around Mukinge, I at least had to consider that Nate might not be pretending. Turns out, he and his buddies were just playing and there wasn’t actually a hippo in the front yard playing chase with the kids. We did, however, recently admit a young man who was attacked by a hippo in his maize field, just a few kilometers from Mukinge. I’ve also heard (I’m too wimpy to go confirm this for myself) that there are hippo tracks down by the little bridge that leads out of the mission station going toward town.

I’ve attached the article about the recent hippo attack from the Lusaka Times. This was big news around these parts and I’m glad to tell you that this man survived after the hippo was chased off by his mother-in-law (I’ll refrain from any mother-in-law jokes here) and then spending a few days in the hospital under the care of our surgeon, Dr. Friend. I’m glad he was on call the day this man came in and not me. Anyhow, the long-termers here say that people don’t usually survive these attacks, so this man’s case was the exception. Here the article….

From the LusakaTimes.com"A teacher in Kasempa district yesterday escaped death after being attacked by a hippo at his house in Kivuku area about 15 kilometers from the boma. The mother-in-law of the teacher, Rejoice Mushala, who saved the victim by hitting the animal with a pounding stick on the mouth, confirmed the development to ZANIS staff at Mukinge Mission Hospital yesterday.""Mrs Mushala said the teacher, Mr Leon Chizeji, was attacked by the hippo around 07:00 hours just a few meters outside his house. Mrs Mushala disclosed that the victim was only saved from the grip of the animal after it was hit on its head. She said the teacher sustained deep cuts on the buttock and the right hand. Mr. Chizeji was rushed to the mission hospital by his wife and with the help of his neighbours.ZANIS staff who rushed to the hospital found the teacher had just come out from the theatre and had not yet regained consciousness. Mrs Mushala has complained about lack of action by Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) on the animals in the area. She said she had reported to the authority about the presence of the animals and the damage caused to crops on several occasions but no action has been taken.Meanwhile reliable sources have disclosed to ZANIS staff this morning that the hippopotamus was shot dead by the angry villagers. Obtaining comments from ZAWA proved futile."

The Year of Darwin

2009-02-15T23:32:00.003-06:00

Did you know that 2009 is “The Year of Darwin”? I’ve noticed several news articles lately about the world-wide celebration taking place to commemorate 150 years since the publishing of “On the Origin of Species” and 200 years since Charles Darwin’s birth. The tone of most of the articles has been celebratory and upbeat, and while I can’t say that I’m surprised that the world media would be excited about Charles Darwin, I will say that it’s troubling to me. In fact, I find it very sad. It seems to me that if Darwin’s discovery represents some kind of final break from “Religion” (which, let’s face it, that is what it represents for most of those who are celebrating) then the hang-over after this party is going to be monumentally excruciating. Mankind’s momentary celebration of his “freedom” should, for the thinking person, eventually lead to the realization of the utter meaninglessness that logically follows such a break with the idea of a “Creator”.
Some would argue that Evolution and Creation don’t have to be opposed (i.e. the Creator somehow used evolution and natural selection as part of His creative process). That’s fine, and I guess for those people, celebrating Darwin’s discovery wouldn’t seem so strange. Again, this would represent a small minority of those attending the party. I believe most who believe whole-heartedly in Evolutionary theory somehow see “Origin” as the final nail in the Creator’s coffin.
The implications of such a belief are not for the faint of heart. In fact, those implications are overwhelming and consequently, most people who hold firmly to the absolute truth of Evolution simply choose to ignore what it might actually mean for their own existence. They choose not to think about it. Better to be a little inconsistent than hopelessly depressed. Those who can’t do that and have thought about it have come up with some nifty solutions to this dilemma and this is where the philosophy gets pretty heavy. Philosophical principles like “Hume’s Guillotine” or the “is-ought problem” start getting tossed around (see, I just tossed it out, but don’t worry, I had to look it up on Wikipedia.) They say that we have no business drawing moral conclusions from natural “truth”. For example, if we all evolved from chimpanzees….so what? That has no bearing on moral conduct? Really? That’s a nice way to wiggle out of the problem, but tell any school kid that and see what he thinks. (In fact we do tell our kids this—have you ever watched PBS?—and then we expect them to listen and obey and not bite their classmates….???)
This is the classic Upstairs/Downstairs, false dichotomy that Francis Schaeffer talks about. Science deals with “how” and Religion deals with “why”. One is fixed in reality and one, well, isn’t. I guess I’m just simple enough (like a school kid) to not understand why you cannot draw moral conclusions from what’s “true” in reality. I’m simple enough to think that if there’s no Creator, nothing transcendent, that fact has to affect who I am and how I live. And, if there is an Infinite-Personal Creator, then that too must also affect me tremendously. On that note, there are just as many folks who say they believe in the Creator, but who also choose to “ignore what it might actually mean for their own existence”. Maybe, just maybe, if those of us who say we believe in the Creator lived lives more consistent with that, then our arguments would carry a little more weight.
I hope that if you’ve read this far (thanks Mom) that you’ll know I’m not trying to be sarcastic or hurtful. I care about the state of our culture. It appears to me, that this celebration surrounding Mr. Darwin exposes the glaring fact that many people in our culture haven’t got a clue about their purpose here on the Earth. That’s heartbreaking to me. It doesn’t have to be that way. I believe that not only are we created, but that the Creator God just so happens to be fond of His creation, and therefore our lives do matter—we do have a purpose. Knowing that changes a person. It changes how you look at your life, your job, your possesions. Most of all, it changes how you look at other people—your friends and family and even people you don’t know. I hope it will keep changing me.

Chicken

2009-02-08T01:32:00.004-06:00

Hello, Elissa here. Daren's feeling "completely uninspired", so I thought I'd post something. I’d like to tell you a very nice story…one that I meant to write about a few months ago. It’s about a chicken named “Chicken”. Actually, it’s really about what Chicken represents. But let me back up and begin with a story that Daren shared in a previous blog about a set of orphaned twins whose mother died of a post-partum hemorrhage before arriving at the hospital. They ended up staying on the ward for 5 months just for food support, as their grandmother couldn’t afford formula. Finally, they were allowed to go home with a month’s supply of formula that was donated by the hospital. But when they returned to the hospital a couple of months later for follow-up, they had run out of formula and weren’t gaining enough weight. Since the hospital was not able to make another donation, Daren found another way to supply more formula for the twins.

Enter Chicken. The first time I saw Chicken was the day Daren carried her home from work. He stood outside of the front door holding the chicken by her wings and he was smiling so big. You see…the grandmother had given Daren a chicken as a gift of gratitude for the way he had helped her twin grandbabies, and to receive a chicken from a very poor grandma is a huge thing! That chicken was a source of eggs for her…a source of livelihood and money. It was a gift of great honor and sacrifice. Her gift reminds me of the widow’s offering in Luke 21:1-4 “…but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Daren was really encouraged by the grandmother’s gift, as it came at a time when he was going through a rough stretch at the hospital. He said it made him feel like a “real bush doc”. The only problem with receiving the chicken was that we didn’t know what to do with her. We were told by those who were more culturally adept than ourselves that the grandmother meant for us to eat it. But, once the boys saw the chicken and claimed her as their pet, we certainly couldn’t butcher her! So we decided to keep her and eventually named her “Chicken”. Since then, she has been courted by a very handsome rooster, has laid about a dozen eggs, and is now nesting in our shed.

You Complete Me

2009-01-14T10:00:00.001-06:00

I want to brag on Elissa a little. And no, this has nothing to do with the fact that our anniversary is tomorrow (nine years—wow!) and I still don’t have a present for her. I’d take her out to “The Clock” Restaurant for a fancy dinner but they don’t have those in Zambia yet. Anyway, if she happens to read this and it somehow makes her happy enough to ignore the fact that I didn’t get her any flowers or diamonds or whatever…then that is completely up to her. I just want to tell you guys more about what she’s been up to and how I’ve seen her ministry here develop over the last few months. I could go on and on about how she keeps everything around the house running smoothly and how great she is with the kids and how her joy keeps me going, etc…but you already know all of that. Anyway, I want to tell you about all of the other stuff she’s been doing and how vital I think she’s become to our little community here. Over the last few months, I’ve noticed how busy our house has become. We seem to have a steady stream of folks stopping by just to sit and chat with Elissa and hold the baby or play with the kids. We’ve actually had quite a few visitors lately who’ve stayed overnight in the spare bedroom. Mostly, it’s people from right here on the mission station, but there are also a few Peace Corps folks who stop by every now and then and the occasional visiting missionary family who’ve come to the hospital and need a place to hang out or sleep. We’re actually the only missionary family at Mukinge right now, and I think the single folks enjoy the family atmosphere around our place, as crazy as that can get sometimes. However, I think most of it just has to do with Elissa and her warmth. Most of the missionaries/expat workers here are very busy, a little stressed and far from home. People know they can come over here and just relax and have a cookie or a piece of chocolate and laugh a little, and that’s a big deal. In fact, as I’m writing this, Bouncer (our friends big black Labrador) just came up to the front door, drooling on the steps for a treat, so Elissa threw him some leftovers to make him happy. You see what I mean? Even the animals get blessed. Anyhow, it blesses me to see how God is using her here to keep us all encouraged and somewhat sane. It’s the ministry of hospitality and she makes it look easy.

Christmas Eve

2009-01-11T07:26:00.000-06:00

On a rainy Christmas Eve, we all went caroling with the rest of the staff around Mukinge Hospital. With candles in hand, we visited different wards and sang Christmas songs in Kikaonde. A local preacher then shared the Christmas story and the Gospel as the patients sat and quietly listened. It was actually a very nice thing to be a part of, but I was very distracted that night. For starters, I had a brief lapse of judgment and thought it would be alright for Zach and Nate to carry candles like the rest of the kids. As you could have guessed, that didn’t last long. After Nate almost set another kid’s jacket ablaze, the candles were extinguished. Candles and kids running like crazy through the wards had me somewhat flustered but not nearly as much as what I felt in my heart that night. As I looked at the faces of so many people that I’d been caring for, knowing that they were suffering and in many cases, not getting better, I was suddenly all wrapped up in grief and doubt. Questions about God’s goodness and justice bubbled up in heart and I didn’t really feel like singing. These aren’t new questions and they’re mysteries that have been pondered for centuries but still, all I could think was, “Where is God in the midst of all of this? Is he here on this malnutrition ward? Is He there with that young man dying with HIV?...” I know that He was there but it just felt so powerless.

As I’ve reflected on this for the last few days, I’ve been reminded of and encouraged by the fact that God’s presence in tragedy is often manifested through His people here on Earth. My perspective was really wrong on Christmas Eve. I don’t know if I expected some sort of spectacular healings to take place the minute we started singing or what, but I was witnessing God’s presence in the form of His people bringing forth the Good News and singing old Christmas songs. I just didn’t recognize that initially. In fact, as I’ve thought more about it, I realize that I get to see this play out every day here at Mukinge. I see it in God’s people ministering to folks who desperately need to experience Him. The day to day ministry is where you can really see it. Dressing changes, ward rounds, late nights…the seemingly routine kind of stuff is actually so much more. So, as I look back on Christmas Eve 2008, I’ve come to realize that while I may never answer those deep, gnawing questions, I’m comforted in the fact that here at Mukinge, I see God’s people hard at work on behalf of the suffering and sick and in that, I see the very hand of God, powerful and strong, reaching down and offering hope to people who are hurting.

Sometimes you just need a hug.

2008-12-26T15:56:00.002-06:00

You really can’t imagine how loud an open pediatric ward can get. When the snotty little monsters start screaming and kicking…sorry, excuse me, I mean, when God’s precious little angels display their exuberance and lift their voices to the heavens….let’s just say it can get pretty noisy. Rounds are especially earsplitting. Yeah, when the scary, strange looking doctor comes by your bed, it’s really time to raise a stink. Don’t get me wrong, I love caring for the little guys but I promise you, the feelings aren’t always mutual. No sir. Most of the little ones here put up a pretty good fight when it’s time for an examination. It actually makes the physical exam pretty tough and sometimes impossible, with a couple of exceptions…OK, the lungs are good and let’s see, yes, the throat is clear.

Anyhow, I’m not complaining…I do love these little kids, and today, my day started off with a special treat. I admitted a 2 year old little girl a few days ago, who has such terrible arthritis that she couldn’t even walk. Her knees and ankles were very swollen and painful and she was generally just miserable. I started her on some medications that really seemed to have helped her and this morning she gave me a beautiful gift. As I walked into the pediatric ward, she was standing outside with her mother. She walked right up to me (she’s walking again), put out her skinny little arms and looked up at me so that I could pick her up. I couldn’t resist. I scooped her right up, hugged her and talked to her for a minute or two while she fiddled with my stethoscope. It’s the kind of thing docs live for. Needless to say, it didn’t seem quite as noisy to me on the ward this morning.

Round #2

2008-12-19T13:20:00.004-06:00

At the breakfast table...

“Dad, what’s that squeaking noise?”
“I don’t know…Eat your Rice Crispies.”

Ten minutes later…

“Mom, what’s that squeaking noise?”
“I don’t know, it could be another bat! Go check it out.”

Ten seconds later…

“There’s a big ol’ rat in there!” (referring to the office/spare bedroom)
“No way... A rat?”
“Yeah, he’s hanging from the ceiling.”

And this is how we started our day yesterday. Another little bat (or maybe the return of that little monster from before) had made his way down the chimney and into our lovely home. After my first humiliating episode with the bat that invaded our place a few months ago, I was determined to settle the score. Although I was screaming like a frightened little girl on the inside, I kept silent this time and quickly, but calmly closed the door to the office and started searching for potential weapons. I immediately laid eyes on a tennis ball that the kids had been tossing around and decided to go with it. I had no doubt that this tennis ball would mean the end for our little visitor…That makes no sense at all does it? Anyway, I slowly opened the door and saw him hanging off of the crown molding on the exact opposite side of the room. Although the distance was considerable, I had a clear shot from the doorway…so I took it………….and missed horribly. I was so far from hitting him that he didn’t even move. Well, as luck would have it, the tennis ball bounced right back to me for another shot. Again, I hurled the tennis ball at him and BLAMMO!... I nailed him all the way from the doorway. He dropped to the bed over which he was hanging and quivered a little. Then I grabbed a pillow and scooped him up and took him outside, hoping that he was dead. He wasn’t. When I opened the pillow he flew up and started gnawing my face off. Not really (reference previous bat story), but he did start flying around a little before falling to the ground. Again, I thought he was dead/or dying, so I snapped a quick picture for evidence of my trophy kill. I then picked up a brick and threw it down on him, but somehow, from two feet away, I missed. I hit him from 15 feet with a tennis ball but give me a brick and only two feet and I’m unable to close the deal. This time there was no second chance. As soon as the brick hit the ground, he flew straight up in a lame little spiral but as soon as he got above our house, a huge raven flew down from above and started dive-bombing him. It was awesome. That seemed to really wake him up and he quickly flew away. I don’t think the raven ever got him. Well, the kids loved it and it gave me another really long, not-all-that-funny bat story to tell. What might really be funny though, is trying to get my sister-in-law to sleep in that bedroom when she comes for a visit next week.

It’s Electric!!

2008-12-12T04:17:00.003-06:00

Elissa and I have been leading Bible studies on a weekly basis for the first year nursing students at the Mukinge Nurses Training College. She meets with 15 young ladies in our home once a week while I meet with 9 young men down at the school. We’ve both enjoyed doing it and I think our students are enjoying it as well, with the exception of the guy who fell asleep in my study a few weeks ago, but let’s not talk about that. What does the Electric Slide have to do with our Bible Studies? Well, it has nothing to do with mine. The men and I like to discuss deep theological issues and ponder the weightier matters of the faith. Yes, we are serious scholars. For example, today we wrestled with why God doesn’t always answer our prayers for healing. Serious stuff, huh? As for Elissa and her group….well, let’s just say that as I walked home from my Bible study today, I could hear the music and laughing and screaming well before I even got close to the house and when I opened my front door, my living room was full of young Zambian nurses (and one young American mom) doing the Electric Slide. You say, “Really…the Electric Slide?” Yes, the Electric Slide….boogy-woogy-woogy. After almost 9 years of marriage to Elissa, I wasn’t shocked by this scene at all. I guess if you guys know Elissa, you aren’t shocked either. While I’ve got guys falling asleep in class, Elissa has my living room full of young women dancing and laughing. I think that sort of sums up our personalities doesn’t it? Well, I didn’t stick around long because after they had mastered the art of the Electric Slide, the students became the teachers and started showing Elissa some of their traditional Zambian dances. That was a little too much for me and the kids, so we went for a walk, but as we walked away, we could hear the singing, shouting and laughter pouring from our house and echoing around Mukinge Mission.

Thanksgiving...Mukinge Style

2008-12-02T07:46:00.004-06:00

Honestly, Thanksgiving Day was a little depressing. Elissa and I both were moping around, wishing we could be back home enjoying the holiday with our families. I thought about all of the good food I was missing…the turkey and cornbread stuffing, the mashed potatoes, and my favorite of all---Gulf Cobbler. Gulf Cobbler is just a blackberry cobbler in which salt is accidentally substituted for sugar. My mom made it that way a few years back and man, none of the Tompkins will ever forget my Dad’s reaction to his first bite into that thing. “Karen!...You tryin’ to kill me????!!” Oh, the memories of Turkey Day in our house. Anyway, after spending most of Thursday with our bottom lips poking out, Friday came. We had decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday night, although most of the missionaries here aren’t Americans. So, in pure Pilgrim and Indian fashion, we all got together for a huge pot-luck Thanksgiving dinner. I’ll admit that my expectations were on the low side, as it’s just hard to live up to mom’s turkey and stuffing, but the whole thing turned out to be incredible. The food was great and I can’t really remember a time when I’ve actually been more thankful for what God had provided. Also, I can’t think of a time when I’ve been with a more diverse crowd for a Thanksgiving meal. We found it funny that Emelyn spent most of her first Thanksgiving dinner with such a global group. Auntie Jan (from the UK), Uncle David (from New Zealand), Auntie Mable (from Northern Ireland) and Auntie Veronica (from Zambia) held her for most of the evening. We’ve really been blessed by the international crowd here and especially by the way they’ve loved and cared for our kids. I’m a little worried about which accent they might pick up but maybe they’ll all sound really cool—like Madonna. OK, bad example... hopefully they’ll keep on speaking proper American like we taught ‘em. Anyhow, I didn’t want you to worry too much about us and I wanted to let you know that we had a pretty nice Turkey Day after all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T07:30:00.007-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving family and friends! We miss you all very much and we wish we could sit down at the table for a nice turkey dinner with all of you today (as I type this, streams of tears run down my face...) Just kidding, but we are sad that we don't live a little closer to all of you, especially on days like today. Well, run along and stuff your faces and watch football and --more tears now-- have a great Turkey Day.

We love you and we're thankful for all of you!

The Tompkins

Some recent pictures from around Mukinge for you (thanks Corey and Jamie for the pictures)....

Hope

2008-11-16T14:53:00.003-06:00

“Gigi”, a two and a half year old girl with the longest eyelashes you’ve ever seen, was admitted to the pediatric malnutrition ward about 3 weeks ago. At that time her whole body was swollen, she had fevers and a terrible cough and she was generally just miserable. Since then however, she’s made a tremendous turn-around. The signs of malnutrition are disappearing, she’s gaining weight and her pneumonia has resolved. She’s even started smiling a little. Overall, she’s one of the Peds 2 success stories. However, during her admission she was found to be HIV positive and subsequently, her mother and her 6 year old sister, who are practically living on the ward right now with Gigi, were also both found to be HIV positive as well. Her sister, “Liness”, who is 6 years old, was noticed to have a terrible cough of her own, although she wasn’t even officially admitted to the ward. I ended up working her up and determining that she has TB in addition to HIV. It’s obviously a sad story and I can’t imagine what this mother is feeling. I mean she’s just found out that both of her little girls have HIV, as well as herself (she may have already known, but I don’t know for sure) and now she’s faced with all of the guilt of that reality and the fears about her girls’ and her own future. Can you imagine that? It’s been interesting to see how this particular mother has responded. She has had the courage to get the tests done and start the medicines, when I’ve see many mothers refuse even the tests, both for themselves and their children, out of fear of the results.

Is there any silver lining in this story? If so, it’s that both girls are getting better and have now been started on the ARV medicines they need to combat the HIV virus. The medications aren’t a cure but they do offer hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. The mother is also being counseled in the ARV clinic and will likely start the medications soon as well. I’ll probably discharge them this week and I’m not sure what will happen after that, but I’m thankful to have gotten to care for them over the last few weeks and I’m thankful for the hope that I’m reminded of when I see their beautiful , smiling faces on rounds every day.

Aim High

2008-11-13T15:08:00.003-06:00

Our friend Julie (lead singer of the Flying J's and mother of 4 or 5-- I can't keep up and sometimes I count her husband) recently said in one of her blogs that kids aren't supposed to climb higher than twice their height at the playground. I think that's good advise but when you're after the best mango, that reasoning just flies out the window. Zach is getting pretty good at climbing the trees around here but if he makes it through the rainy season with no "mango fractures" we'll be happy. I think a better rule is that if you climb that high and fall, you're not allowed to cry. What do you think? Zach always says "OK dad!" when I remind him of this rule, but so far it hasn't been field tested. Let's pray that it won't be.

Peds Two

2008-10-28T14:23:00.003-05:00

I’ve been covering the pediatric malnutrition ward ("peds two") for the last couple of months. I really enjoy working there because I get to know the kids and their moms and I get to see most of them get better. The visible changes you see when malnourished children get better are amazing. What I mean by that is that the children will often come in looking like the kids you’ve seen on the TV commercials—wasted, with big abdomens and sad faces…—however, within days most of them start to show signs of improvement. You can literally see their little bodies improving everyday on rounds. They start playing and laughing, and doing what children should do. It is a great thing to see kids get better.

On the other hand, some of the kids we see are truly heartbreaking. Many are orphaned, many have underlying chronic diseases like HIV and TB and some just come too late. Caring for these little ones and getting to know them and their mothers (and sometimes aunties and grandmothers) has really rattled my perspective on life, medicine, food….I hope to share some of their stories with you over the next few weeks and I'll start with the story of a beautiful set of twins that recently passed through our ward.

The twins, Mbuyu and Kapiya (the names given to all twins in this part of Zambia) were brought in on their 11th day of life after being born in the village. Tragically, their mother died from hemorrhage during transport to the rural health clinic, just after delivery. Their family had kept them alive by feeding them a concoction of watery corn-meal mush for the days before arriving at Mukinge. Somehow, despite being a little premature and severely dehydrated, they survived. They each weighed around 2kg (just over 4lbs) on admission. After being rehydrated and fed for a couple of days, they were doing well and gaining weight and probably could have gone home if not for the lack of milk. We were feeding them with infant formula but it was impossible for the family to afford to do this for another 6-8 months and while there were some aunties who were breastfeeding their own children in the village, they were not willing to help out with these twins. Or at least their husbands wouldn’t let them for fear that their own children would go hungry.

So….they stayed with us on the malnutrition ward. Their grandmother stayed too. They spent over 5 months in the hospital just to receive formula. We were able to send them home last week, fat and healthy and with a very thankful grandmother. The nurse who runs the pediatric ward bought them enough formula to last for a month or two while they wean, just so that they could go home. While, they don’t represent our average malnutrition case, their case does highlight a problem we see every day…that being malnutrition from lack of milk. Sometimes (many times in Zambia) that is because the child’s mother has died from some obstetrical complication in the village or from HIV/AIDS which has left Zambia with far too many motherless children. In other cases, but also as a result of chronic illnesses such as HIV, the mothers are simply unable to produce the milk the children need because they are so sick. I encounter this problem frequently and at this point haven’t come up with a good solution. It is easy enough to buy some Lactogen for one or two babies, but when you consider how many children we see in these types of scenarios, it quickly becomes overwhelming.

2008-10-21T01:24:00.003-05:00

Life here at Mukinge is good. We've been without an internet connection for a couple of weeks so we feel a little disconnected. Please send us emails. We like to hear from you. Hopefully things are working now. The rains have started and all of the sudden, we feel like we're in a new place. Everything is green and already seems to be overgrowing. Contrasted with the burnt, brown, dusty scenery of the last few months...it's a pretty spectacular change. The kids are good. Emelyn is now 2 months old and weighing in at around 11lbs. She's just the best baby ever. She has a sweet disposition and is smiling all of the time now. Her brothers cry a lot more than she does. Speaking of her brothers, they were about 10 feet up in the mango tree this morning as I left for work. They're honing their climbing skills for when all of the fruit starts coming in.

Not much else going on here. Oh yeah, last night was taco night at our house and that was about the coolest thing we've done in a while. (not much to post about lately--sorry) Corey and Jamie Cramer have been with us for about a month now and are doing great. They are a huge help around the house and with the kids and they've gotten themselves involved in a bunch of stuff here at the hospital and school. We're so glad they've come out to stay for a while.

Gift goes home!

2008-10-21T01:22:00.001-05:00

Remember Baby “Gift”? (if not, you can scroll down a few posts and read his story) He went home a couple of weeks ago. He was born at 27 weeks gestation and after over three months in the hospital he was sent home with his happy parents. He started life at about 1 ¾ pounds and left the hospital weighing in at around 5 pounds. The discharge date was actually quite near to his actual due date. I can’t tell you what an encouragement it has been to see him grow and thrive. There were just so many days, especially early on, that I didn’t think he would survive. He was up against the wall from day one, BUT…he made it. It is really easy to get down and let the sad cases dominate your thoughts. There are many tough days. But there are good stories as well and I hope I don’t forget about Baby Gift any time soon.

Operation "Humble Abode"

2008-09-26T14:25:00.004-05:00

I want to float an idea out there and just see what will happen. Mukinge is in need of family housing. As I write this there is a nice family in the U.S. who cannot wait to get out here and start ministering but are having to wait for lack of a place to house them on the mission station. Before I even heard about this family, I had been hearing about this whole housing issue and was feeling like I should try to help out. And by “I”, I really mean “you”. You see, folks have been asking how they can help support us and the work going on out here and quite frankly, I haven’t had a good answer. We’ve been blessed to be associated with a program, through World Medical Mission, that actually pays me a stipend and takes care of our living expenses while we work here. So, in that sense, we aren’t being “supported” by individuals in the traditional missionary way. With that being said, I haven’t known exactly how to answer those of you who have asked “how can we help you financially?” Well, I think I have and idea now. There are a million ways to spend money out here as the needs go deep. The way I see it, those needs get met by people and people need places to live—houses. No houses, no people, no work at the mission. That’s it.

I’ve done the math and I figure if everyone in our vast blog readership (both of you) would just contribute about $40,000 we’d be at our goal. That would be enough to build something just slightly smaller than the example shown above. So come on and let me know what you think. Email me at teamtompkins@gmail.com if you’re interested in contributing or want more details. If it looks like both of you can come up with the dough, I’ll fill you in on how to contribute to our project account at WMM. They’ll even mail you a fancy receipt autographed by Franklin Graham (just kidding…about the autograph part).

Vacation!

2008-09-25T07:04:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of postings lately, but we’ve just returned from a week away from Mukinge and a really incredible vacation. Thank you to all of you who prayed for us last week. We had a great time together as a family and were able to relax and take in some of the natural beauty of Zambia. We were also able to get Emelyn’s paperwork taken care of while in Lusaka, which we didn’t think would be possible. She’s now got a Zambian birth certificate and will have her own little passport pretty soon.

I've been asked a couple of times about this next picture. I actually took this right out in our front yard. He crept up one day and was about to pounce on the kids, so I put down my Oprah's Book Club book and wrestled him for....

Okay, just kidding, he was behind a fence at one of the game parks where we stayed.

Beauty and the Beasts

2008-09-07T04:37:00.013-05:00

Our little angel....

and her brothers.......

Tough People

2008-09-07T01:06:00.003-05:00

Life in the Zambian bush can be tough. I’m not talking about my life here on the mission station. The hardest things I’ve had to deal with this week are: 1)it took me nearly 23 hours to download a new album off of iTunes the other day, 2)I’m still really dying for a Spangle’s burger—oh, the sacrifices I make…Anyhow, I’m talking about life for the average person in the village--the people we interact with everyday at the hospital. They don’t come in whining about how hard it is out there. They just come for treatment and many of them come from far away. I find myself constantly amazed by their stories and their toughness.

I recently admitted an elderly lady who’d had a pretty significant stroke, leaving her with unilateral weakness, slurred speech and a facial droop. Strokes aren’t uncommon here or at home but what was remarkable about the story is that while riding on the back of a bicycle for the 60km trip to the hospital, she was involved in an accident. During the accident, she received an open fracture of the tibia (the bone in her lower leg broke and came out through the skin), and then she finished the journey to the hospital on the back of the bike. Open fractures aren’t uncommon either but I’d never seen one sustained by a little old lady who fell off of a bike while being brought to the hospital after having a stroke. Even more amazing was her stoic response to the whole situation. I guess the whole story is not all that dramatic compared to some of the things I’ve seen here, but when I look at it through the Western goggles that I generally see things, I find it pretty remarkable.

Mouse Hunt

2008-08-31T12:40:00.002-05:00

A couple of the local boys I mentioned in the previous posting about the chameleon came back today with another little critter to show the boys. As soon as they arrived they managed to accidentally let the little guy loose on our front steps. The next 15 minutes consisted of a game mouse hunt as they had to scare the little mouse out of his hiding place under the steps and then try to catch him again. They finally succeeded and were even able to tie a string around his tail so that when he got loose again (and he did), they could catch him a little easier. I don't know what ultimately happened to the mouse, and I probably don't want to know, but the boys enjoyed chasing him around the yard for a while.

2008-08-28T14:25:00.004-05:00

Emelyn is doing great. She's still kinda perfect as far as we're all concerned and we can't get over how sweet she is. I can't believe we have a little girl! Zach and Nate are really excited to have her around and both of them seem a lot older all of the sudden. Zach picked Elissa some flowers a couple of days ago and he did it like he does most things--with all of his heart.

Chameleons and dead goat legs

2008-08-28T14:06:00.002-05:00

Our neighbor, Michelle, caught a chameleon tonight and brought it over for Zach and Nate to see. They thought that was pretty cool but the local kids who were here playing were evidently pretty freaked out. I’m not sure why, but we all thought it was funny to watch them run and scream like…well, kind of like I did when the bat swooped through our living room a couple of months ago. What’s really funny about this is that these are the same kids who taught Zach and Nate how to rip the back legs off of the big grasshoppers here so that they can’t hop away and you can play with them while they’re still alive. You can put them in the driver’s seat of your little toy truck and stuff like that. Great fun. They’re the same kids who, just today, caught a little rat and brought it by for the boys to see while it was still alive. And finally, these are the same kids who were here last week with the furry, still bloodied leg of some poor dead goat (I think) that they were using to bop one another on the head. Yeah, if you hold it near the top, by the bloody dislocated shoulder part, the middle joint remains pretty floppy and you can really whack your buddy with the hoof end. It takes some practice but can be fun for hours, at least for the guy holding the leg.

Kinda perfect

2008-08-20T15:56:00.006-05:00

The boys (dad included) are going crazy over little Emelyn. Elissa is doing great and happens to be glowing despite the lack of sleep. I think Zach (well....and Nate too) pretty much summed it up for us today.

"She's kinda perfect."--Zach

"Gimme that baby."--Nate

She's Here!

2008-08-19T04:23:00.004-05:00

Emelyn Hope Tompkins

Born 8/19/2008 at 9:09 am at home! (she came quickly)

Weight: 7lbs 8oz

Length: not sure yet (but just right)

She and Elissa are both doing well.

We've been blessed beyond measure.

Thank you God for your good and perfect gifts!

Big Ol' Mommy

2008-08-17T01:49:00.003-05:00

Zach referred to Elissa yesterday as "Big Ol' Mommy". I think he was referring to the fact that she is still very pregnant--41wks now. Yes, still pregnant. We're patiently awaiting Baby T's arrival but I'm starting to get a little anxious. I'd like to ask our vast blog readership (both of you) to pray for her/us/baby during the next few days. Thanks. Expect pictures of mom and baby soon, but none of the weird ones that make you uncomfortable.

2008-08-10T06:58:00.006-05:00

Zach and I conquered Mukinge Hill yesterday. To those of us from Kansas (or Florida) it qualifies as a mountain. Here are a couple of shots from up high. He loved it and I could barely keep up with him. The hill overlooks the mission station.

Reminders

2008-08-10T06:15:00.002-05:00

It’s been a rough week. The female ward is packed. HIV, TB, cryptococcal meningitis, pneumocystis pneumonia, inoperable cervical cancer, sickle cell crisis, miscarriages…the list goes on and I’m in way over my head most days. The list of diagnoses is not just a list, but each diagnosis (and in most cases more than one) is attached to a person--a person with a name and a face and a family and a soul. Many of the young women on the ward have small babies that stay with them while they’re in the hospital. They lie there in the bed with their young mothers and look up at me every day as I come by for rounds. Some of the babies are patients too, as you can imagine. All of this together can sort-of accumulate in your heart and mind and by Friday of this week, I was pretty much spent. I’m thankful for a weekend off with my family.

I stumbled across this quote in a book I was reading this morning:
“We must understand that the question of the dignity of human life is not something on the periphery of Judeo-Christian thinking, but almost in the center of it (though not the center because the center is the existence of God Himself). But the dignity of human life is unbreakably linked to the existence of the personal-infinite God. It is because there is a personal-infinite God who has made men and women in His own image that they have a unique dignity of life as human beings.”—Francis Schaeffer
It’s funny how often God gives you what you need just when you need it. Sometimes you need to be reminded (and sometimes just kicked in the bottom). Why keep going when it seems a little hard and your little heart aches?--Well, because God loves people and He’s made them in His own image—That’s why. Thanks Mr. Schaeffer for that little reminder. And thank you God for Zach, Nate (who are running around the yard right now, covered in dirt), Baby T (who’s not here yet so please pray) and Elissa, who are all constant reminders about the beauty and dignity of life itself. Now, I think I’m ready for next week.

Grump

2008-08-04T12:50:00.004-05:00

Our sweet little Nate has recently entered the terrible twos and he’s become a bit of a grump to be honest. I thought I'd share some of his favorite phrases with you:
1. STOP THAT!
2. NO!
3. Mommy, GET ME A DRINK
4. Don’t wanna change my diaper!
5. Leave me alone Zach!
Elissa commented tonight that not only does Nate look a lot like one of his grandparents, but he is also developing this person’s laid-back, non-confrontational, pleasant disposition. I won’t say who she was referring to but I’ve included a little hint below.

Update

2008-08-02T14:18:00.003-05:00

Some have asked about little Gift. He is doing well but still has a long road ahead. Please pray for him and his young parents.

One of our peds nurses, Michelle, took these pictures a few days ago.

Brotherly love

2008-08-02T13:54:00.004-05:00

Gift

2008-07-20T10:42:00.000-05:00

“Gift” was born 15 days ago at just 27 weeks gestational age. That’s over 3 months too early and he only weighed about 800grams ( 1 ¾ lbs) at birth. Just a few days before his arrival, his mother was admitted to the hospital for anemia but was also reporting that her water had broken. Her examination confirmed that fact and usually in these situations, the baby will deliver within a few hours or days. Because she was so preterm, I really wasn’t sure what to do with her but I went ahead and sent her to the maternity ward, against the advice of one of my favorite nurses. We don’t usually even send patients to the maternity ward until they are at 28 weeks gestation because babies born that early just don’t do well without a lot of intervention. I decided to go ahead and treat her fairly aggressively, hoping to slow down the inevitable delivery allowing the baby to mature a little more and to give us a couple of days to give steroids to mom that would help the baby’s lungs develop. We were able to hold off her contractions and get the appropriate dose of steroids in before she delivered.

When he arrived, there were more tough decisions to make. I told his mom that his chances of survival were poor even if we intervened. She told me to do what I could. Gift was in the incubator already but his breathing wasn’t looking good. In fact at this point, I was about 2 seconds from just taking him out of the incubator and letting his mother hold him for what few minutes I thought he had left. The maternity nurse saw me standing over the incubator, wrestling with this and said to me, “Just try.” She was referring to the one small intervention that I thought might help him—CPAP. CPAP is nothing more than a little positive air pressure that we can deliver, through a very crude but functional mechanism, to little babies who need some extra oxygen and air pressure to keep their lungs expanded. That nurse’s words gave me the confidence to go ahead. I could tell that some of the other nurses didn’t share that confidence by the looks on their faces as we set up the equipment. So within an hour or two of delivery, little Gift had a tiny tube down his mouth for feeding and was breathing with a little help from a crude CPAP set-up. That was now over 2 weeks ago. We’re still not doing much for him other than feeding him, giving him oxygen (he’s off CPAP now), keeping him warm and praying. Thankfully, we also have a visiting pediatrician here this month who has actually been caring for Gift since we decided to “try”.

I’m still wrestling with these decisions even though things have gone well so far. I see Gift’s mom there by his incubator every morning and, knowing that he still has a long, long way to go, I wonder if we’re just somehow prolonging her suffering. Is it going to be harder now if he doesn’t make it? Yes, I think it will be. But then again, what if he does make it? And what do I know about how his young mother must feel about the time she does have with him? Before he’d even had a one week birthday his mother had already named him a Kaonde word that translates into “Gift”. I have to think she knew what she was doing when she chose that name.

Pictures

2008-07-19T04:27:00.005-05:00

Yes, those are Elmo soccer underwear on his head
They love their overalls--Zach calls them "flapjacks" Nate busted his nose again and got to wear a bandaid on it for a few days. Zach had already had the blue marker partially washed off by the time we got this picture

Happy Birthday Braveheart

2008-07-18T01:37:00.003-05:00

Zachary had his 4th birthday on Wednesday and it was a special day indeed. The festivities started when Elissa took a trip into the BOMA to do some errands. Zach and Nate managed to escape the watchful eye (???) of the babysitter just long enough to paint each other’s faces with markers in full Braveheart style. Then, William Wallace and Sir-Marks-Alot also managed to color on the walls of our bedroom which was followed by the traditional birthday spanking. Nate, although not his birthday, even got in on that one. Poor kids. They spent the rest of the morning playing in a big cardboard box out in the front yard, which, without a doubt, is the best gift you could ever give a kid.

The afternoon brought more fun as Zach got to open a few presents and enjoy his birthday cake. Meanwhile Nate pretty much screamed and cried for an hour because Zach got new truck. After work I took the boys for a walk to give Elissa a little break from all of the “fun”. We’d only made it about 200 yards from the house when Zach, while running with the previously mentioned new truck, tripped and smashed his forehead into the ground. He started crying immediately but just laid there in the dirt. I was behind him a few steps and like any good dad I said, “Stop crying and stand up.” Well, he did stand up but didn’t stop crying. When he turned around, his face was covered in blood from a nice little cut right in the middle of his forehead. Now he really looked like William Wallace. I took him home and momma cleaned him up and then we all made our way down to the hospital to work on that little cut. Thankfully, I found some Dermabond (really expensive super-glue) and got to bypass the whole lidocaine and stitches thing. Zach was pretty happy about that as trying to put stitches in would not have been fun for any of us.

We then made our way home and Zach ate a special birthday grilled cheese sandwich. Actually, it was just a regular grilled cheese but don’t tell him. He was fine and actually pretty pleased with the race car band-aid that covered his new cut. He may even end up with a cool little scar to remind him of his fourth birthday here at Mukinge. Elissa’s parents will be arriving here on Monday, so we’ll have an official party next week. I’ll try to post some pictures later.

Daren vs. Oprah

2008-07-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

I’ve just recently finished reading two very different books that both challenged me in different ways. The first book, The Poisonwood Bible, is a fictional story about a missionary family to the Congo in the early 1960’s. I was told that I’d either love it or hate it and I really can’t say that I loved it. The first red flag was my lovely wife’s kind warning…”You’re going to hate that book.” The second red flag was the gigantic “Oprah’s Book Club” stamp on the front cover. And on that note, I’d like to go ahead and apologize to all men out there for breaking what must surely be a Man Law—Thou shall not read anything that even gets close to making it on to “Oprah’s Book Club”! Anyhow, I read it and I apologize. Now, about the book…It’s an ugly story that is extremely well written. The main antagonist is the father/husband/preacher who drags his wife and four daughters to the jungle determined to convert the whole country at any cost. He’s really a caricature of a missionary and seems to represent all the bad stuff Christians, Americans, Baptists and men in general have ever done (you can tell why Elissa would have warned me). The irony in this story though, is that by using such an extreme example of how ridiculous and offensive it is to try to force one’s “religion” on another culture, you suddenly feel the author forcing quite a bit of her own post-modern religion on you. That’s sort of the classic relativist’s fumble isn’t it? But in this book, it’s done under a really good story with a lot of big words that I probably should have learned in high school but didn’t. Well, I digress. As hard as it was to read this Oprah’s Book Club gem, it really made me think about how missions is done, or better said, how missions should never be done. It made me look at my own approach and wonder if there’s any of that guy in me. There may be, and I need to get rid of it. For that reason and for the skillful story-telling, it is worth reading.
The other book I just finished is entitled Cross-Cultural Servanthood. The subtitle reads, “Serving the world in Christ-like humility” and I’m pretty sure the guy in Poisonwood didn’t get a copy at his orientation. The wise man that gave me the book at my orientation commented to me how the practice of service in humility would essentially make or break me as a missionary. Thank God for people like that and for that kind of wisdom. In Chapter 2 of the book, the author sets up the question of “the robe or the towel?” He then goes on to elaborate on the example that Christ set in his own life. Matt 20:28 says that Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many”. In John chapter 13, Jesus literally took up the towel and washed the feet of his disciples. The author uses these examples and others to frame the question of whether or not those involved in cross-cultural ministry are looking to carry the towel of servanthood or wear the robe of royalty. Ouch! It’s so easy to want to wear that robe. I had to think that in my situation, the robe could just as easily be the “white coat” and all of the stuff that comes with that. That temptation is probably there for docs in any culture but I’m acutely aware of it here. Anyhow, it’s a great read for anyone involved in any type of ministry.
I’m not sure which book has made me cringe more but I can tell you that both have challenged me to live and serve in a way that looks more like the way of Christ—that is the way of humble service. May God help me.

Snake story

2008-07-09T05:46:00.002-05:00

Please check out Dr. Cotham's blog (link below) for a great story about a guy that came in last week with a snake bite. I've seen a number of snake bites here and most them are pretty benign but the man in this story had the real deal. I went by his bed to check on him the day after admission and the man in the next bed looked at me and said in English, "He's much better today. He's even ready to repent!" Check out this link for the full story: http://mattcotham.blogspot.com/2008/07/snake-attack.html

"Cheryl"

2008-07-08T09:59:00.001-05:00

The guard knocked on my door in the middle of the night and handed me note. The note said, “Come to maternity. Patient is bleeding.” I threw on my shoes and ran down to the hospital. When I arrived on the maternity ward, I found “Cheryl”, being attended to by the nurses and not looking good. Her blood pressure was dropping fast, she was semi-conscious and lying in a large pool of blood. She’d been admitted earlier during the day in labor with her 5th child. She had no previous obstetrical problems and was laboring normally when I went by the ward at 5pm, which I usually do when I’m on call. The midwife delivered her healthy baby boy earlier in the evening, again without any obvious problems and I didn’t hear from maternity until the guard knocked on the door late in the night.
I resuscitated her with IV fluids and gave her some medicines to help slow the bleeding, but her blood pressure wasn’t really responding and her exam told me something bad had happened. I was even more worried when I remembered we were down to our last 2 units of blood in the blood bank and we were out of bags to collect blood from donors. I ran and woke our surgeon to come over and help me out. Dr. Friend is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, but I still hate waking him up. On this particular night however, I really didn’t have a choice. Cheryl needed surgery. He came over and we immediately took her to the OR where we found what we were worried we’d find. Her uterus had been badly injured during labor and she had lost a few liters of blood internally as well as into the bed. Thankfully, we were able to get her to the OR rather quickly. And thankfully, Dr. Friend has seen a lot of these cases here in Africa. In fact, he’s done more uterine rupture cases than I’ve done routine C-sections. So I thank God that he was here that night.
When Dr. Friend opened the abdomen, I could barely recognize the anatomy because of all of the bleeding but he just kept clamping and tying and before I knew it, the bleeding stopped and her blood pressure and pulse started to normalize. She did end up getting our last 2 units of blood and our bank was restocked later in the week before anyone else really needed transfusion. She had a slow post-op course but ended up being discharged home with her healthy baby boy after about 2 weeks in the hospital. Praise God with me that this lovely lady, a mother of five little ones, is alive and well right now. Had she delivered in the village or even in one of the rural health centers, she would not have survived.
On days when things aren’t going so well (and there are many) I think about patients like Cheryl and her baby. In doing so I’m reminded of what a privilege it is to be here, caring for the wonderful people in this little corner of the world. I’m thankful God allows us to be a part of His work here at Mukinge.

Fat=healthy

2008-06-29T11:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we hopped in the Living Saloon and drove out to the village to visit with our friend Violet and to help her store some of her maize. She’d asked Elissa last week if she could store some of her shelled maize in the storage shed behind our house and Elissa agreed. We didn’t realize that there were going to be 13, 50kg bags full of shelled corn. That’s about 1400lbs of corn! It took a couple of trips (even for the Living Saloon) to get it all back to our house and now that our shed has become a silo, I’m a little worried about the critters that it might attract. We’ll see how it goes but I wished we would have kept the cats. Anyhow, we were happy to help Violet because she helps us every day.
While we were sitting outside at Violet’s house, several kids came around to stare at the funny visitors. Some of the kids were Violet’s grandchildren or nieces/nephews and some were just neighbors. Violet was commenting on the fact that Zachary is as tall as her 5 year old granddaughter and then she said that it made good sense that he was tall because “his father is tall and fat, and his mother is tall and fat.” She said this complete with hand motions demonstrating the enormity of my body habitus. Well excuse me, but Elissa is with child (and looks beautiful by the way) and I’m down over 20lbs in the last 3 months. So I’m not sure if by fat she meant “healthy” or just “fat”, and I didn’t bother to ask. We laughed and I know she didn’t mean anything hurtful but, speaking only for myself, I know I’m quite huge compared to most folks in the village. However, by my calculations, if I continue to drop pounds at this rate, I’ll weigh about 13 lbs when we return home in 2 years. And in 6wks Elissa is going to drop 30lbs pretty quickly. So there you go…there is hope for us after all. On that note, if anyone can figure out how to pack a Spangle’s burger and ship it out here I’d really appreciate it.

Romantic Getaway

2008-06-23T02:37:00.001-05:00

“Nothing’s too good for my girl.” That’s what my dad always said just after he and Mom had returned from a romantic date at “The Clock” restaurant. Well, we Tompkins men are hopeless romantics and the tradition lives on in my marriage. Yesterday, Elissa and I went out on a date…sort of. Actually, we were running pretty low on groceries so we decided to make the 5 hour, one-way drive to the nearest grocery store to pick up some stuff for us and our friends. We left the boys with Aunties Mabel and Michelle and took off in “The Living Saloon” (that’s what is written on the back of our van in fancy cursive text) at around 5am. I happened to be on call the night before and got called in to the hospital at midnight to see a man who’d busted up his face in a bike accident and at 3am for a breech delivery, so I was a running a little short on sleep but there was no stopping this date/grocery run. After all, I needed some quiet time with my wife and we were running low on cheese.
Well, I don’t believe you have to spend a lot of cash to be romantic--for instance, you could always take your lady to a nice place like The Clock—but by the time we stopped for gas, I realized that this was going to be one expensive date. Diesel is running about $8 per gallon. Ouch! We weren’t going to let that ruin our day together. We pressed on and by 10am, after about 5 hours of dodging goats, chickens, and gigantic potholes, we’d made it to Shoprite. We did our shopping and picked up some items for our friends as well. When we were done, we had two carts full of goods. Talk about causing a scene at the checkout counter. It took forever to get checked out and pay for everybody’s stuff separately but we managed and then exited the store. When we went out, we weren’t prepared for all of the “help” we’d receive and in seconds we had been surrounded by 6-7 guys who were eagerly helping us carry our bags to the Living Saloon. Now this setting is hard to describe, but we were in the middle of a busy street in a good sized Zambian town. There happened to be a national football game the same day, so things were bustling to say the least and there were people everywhere. Well, before we knew it, while we were still loading the van, all of the helpers sort of disappeared into the crowd and with them went several packs of pastrami, 4 pounds of ground beef and about $30 dollars worth of Zambian kwacha out of Elissa’s wallet. Thankfully we did find her wallet thrown in the back of the Living Saloon with everything in it but the cash. Nice crooks but why did they have to take the beef (refer to previous posting)? Anyhow, we both felt pretty stupid for letting it happen and mad at the guys who’d done it.
Despite our frustration, we made our way to the Mona Lisa pizzeria for a nice little lunch. Pizza and ice cold Coke really made us feel better. By the time lunch was over we figured we ought to get going as dodging goats and potholes is much tougher after dark and we still had a 5 hour drive back into the bush. As we drove into the African sunset (that’s supposed to sound romantic), I think we both felt eager just to get home—to Mukinge. We’d come away from this day with a new appreciation of our home here, of our family and of one another. Now that’s what I call romance.

Where's the beef?

2008-06-10T11:01:00.001-05:00

A guy knocked on my door the other day and asked me if I wanted to buy some beef. He had a little sign-up list and said, “We’re killing the cow tomorrow.” I thought I heard heavenly music and angels singing but then I noticed the sign-up list was empty. Now, I’m not sure if no one else wanted to buy the beef or if he stopped at my house first because I’m an American (and obviously really in to beef) or what, but the idea of fresh beef sounded pretty hard to pass up. The list had columns for 1) your name, 2) “stake” or “offals”, and 3) kilograms. I’m not sure what offals are but I was pretty sure that I didn’t want any. I wanted “stake”, so that’s what I signed up for-- 5 kilograms worth to be exact. A few days later the same guy came to the back door with a big chunk of cow. It looked like they ran a chain saw some where through the middle of the animal’s back (they may have, I don’t know) and took out a nice little jagged chunk for me. I’ve never really done any hunting or butchering of large animals so I don’t know what cut we received and I couldn’t make out a T-bone or K.C. Strip out of any of it. When I buy beef it is usually packaged and labeled for me so those cuts might have been in there somewhere but I just couldn’t find them. I hacked away at this project for about an hour and ended up with a few freezer bags full of what now looks like stew meat, a big pile of bones and maybe even some bonus offals. We’ve eaten fresh beef twice since and it’s been great. None of those extra hormones, antibiotics or phosphates (that’s for Dad—we’ll see if he’s reading the blog.)

Ups and Downs

2008-06-06T04:30:00.000-05:00

I don’t really know how to describe the work at the hospital. Some have asked to hear more but it’s difficult to know what to write about and to know how to say it. I hope that the postings will encourage you about the work going on here and also challenge you to pray. With that being said let me tell you about a couple of patients I’ve seen in the last few days. I think hearing their stories will help you better understand the ups and downs of the work here at Mukinge.
Last week I was caring for two little ones on the peds ward who were both very sick. “Eunice”, only two years old, had severe malnutrition and sepsis. Her roommate, “Mary”, who is only 13 months old, had a bad pneumonia and respiratory distress. On Friday, Eunice looked so bad that I didn’t expect she would live even hours that day following rounds. I explained how bad the situation looked to her mother and then fumbled badly through a prayer for her and her family. What do you say? What do you ask for? She was so sick but I asked that God would heal her little body and bring peace. I knew what that might mean. The nurses heard her mom singing hymns to her that day. She actually lived until Sunday but those last few days were very bad. I went by the ward on Sunday night after chapel and found out she had died. While there, the nurses asked me to see Eunice’s roommate, Mary, who was also not doing well. After examining Mary, I expected the worst. She was having significant respiratory distress and probably needed a ventilator which we don’t have. I wasn’t sure she would survive the night either. I had the same discussion with her parents that I’d had with Eunice’s family just a couple of days ago. I then prayed with Mary and her parents. I again asked for healing but I’m not sure what I really expected at that point.
To my surprise, Monday morning rounds brought good news. Mary had survived the night and was actually looking better. I couldn’t believe it and the nurse who’d been on the night before reminded me that, “it was the prayer.” I do believe it was God that saved her life that night. She is doing well now and will probably go home tomorrow. Seeing her get better has really lifted my spirits this week and I needed that. Admittedly, I’m still working through some of these issues regarding prayer, faith, healing, life and death…I’ve been forced into that more than ever within the last few weeks. I don’t expect that to let up at all and through all of this I’m continuing to learn what it means to really trust in the Lord.

Biepe Morning!

2008-06-06T04:27:00.000-05:00

“Biepe mwane” (bee-ep-ee mwa-nay) is the common greeting here in this part of Zambia. I think it really just translates into something like “how are you Sir/Madame?” in Kikaonde. Well, Nate and Zach have put their own spin on it and have been saying “Biepe morning!” to everyone, regardless of the time of day. I’m not sure how they got those words confused but they are as sincere as they can be about it and we’ve found it kind of funny. There is also a special clapping of the hands and bending at the knees that you are supposed to do when greeting someone in Kikaonde. It shows respect. As we walked past some people on the road this evening, Nate looked right at them and said “Biepe Morning!” as he clapped with cupped hands and squatted at the knees a little.

Bad Dog!

2008-05-23T01:50:00.001-05:00

Our church is currently meeting outside under a big shade tree every Sunday morning as the roof of the church building is being repaired. It’s nice to sit outside and worship but it’s not without distractions, a few of which Team Tompkins have been responsible for. We were late to church this week and when we arrived all of the benches in the back were full (sound familiar?). There was a nice empty spot smack-dab in the middle of the congregation, so we chose those seats and sat down. The boys aren’t yet used to sitting quietly through the one and a half hour service but they are getting better. Needless to say they add some additional entertainment most weeks but usually end up outside with Elissa or me. Now that we’re actually having church outside, things are a little more complicated. Some of the Zambian ladies occasionally let out a little high-pitched “la-la-la-la-la” kind of yell whenever there is a good word or when the music is especially moving… sort of like an excited Amen. Zach decided to join in this week and whenever any of the ladies did that he followed right along. It was funny and not too distracting considering everything else that was going on. The Zambian people are very laid-back and forgiving (thankfully) and I don’t think anyone was too offended. Well the real action started when our neighbors’ dog showed up in the service. He had followed us along the path as he likes to play with the boys and they like him. I didn’t realize he followed us “into” church until it was too late. He’s still a puppy and likes to nip at feet, shirts, skirts, or anything that moves. He made his way down the aisle and crawled under our bench and started nipping at Elissa’s skirt and Zach’s feet. Zach thought it was funny. Elissa was not quite as amused. Remember the cat story…she’s not really into pets right now. Needless to say, it really started to get distracting with Zach laughing, kids staring at us, Elissa flicking the dog’s nose and the dog trying to bite all of us. I forgot to mention that most of the people here are a little fearful of dogs to begin with, so needless to say, I don’t think they were excited to have this dog in their church service and were no doubt wondering why these silly foreigners would bring their dog to church. I finally grabbed the dog by the nape of the neck and drug him down the center aisle with him yelping and biting my arm the whole way. What a scene. I chased him off the property and then returned to the service. I must have been in my seat for about 30 seconds before you-know-who was right back under Zach’s feet. Elissa decided she’d had enough, so she gathered the kids and took them home and the little dog followed them the whole way.

Saturday

2008-05-17T10:25:00.005-05:00

Lazy Saturdays are hard to beat. It is nice to have a day or two to catch your breath. It has actually been pretty quiet around here for the last couple of weeks. And there’s no doubt now that things are going to pick up because I said the “Q” word. You’re never supposed to actually say it. You learn that in residency. I know it’s not true but it sure seems like one of those universal rules that you can’t explain. Anyhow, it’s nice to have a day just to sit and hang out with the family. We started the day at 6:20 as the boys didn’t get the memo about how I wanted to start my lazy day off by sleeping in a little. Elissa made pancakes, which were pretty close to perfect and I had a nice cup of Starbuck’s coffee (yes, we are really roughing it out here). The coffee was kindly provided by some visitors that came out this week from World Medical Mission. We also had oranges, which were not orange but green, but still sweet. I haven’t figured that out yet but that’s ok. There are a lot of things we have yet to figure out. I then picked up the copy of U.S. News and World Report that the WMM folks brought along. I read about how Americans are flying all over the world in search of cheaper surgeries. They’re getting anything from heart valves and bypasses in Dubai to Botox and tummy-tucks in Bangkok. All of the sudden, I’m thinking I should have just read about McCain, Obama and Hilary. You see, I skipped those articles so I could continue enjoying my morning. Well anyhow, it is hard to read about that stuff where there are people about 200 yards from here dealing with things I can’t even imagine. That’s enough of a rant for now. I’m going to go finish enjoying my day off and not think about U.S. News and World Report any more for a while. I hope you can do the same.

Elissa's list

2008-05-16T02:10:00.001-05:00

Time to post something! Elissa’s turn. I’m feeling very grateful as I sit here relaxing at the end of another day. So I thought I would make a list of things that I am grateful for.
1. Your prayers for our family, especially relating to our parenting and the hearts of our children. Over the last week we have noticed a positive change in Zach’s and Nate’s attitude and obedience. We have also noticed that we, as parents, have been doing better with how we teach and discipline the boys. There is more love and respect flowing both ways. Keep the prayers coming because it is a daily commitment to teach and train our children in the ways of the Lord and we want to remember to rely solely on Him for the wisdom and patience to be faithful as parents.
2. Daren. No explanation needed.
3. My two sons. In the course of putting my boys to bed tonight, Zach said, “I love Mommy and Daddy and Nate!” Nate also blessed me when he whispered, “Mommy, I have a secret….I love you!” As Proverbs 29:17 promises, my sons have given delight to my soul.
4. Dirt! Good ole’ African dirt! I stood at the screen door today watching Zach and Nate playing happily in the dirt with their little toy trucks….so content with simplicity and imagination.
5. Every time I heard “Okay, mommy” instead of “No!” today.
6. Food. Everything tastes so much better here. I think it’s because I appreciate it more – we don’t have access to a huge variety of foods, especially fruits and veggies. We eat what is grown locally, depending on the season. I like the lack of choice for several reasons…especially because it makes me more grateful for the food we do have.
7. A washing machine and a dryer!!! It makes my life so much easier!...especially with these cloth diapers!
8. Prayer. What a great comfort to me to be able to voice my concerns and to express my thanks to a faithful Father…and to know that prayer is powerful, that it works, that God hears (Psalm 34:17).
9. Violet, the lovely Zambian lady who comes daily to help me with house work. I’d be a mess without her. God bless her in a very special way.
10. The smiles I receive when I greet local Zambians with “Byepi, mwane” (which means “hello, how are you?”)

Pictures

2008-05-03T09:56:00.007-05:00

Here are some recent pictures of life here at Mukinge.

Zach in the mango tree.

Zach learning a new kind of football
Nate eating.
Elissa with our friend Janice on the trail
Our house.
Nate eating again.

Battle with the bat

2008-05-03T09:40:00.003-05:00

In Elissa’s last post she spoke of a little bat that had briefly invaded our living room and then returned up the chimney. Two nights ago the little bat’s big brother decided to pay us a visit while Elissa and I were sitting in the living room reading. I was on the couch, which backs up to within a few feet of the fireplace, when I saw a fluttering out of the corner of my right eye. The bat had flown right past my ear and started circling the living room in frantic fashion. One of us screamed like a girl and I don’t think it was Elissa. We then jumped to our feet as the bat decided to fly down the hall toward the bedrooms. The boys were in their room asleep but the door was cracked. I grabbed the broom stick and slowly walked down the dark hallway sure that at any moment the bat would fly out of one of the rooms, wrap his wings around my head and start gnawing my face off. I guess I’ve seen too many scary movies. I peeked into all of the rooms and turned on the lights. The bat wasn’t in any of the bedrooms so the bathroom was the only room remaining. I flipped on the light and, sure enough, the bat went nuts. He started flying around the bathroom frantically but I was able to close the door, locking him inside. We then thought we should seek the counsel of a wiser, more experienced missionary, so Elissa ran next door to ask Michelle (who’s been here for 15 yrs) how we (actually, how I..) should handle this. She said we had three options, 1) don’t worry about it (not really an option), 2) club it to death (my choice), 3) try to catch it in a bucket and set it free (PETA friendly but harder than it sounds). I decided that clubbing it was certainly the best choice but space in the bathroom is limited and I knew it was going to be a risky operation. Elissa was just worried about having bat blood in the bathroom. At the last minute, I decided that because of the limited space, I’d better try to spear him instead of clubbing him. I cracked the door and he was hanging from the ceiling right above the cabinet. I took my shot with a big umbrella but missed and again he went nuts, flew past my head and into the next room. This story is getting long huh? Well, we ended up closing all of the doors in the house except the back door and taping a sheet over a doorway out of the kitchen, leaving only one way out. I then opened the door to the room the bat was in, stirred him up with the broom stick and chased him out. He got stuck in the hall way and made about 10 passes at my head and I was never able to hit him with the broomstick but eventually he made the right turn and found his escape. I then taped a sheet over the fireplace and stacked up a couple of suitcases in front of it. No bats since, but every time a moth flies by the light in the living room, I jump a little. OK, enough of the silly bat story. I’ve posted his picture just in case you don’t believe me. I assure you he looked a lot bigger in real life.

Elissa enters the world of blogging

2008-04-28T07:35:00.001-05:00

Elissa here…thought it was time that I contributed to this blog. Although I am very grateful to Daren for keeping you updated! Very quickly about me – I’m now 25 weeks pregnant and baby is moving and growing! The adjustment is going pretty well…to be expected. I have my ups and downs. Enough about me – I will tell you a few of the more exciting things that happened today! The cat came meowing at our bedroom window at precisely 5:56 this morning to let us know that she wanted food. I promptly filled her bowl, placed it outside and went back to bed (thinking that she was satisfied). Just as soon as I was drifting back to sleep, the cat perched herself back on our bedroom windowsill and began meowing again (loudly). A very annoyed me got back out of bed to see what the problem was. After observing that her bowl remained half full of food and her water bowl was full as well, I determined that she was out of line and needed some training. I will not have a cat bullying me around at 6 am with incessant meowing!! So I promptly filled a glass half full with water and proceeded to douse her! She then gave us some peace. I went back to bed thinking that I still had some time to dose. But, of course, Zach woke up only a few minutes later. He then proceeded to wake his brother because he “wanted to play”…and my day had officially begun. Not a great way to start the morning.
The next exciting event that took place today was when Daren discovered a swarm of bees in our living room! I think it would be considered a small swarm, but they were still swarming! No worries, though…my heroic husband sprayed them to death!...and that was the end of that fun!
And not but a few moments ago, I spotted a bat doing laps around our couch…two laps, to be exact. And then it flew up the chimney, I think…I hopeJ.
What a day! Something really neat happened today as well. Our good friend Janice (Nana Janice to the boys) celebrated her 70th birthday today! She and her husband invited a bunch of us to her birthday party, which was at a local restaurant. We walked to the restaurant (about a 45 minute walk) via a path that goes through the countryside. What beautiful sights! Zambia’s landscape is so pretty and the walk was a joy to experience. We had a really good time at the party – the food was good and the fellowship was sweet! Janice and Jim will be returning to Canada in a few days, so we will have to say good-byeL. We are quite sad to see them go…they are our good friends and are like surrogate grandparents to the boys. I have heard that the life of a missionary is full of many good-byes and, so far, I think this saying is true. But we look forward to the next short-termers that will be coming soon!
That is all for now. It’s time for bed!

Perks

2008-04-28T07:30:00.001-05:00

We’ve been here for a month now and we’re finally getting settled. The past few months have been a whirlwind and it is so good to finally have planted our feet here. Mukinge is a wonderful place and as tired as I am after just a few weeks of work here, I don’t think there is anywhere else I’d rather be right now. The schedule is quite busy but for some reason there seems to be a lot more time with the family than what I’m used to. I walk down to the hospital at about 8:00 each morning, so I have time to eat breakfast with Elissa and the boys every day. The boys stand at the screen door and yell their good-byes to me every morning as I walk down the hill to the hospital. Not a bad way to start the day. The house is only about 200 yards from the hospital, so I’m actually able to be home for lunch and dinner every day as well. That is one of the perks of mission hospital work. There are actually a lot of perks of living and working here. Instead of telling you all about the rough parts of the last few weeks, I’ll tell you of the perks instead.
1. Breakfast, lunch and dinner with my family everyday
2. No medical liability insurance
3. Weight loss program--I'm down about 12 lbs this month.
4. Homemade pudding every Tuesday. (Elissa makes it so that we can sneak the boy’s anti-malarial meds in without them knowing.)
5. Very little paper work
6. A great community of expat and national Christians to work with daily
7. No TV (Yes, that is a perk. Elissa and I talk a lot and I’ve been reading a ton.)
8. Medical miracles (2 or 3 biggies so far—the little boy I mentioned in the last post is getting better every day.)
9. Zambia and Zambians! Great place and great people.
10. I'm really learning how to pray.

Zambia or bust

2008-03-18T08:48:00.003-05:00

Today is the big day. We'll be flying out of Tampa this afternoon at 5:30, through Chicago to London where we have a 10hr layover. We should arrive in London at 9:30 am local time and then we'll fly out to Lusaka during the evening. We should finally arrive in Lusaka at 7am on Thursday morning (around midnight eastern time). We will then spend 5 or 6 days in Lusaka (the capital) getting driver's licenses, shopping for groceries and getting my medical license squared away before we make the 12hr drive out to Mukinge. We're only taking 7 big boxes, 5 suitcases, 2 carseats and a jogging stroller. I've attached a picture of the vehicle we purchased from one of the out-going doctors. Thank you First E Free for helping us with that!

Many of you have heard that Nate had a little health concern over the last couple of weeks but I want you to know that he is now doing very well. Thank you for praying for him. He'd had some problems a couple of months back in Dec.-Jan. but they appeared to have resolved until we got to orientation in North Carolina two weeks ago. His doctor in Wichita gave me a great contact here in Tampa and while we were only here for 10days after orientation, we were able to get him seem by this specialist and get a procedure done that has essentially cured him of the problem he was having. When this first re-surfaced at orientation, I was very frustrated about the timing and worried about Nate. I didn't know what was wrong with him and I couldn't see how we ever get him seen by a specialist and worked-up prior to leaving. I assumed we'd have to delay our departure. However, looking back now, I can clearly see God's hand in the timing of the whole thing as we would probably not had any access to this kind of specialist or procedure out at Mukinge. Also, as we were driving away from the doctor's office last Monday, the people from WMM called just to notify us that they had gotten us on the group insurance plan starting THAT DAY! Anyhow, I continue to be amazed by all of the little "coincidences" in our life and I hope you guys are blessed by the stories. I hope it encourages you and reminds you (as it does for me) that God is working, He cares about people, and He answers prayer.

Mukinge Video!

2008-02-28T20:20:00.002-06:00

Check out the link below. It is a video done by a family who visited Mukinge a couple of years ago. I hope it gives you a good idea of what things look like at the hospital. The section at the end shows the "BOMA" which is the central shopping area of the little town just 3km away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jn-DnM_SCc

Learning about SIM

2008-02-26T20:08:00.002-06:00

What's SIM? Well, we're learning all about it over the next two weeks. SIM is a missions organization and it stands for "Serving In Mission". We are currently in Charlotte, NC at an orientation program at the SIM USA headquarters. Mukinge Hospital is an SIM mission project and they thought it would be a good idea if we came here and joined in this orientation with their own missionaries, although we're being sent through Samaritan's Purse/World Medical Mission. They only do this three times a year and it worked out for us to come here just before our departure. The first few days have been great. We're not only learning about this organization/community, we're learning about missions in general and how to live and survive on the "field". Much of the program is run by veteran or retired missionaries and it has amazing just to listen to them and soak up some to the wisdom they have to share. The days here are quite full and Elissa and I are in class from 8:30 to 5pm. They have a special program for the kids and some very nice ladies that take care of them while we're in class. I was a little worried about the boys when we first got here but they are having a blast and have made a bunch of new friends. I encourage you to visit the SIM website (I've added a link on the sidebar) if you're interested in knowing more about the mission itself. We'll be here until March 8th, and then we'll head to Florida for a week and a half with family and friends before flying out to Zambia on March 18th.

humble thyself

2008-02-12T22:06:00.003-06:00

Lately, I've been bouncing between periods of being really proud of myself and being totally overwhelmed by what we're facing. Last week I was sort of riding on this high of "yeah, we're finally going...", patting myself on the back as if I had really done something. Well, over the last few days I've been re-reading a book about Dr. Jim Foulkes, who lived and practiced at Mukinge for 37 years. Talk about humbling. Dr. Foulkes' life has been full of adventure and many trials. During his years at Mukinge he lost his first wife and one of his daughters to cancer and lost a son at just 2 years of age. While hunting a bull elephant to provide meat for the hospital patients, he was nearly run down by the entire herd of charging "jumbos". He was attacked by an angry patient and nearly strangled. He was nearly attacked by an injured lion and once got caught in a poachers trap. He and his family suffered through various tropical infections. On and on the stories go, but through it all, he remained faithful and served the Zambian people with great love. After reading about him, I feel like I'm in way over my head and I know I'm not cut from the same cloth as a man like that. Men like Dr. Foulkes inspire me to follow harder after Christ and to lose the pride. As if that weren't enough, our pastor reminded us Sunday that it isn't about what we do, only about what Christ has done. John 6:26-29--
Do not work for food that spoils,
but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God
the Father has placed his seal of approval."
Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Isn't God good to have made it this way? It is never about our works only about what He gives us. Thank God for that or anything "good" I ever do would be cancelled by the pride I'm prone to feel about it. Isn't He also good to correct us so gently sometimes?

The picture attached is of Mukinge Hill. The hopital complex is just at the base and is surrounded by various homes and other buildings.

For our FL friends

2008-02-02T15:14:00.000-06:00

Just a couple pics of Zach playing outside today that I thought the Floridians would like. We had a pretty good snow a couple of days ago but now it's melting away. Zach is learning how to use his new camera so he'll be ready when we start traveling.