We were in Cavango from Monday until Thursday. I was in the clinic with Dr. Steve Foster (there are 3 Dr. Steve's here). I saw several pts. with problems ranging from general aches and pains, leperosy, epilepsy, to problems with alcohol abuse. These are very stoic people and I'm continually amazed at their daily lives and how they handle it. At the Wednesday morning church service (it started at 6:30) a pastor from Brazil, Pastor Justino, preached and about 40-50 people accepted Christ that morning!! It was so moving and several of us had tears in our eyes. After the service, Pastor asked me why I was crying...I told him it was because I was so happy....they were happy tears. He gave me a huge smile!
After leaving Cavango, we made the drive back to Lubango. We're so thankful it only took 10.5 hours as compared to the 12.5 hours it took to get there. Shelley said that's the shortest amount of time it's ever taken to make the drive.
We returned to Lubango on Thursday evening and Friday I was in the OR with Dr. Foster. It was endoscopy day....and the patients were awake!! They gargle with Lidocaine and handle the entire procedure amazingly well. I'm so thankful for propafol and pain medicines in the US!!
We left the OR around 1PM and Shelley took us to the market. Now, that's an experience. People were everywhere!!!! We stopped at a dress shop, hoping to purchase a "real african dress". He told us we had to bring fabric and they would make me one. We said thank you, but I was leaving tomorrow. He smiled and said "I'll have it ready by 7 o'clock in the morning". So off we went and purchased material and took it back to him. He called at 6:30 the following morning and my dress had been completed! He was sewing all night! How's that for service?!!
We drove to Tchincumbe Ranch and Donna had a wonderful lunch ready for us! We had circumcision clinic today and performed 15 circs on boys ages approx. 4-14. Again, I was amazed at the strength and toughness of these people. All went well, but not free of several screams from a few boys. We used Ketamine and local anesthesia. I wish I'd had a gas machine....and so do the boys!! There's one case for tomorrow morning and then we'll be working on the ranch. The girls are having a blast with the new 8 horses that arrived 3 days ago. They're still wild and Amy is training them. She's done amazing things with these animals. I do believe she's a horse whisperer.
We head out on Wednesday, so please pray for an easy border crossing. We must pay exit tax and that can be time consuming. We will drive to Namibia and will stay there until Sat morning when we fly out.
God has done amazing things here and we are the better for it! There is still so much that needs to be done. The only way things will change here is with God's help and people willing to be God's hands and feet. Please continue to pray for the missionaries here. They are an incredible group of people!
Again, as always, thanks for your prayers and support!
Grace and Peace,
April
Monday, June 8, 2009
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