Africa 6

Another update from Nalerigu. This first picture is a photo of us and our father's in the front of the hospital. We just wanted you all to get a look at what the building is like. It was built in the 1950's and has had a few additions since then, but this front part has been there since the beginning. Just behind us is where the clinic patients gather and morning devotions take place. There is also a 30 minute gospel presentation that occurs each clinic day for the patients here.

As we mentioned in a previous post, we had the chance to go out with a missionary, Tommy Harrison, to one of his village Sunday services. This is a photo of him preaching his Sunday sermon to the village people of Duuni. Over the past 10 years, he has learned enough Manpruli (the local language) to not only communicate but also to be able to share the gospel. Many village churches have been started because of his efforts in going to unreached areas of northern Ghana. He goes out 4 days a week to villages up to 2 hours away.

The next picture is a wonderful story that we just had to share. The little girl in the picture (smiling for a photo is not exactly understood in Ghana...so she is showing us her teeth instead) was a patient at the hospital. Our first week here, her family brought her in to see Mike Kimbrell at clinic. She had fallen out of a mango tree and had a closed head injury. She was comatose, her pupils were minimally reactive, and she barely responded to pain. We admitted her, and gave her as much treatment as possible. Unfortunately that is not very much as we have no way to do brain scans....much less attempt any sort of surgical intervention. We prayed with the family, and sent the little girl home several days later. When she left, she had shown little improvement. We tried to prepare the family for what life with a severely impaired child would be, and planned for her to follow-up in clinic 2 weeks later. On clinic Wednesday, in walks this child to clinic. Until we looked at her record, we did not even recognize her. She has been walking, talks (although her speech is still slow), and is doing remarkably well. It was just such an open reminder that God heals. We did nothing for this child, and God in His infinite wisdom saw fit to heal her. What a beautiful example of his love, and a humbling example of our limits. We just wanted to share.

This is how we look at xrays here....luckily there is plenty of sunlight. This was a little baby with pneumonia. It has been great having our dads here to teach us some of the finer points of medicine (like reading xrays) even if we don't always have the usual American technology. We have both learned how to use physical exam and clinical judgment to make decisions and to become less reliant on tests and studies. Not to say that we don't plan to use and appreciate them when we are back home!

Only 4 more days here in Nalerigu and then we will be going to Mole (the Ghanaian game park) on our way home. We are tired, but also starting to become a little nostalgic about our time here. It has been an amazing experience. We are going to try to make the most out of our last few days here. Please pray for safety as Mike Kimbrell starts the trek home tomorrow and we follow him next weekend.