What did you eat when you where there?...a post for my Dad.

The first day we went to market...

some of the un-named greens looked like Chinese veggies my parents would know. It's PNG han choy and Gagow.

There was fruit, like slimy sugar-fruit. my Dad would like this...

sugar fruit ie passion fruit

Most of the time I enjoyed amazing hospitality from the missionaries on station who were continuously inviting me over for lunch and dinner. I ate way better here than than I do in the Oklahoma due to their great skills.  Here are some of the wonderful missionary families that encouraged, loved, and taught me while I was here. Seeing their godly examples was one of the best parts of coming to PNG.

Dr Andy Bennett and his wife Judy. He is a Family Medicine doctor. He and his wife visit bush churches often, preach often, and were overall wonderful examples for me of joy filled, gospel loving, people loving, Christ-followers. They made me pancakes after church one day.

Dr Bill McCoy and his wife Marsha. Bill is a genious doctor who was the very first graduate from my residency program many years ago. He and Marsha love to laugh and he leads the Bible quizzing team for the mission station.

Dr Erin on the left is a wonderful teacher and friend. She recently memorized the entire book of Hebrews to help the kids train for their Bible quizzing. Dr Pringle is a kind OBGYN who comes 3 months every year and he taught me how to do D&Cs (not for abortions but for saving lives). His wife Teranza is a pilot and a fabulous chef. Dr Jim on the right and his wonderful wife Kathy have been missionaries here for 35 years and are humble and kind servants. Every Sunday they make prayer rounds with their patients together and last Sunday Kathy led a lady to the Lord during that time.

Remember those who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Hebrews 11:7

I'm thankful for all the godly shepherds, teachers, and mentors in my life. Some of you are reading this. Someday we will worship the Lord together in Heaven and He will literally be our light and eternal joy. press on !


 



Coming Back...

Good-Bye Papua New Guinea. I pray that I will be able to come back someday. Before I left I asked God, “Lord, if I could have only One prayer for this trip, let it be that I come back loving You more.” I can truly say that God has deepened my love for Him and renewed a fresh sense of surrender to Him. I am so thankful for His grace and kindness to let me come and see Him at work here.

Well friends, I am back In Tulsa now. Praise God for bringing me back safely over 2 days of travel.

Still to come:

Recap and wondering thoughts…a Thank You update letter. 

one side of the adult ward

NICU

2/23/12

Today I was walking to the hospital and a nurse came running, “Dr Jennifer, come to ER, there is baby with cough!”  So I went to the ER and there a 5 month old baby that is laying on the table…NOT breathing. I called for a bag mask and notice that the baby eyes are twitching, then he begins to gasp for breath rhythmically while the arms twitch. This baby is seizing! We gave meds and the seizures calmed down. The fontanelle is boulging, the spinal fluid is cloudy…oh meningitis!

Enis is a lady I was taking care of on the adult ward with necrotic, foul smelling leg wounds. I literally have never seen so much pus in my life than the day we cut her thigh wound open and expressed massive amounts of it out.  She is unmarried and when she found out she was pregnant, her family in anger burned and tortured her which led to her present state in addition to a miscarriage. I would pray with her every morning, and she never said much.

Today on call, a 16 year old school girl came into the ER after fainting. With an ultrasound, I let her know that she is 18 weeks pregnant. The entire family is in uproar.  She is shocked, clearly upset. I keep thinking of Enis.  After a long talk with the girl, we walk back to the family. I have them lay their hands on her belly and we pray for this baby together, pray for mom and for protection over both of them. Is it wrong to make a family promise to protect and care for an unwed mother and her unborn child? There is a lot of domestic abuse here. I fear for her and I pray this family keeps their promises.

Messes and Miracles...

Yesterday a mother carried her 9 year old child into the ER, semi-unconscious. A tree branch had fallen on his head and there was blood running out of his ear, nose, and mouth. He had a basilar skull fracture and there was not too much we could do for him. The family and I took hands and prayed for him as he lay there, barely responsive but breathing. This morning, I didn’t recognize the little guy. Sitting up in bed, and asking if he can eat something. Here’s a picture of him. His name is Bende.

on another note, the missionaries here are amazing. We have a pediatrician who does cesarean sections and family doctors who do chemotherapy because there is no one else to do it. Meanwhile they teach their children to memorize and love the Word of God and are flying them back home to compete at Nationals for Bible quizzing.

Faces of the children...

I got to be with a church "in the bush" today with long-term missionaries, Dr Andy Bennet and his wife Judy. Occasionally he will preach here too and his family has been a great support and encouragment to this flock.


Here is a link that thier blog with pictures about that.

http://day-in-paradise.blogspot.com/2012/02/who-came-to-church-today.html

Not so different but so different...

The spiritual dimension of caring for patients in Papua New Guinea is not so different from being in the states.  Should it be different? Pray with patients, pray for them, pray for opportunities to share the Gospel.  Wherever you go, make disciples. In fact, with the language barrier this first week, I had a lot more conversations with patients about Jesus in the states than I have here.  There is nothing wrong with that.

Missions is not that your light shines differently or brighter, but that it shines in places that have more need of it. I’ve been reading the book of John, and in chapter 1:4-5  it says, “In Him was life and the life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend it.”  Jesus is not afraid of the darkness, He does not avoid it. This is why He came. I was thinking about how we are candles, and candles are not made to look pretty in warm sun lit windowsills. They are meant to be burned in dark places.

Honestly, I’m not sure that Kudjip, Papua New Guinea is much darker than California spiritually. Physically and medically however, it is a whole different world. There is significant medical need here.  Many lives are saved due to the ministry and faithfulness of the medical missionaries at this hospital.  They have traded a potentially rich and extravagant lifestyle for taking care of the least of these.  This is pure and undefiled religion. This too is a spiritual act of worship. If the people who had the greatest need were the hardest and most inconvenient to help, would you go there?

2/11/12

For anyone out there who has been praying for me in overcoming my language barrier, THANK YOU! Of all languages in the world, Pigeon is probably the easiest to pick up since it is like broken English. I’m beginning to be able to see patients alone in clinic with some basic medical terms because the medical story is scribed in English by a tech before the patient sees me. I haven’t yet gotten to the point of being able to have a more extensive conversation with anyone alone yet. Thankfully the ER is staffed by nurses who can speak English and translate for me and often in clinic there is a tech who can help some.

It was pouring rain last night (as it does every night in PNG) and about 10pm I got called for a 21 year old man who had HIV, profuse diarrhea, and a blood pressure of what they told me was 60/40!  When I got there, suddenly the power went out and the generator had not kicked in yet, so I am trying to make due with a small flash light in a critical situation.  On top of that, suddenly there is a large black shadow that runs out from under his back, falls off the bed onto my foot. It was the largest cockroach I had ever seen, thankfully scurrying away into the darkness.  

After he was stable, I had an opportunity (with the help of a nurse translator) to ask him about how he was doing emotionally and spiritually since he had recently been diagnosed with HIV. He told me he was a wreck at first, but a few days ago gave his life to Jesus and was experiencing more peace than he could understand. So here I was, a small American Chinese girl doctor, standing beside a 6 foot-tall Papua New Guinea man with HIV who was on the verge of death.  I hadn’t known when the phone rang that night that I would be called to the bedside of my brother.

There are lots of children in Papua New Guinea. Here's a couple girls walking near the hospital.

This is doctoc Erin holding Nelson, a severely malnurished baby we are taking care of in the peds ward.

Feb 7, 2012

“Apinun!”

I’m thankful to be able to work with a long time missionary and graduate from Image, Dr Bill McCoy.  He prays with his patients in clinic and today shared the gospel with a man who likely had liver cancer. Unlike in the states, there will be no cancer treatment or chance for liver transplant for this man.  But what Dr McCoy offered him was worth still more than that.

I’ve been rounding on the pediatric wards in the morning, then going to clinic in the afternoon with intermittent calls to the ER.  I learned to cast a bit, saw likely ITP in a little girl with bleeding from her gums, lots of osteomyelitis, and a three year old in clinic with a hemoglobin of 3.9! Today another lady stopped breathing and after prolonged attempts at resuscitation, she was gone. She had a history of 3^rd degree heart block after delivering a baby only 3 days ago. Perhaps if we were in the States with a defibrillator she would have lived and her newborn would not be left motherless.

Feb 9^th

Today after rounding on the pediatric ward and clinic I had the chance to go to a weekly missionary prayer meeting. It was neat to see their dependency on the Lord and how they also pray for the co-ministries with the hospital which includes a Bible college that trains pastors. It was a sweet time of prayer, fellowship, and worship. In addition, I was encouraged at how they pray for the missionaries on furlough, knowing that even going on furlough is a ministry rather than a vacation.

Feb 10^th

Today I am on call overnight in the hospital (from home). Already we have a 4 year old with a small bowel obstruction from pigbel, and a lady who I got to inform was 17 weeks pregnant. Lot's of TB here (often presents with ascites!). I won't be surprised if I convert when I get back, and I'd appreciate prayer that God protects me from getting infected.

The patients appreciate being prayed for. Please pray that God gives me opportunity and boldness and sensitivity to share the gospel .  Lately in the evenings I’ve been reading a wonderful book called “A cross centered life” by CJ Maheny. It has so encouraged me.  I will try to update when I can. Internet is sporadic and this is only the 2^nd time I’ve beem able to get online since being here. Take care friends!

Hello from Papua New Guinea!  It is beautiful here. Prettier actually than sunny California (gasp!).   I’ve never seen so many flowers (and large spiders) everywhere. Here are some pictures of God’s handiwork in creation.





Of course more loved than the earth itself are the people. The native people quite shy, indirect and mumble a lot, especially when they are talking to someone in authority. (hey, they are like me!) This has been a small challenge for the medical missionaries here, since it can make medical communication quite difficult. In more urgent and critical situations, when you need to collect information faster, the more soft spoken and indirect the patient becomes. Oi!

Thanks for praying for traveling mercies. God definitely heard your prayers. God bypassed me through a situation in which a customs officer asked me for a bribe and at first was not going to allow me pass security. Another was letting me sit next to a PNG pastor who helped me significantly while trying to understand the chaotic calls for flights at a PNG airport going into the highlands (my final destination).

The long-term missionaries are wonderful. They are gracious, hospitable, full of joy and humor, and very hard working. On Sunday, one of the general surgeons went in to make prayer rounds and have “word evangelism” with his patients. It reminded me of what Bruce Steffens, another medical missionary wrote, “More unreached peoples will go through our hospitals than our churches.”

Please continue to pray for me as I try to learn the local pigeon. I hadn’t realized what a barrier it would be and wish I had tackled it before coming.  Please pray also I would be able to connect to the local people despite this, and also that I be a blessing here for the long term missionaries.

Medically: choramphenicol for everyone! Lots of malaria and worms. Pig Bel, clavicle fractures, endometritis, convulsions, and hysteria of unknown etiology.

My first day on rounds, we had a sad case of a 2 year old child with severe pneumonia. He was ICU status (without an ICU), tachypneaic, very poor air movement, retractions and head bobbing. In the middle of a neb treatment, mother started crying hysterically. We lifted up his shirt and sure enough, he had stopped breathing. After chest compression, bagging, a trial of intubation, and 2 rounds of epi, he was gone. This is the first child death I have ever seen. His mother wept, like Rachel weeping for her children and would not be consoled.  Be thankful for the hospitals you have back at home, for most of the world does not have what you have.

I’m off, leaving on a jet plane! Thanks for your prayers and support. Pray for traveling mercies and for a good adjustment with the 13 hour-jetlag. Pray also that my heart would be submitted and surrendered to our King Jesus, and that I would be the fragrance of Him in every place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krzwmhDMvv8

Lord, I pray for Papua New Guinea, that you would do a mighty work here. I ask that you would raise up shepherds among your people here, leaders for your flock. I ask that every one of the 800+ people groups would hear of Your Son, to know that He is Lord and King and the One who gives every breath and heartbeat to them- that He has come to set them free and raise them from the dead.  I ask that your Word would break through the deeply rooted anamism - and that you would raise up a people who turn from worthless things and worship You.