Hi everyone,
We are headed to the beach today to celebrate Hannah’s birthday (4/7), Esther’s birthday (4/8), and Easter! That’s a lot to celebrate! We’ll be coming back Monday evening.
So, let’s praise God this week for His amazing gift of Jesus and all that He accomplished for us in His short time on Earth. And if you want to pray for safety, fun, and good rest for us, we would appreciate that, too!
And below is a testimony if you have time for a little encouragement.
Happy Easter!
Love,
Eric and Wendy
Today’s patient is from Wendy’s role as Medical Director. This is a little premature baby who was born nearby at 33 weeks’ gestation and referred to Bongolo Hospital because of a developmental malformation called laparoschisis, where her intestines were actually coming out through a rare defect in her belly wall. (Don’t worry, these pictures don’t show that!) She was immediately operated on by our teammates at Bongolo to prepare her for transport the next day to our capital city of Libreville, 350 miles away, where she would receive a definitive operation.
We used the poor fund (supplied by many of you!) to pay for her hospitalization and surgery here at Bongolo. And then Wendy discovered that God had arranged for the destination hospital in Libreville to be having a rare campaign of free pediatric surgeries starting just that day for a month. A donor then offered to cover the costs for an emergency flight to Libreville on our little mission airplane by our pilot with 12 hours’ notice. Our neonatal physician accompanied the baby and her mother on the flight and monitored her battery-operated IV pump and excellent oxygenation levels, which were supported by having the plane fly at a lower altitude.
With the aid of local Gabonese medical contacts, Wendy arranged for the free ambulance to pick them up at the Libreville airport, and for the pediatric physician to be ready to receive them at the hospital.
We thank the Lord for all His help. Only by His hand might something like this be possible for a poor mother and baby in the middle of the jungles of Africa.
"Thus says the Lord: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight', declares the Lord."
We delighted too, in seeing His hand at work through so many of Christ’s body in this remote place.
