Nursing Conference in Ethiopia-Old and New Friends

We are off to the long awaited Nursing Leadership and Governance Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We nearly didn't make it due to health issues. Paul was so very sick requiring IV re-hydration and strong antibiotics. It is very hard to keep healthy here, even with all the precautions we take. We pray daily for strength to do the work the LORD has given us. Even in illness, we are learning so much and identifying with the dear folks that we work with and minister to daily.

We usually fly Delta and affiliates so it was a different experience flying this airline. We didn't eat any food as we were scared after all our illnesses. The flight was just under 5 hours and we enjoyed the rest, reading and listening to music.

We made it!  The picture of the monkey (on the poster behind Paul) is for our grandchildren. They are always asking about what animals we are seeing in Africa. Of course in the city we see only donkeys, camels, goats, sheep, chickens, dogs, cats in the streets. We have seen the giraffes outside the city. We did manage to see some monkeys in Ethiopia but they were so quick and hard to photograph.

This is a picture of the Hilton garden. This was a great rest spot before the conference began. We needed to regroup and put final touches to our presentations. I was desperate for a hair cut and manicure!

Day One of the Conference. Here I am with Fatchima the Nurse manager of our Ward at CURE Niger. She gifted me with the material and we had same dresses made. We are twins! We have the same Father in Heaven! The uniform, same material for outfits is very common in West Africa. The women at church select at Christmas, Easter and other special occasions, a pattern of fabric for their 'uniform'. Of course in the USA, women would die if they showed up to an event in the same dress as someone else. Love these cultural differences. Fatchima and I get along so well. She is the mother of three boys. Her husband works with an NGO and does trauma counseling.

This is a view from our hotel room in Addis Ababa. The view is of the bus station. It was very noisy!! This city has a population of 10 million. Every morning instead of the call to prayer by the Imams as in Niamey, Niger, we had the call to prayers and worship by the Orthodox Priests.  In Ethiopia, it would go on for hours if it was a special saint of angel's day! Seriously, the singing, chanting and prayers in Ghez (ancient church language related to Hebrew) on many days was 3 hours in the morning and more in the evening. It was pretty convicting about praying and worship.

Ah, this is the good stuff! Paul and I needed to get some healthy food after all the illnesses. Ethiopian food is so good and healthy. On this plate at 9-11 o'clock is injera the local bread made with protein and iron rich teff flour. at the top of the plate you are looking at two kinds of wat.....what is wat? It is a sauce. The caramel colored one is made with lentils. The redish one is made with ground beef, tomatoes, onions and spices very different to the USA. The rest of the plate is covered with fresh lightly steamed veggies. Oh this was so delicious. The blue labeled bottle in the background is called AMBO. It is a local spring water that has been carbonated. Paul and I were quite addicted to it. It was good to find something that Paul would drink to keep his fluids up!

This is a  group photo after dinner. We are missing Fatchima who went staight up to bed, after not sleeping the night before!

Here we are, matchy-matchy! How very West African!

On the left is Trudy, the chief nursing officer at CURE's Oasis Hospital in the UAE. Trudy asked each nurse manager to give a ten minute presentation about their hospital. I helped Fatchima to prepare the PowerPoint but insisted that she present in English. She practiced with me and it payed off. She did a smashing job!

Here she is presenting with Trudy and I looking on proud as can be!

My joy was to present the Christian Worldview of Nursing. I get very animated as it is a passion to see CURE Nurses give excellent care with Christ's Character, CURE Values and Biblical Perspective!

Why not? As Christian Nurses we must serve to bring glory to God!

On the left is Dr. Becky (PhD Nursing and new Director of Nursing of CURE Network), Anne (Nurse Matron CURE Kenya), ourselves and Trudy from the UAE....TEAMWORK!

Diane Lawrence the American Heart Association Course Trainer and Irene the Theater Matron of the Beit CURE Hospital in Zambia are two precious colleagues. Diane had to leave the conference early to attend to a family member's health needs back in the USA.

 We had an unscheduled visit from the Spiritual Directors across the CURE Network who were having their conference in another town outside of Addis Ababa. We took a few moments to greet one another, take a quick photo and pray together before getting back to our nursing sessions.

Paul and I enjoyed an evening after meetings with a dear friend from many years ago. Mismak has a restaurant and we were spoiled with a wonderful meal.

The whole team of servers and the chef Abby (in the blue) came out for a picture.

We had our own coffee ceremony which includes parching the green coffee beans, pounding them, boiling the water over a charcoal fire, burning of incense.....and of course served with popcorn! It is like this all over the country. I had not had any coffee since my illness in Sept 2017 so I wasn't sure if I could handle the coffee but I had a very small cup and it was good! I don't think I'll necessarily be a coffee drinker again but it was good that I didn't hurt anyone's feelings by not participating in this special ceremony.

Mismak and Paul.....brothers!! So grateful for our Ethiopian family!

Oh, yes, matchy-matchy again! We had so much fun at the conference meeting, learning and collaborating with such wonderful people!

Here we are visiting the CURE Ethiopia  Hospital. Paul went back another day to visit the OR, He had such a good time and enjoyed collaborating with the surgical and anesthesia team,

This is the Spiritual Director of the Tebow CURE Hospital in the Philippines. Pastor W is so joyful and passionate about serving the LORD. I have enjoyed the privilege of working briefly beside him in the Philippines.

A parting coffee ceremony at the end of the Nursing Leadership and Governance Conference.

Coffee, coffee, coffee....Bouna? (Amharic for coffee)

Everyone is getting ready to leave but one last coffee has to be enjoyed together.

Paul and I are with Juliane from Zambia. We have enjoyed the times with her family and look forward to visiting Beit CURE Zambia in the near future, Lord willing!

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. 

Proverbs 27:17

Come to Me, all you who are weary and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, 

For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

100 Days!

Our children and grandchildren have celebrated 100 days during the school year. Today, Paul and I are celebrating 100 days in Niger. We had planned to go to the giraffes and eat lunch at Cap Banga the riverside restaurant that we like so much. It didn't exactly work out the way we planned. Instead we spent the day very quietly in our apartment. Paul had a fever and was dehydrated etc. I spent the day counting drops for his IV infusion that Dr. Diane kindly put in. I counted the number of messages from my prayer warriors, I counted promises, I counted blessings, I counted the number of visitors who dropped by......and I was trying to keep this on the hush, hush as Paul's new resident here seems quite nervous about getting sick. (The cat is out of the bag now!)
God always has a better plan. The resident Dr. Jake had a wonderful day without us! He got to see the giraffes, the sunset over the dunes and eat supper at Sahel Academy Mexican Restaurant night. God is so good!  Every little detail that we could be concerned about is being lovingly, carefully, and thoroughly handled by our God who is sovereign over all our circumstances. He makes no mistakes.

• We have enjoyed a good week of caring for our patients at CURE. Papa Paul and young Dr. Jake went over to another hospital to give lectures and demonstrations. 

• We are building intentional relationships within the local medical community.  

• We had the joy of bringing donated gifts of toys to the children this week. 

• We had the joy of preparing for seminars in Galmi and Ethiopia. for the coming weeks. 

• We had the joy of learning together what it means to be connected to the true vine Jesus Christ---drawing life and strength from Him so that we can produce more and more fruit. 

• We enjoy the daily routine of the hospital and loving these dear children and young adults. 

• We certainly have more than 100 blessings in the lives of the staff and children of CURE Hôpital des Enfants au Niger! 

The following Psalm seems appropriate.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is He who made us, and we are His;

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the LORD is good and His love endures for ever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Gifts

One of the nurses made a delicious soup for me from a cows tail like this. It was a labor of love. It took hours and hours of cooking!  The nurses are so kind to Paul and me! They do not like it when we are not feeling well. I was getting over my second round of malaria and they thought I needed something for my health!

There was a designated gift for toys for the children so the Executive Director's wife Georgiana and I went to a large store to buy toys for the children in the hospital and in the long stay hostel called Case de Passage.

What a pile of toys for boys and girls of all ages! These will be precious gifts for the patients.

Fatchima is my beautiful nurse manager of the ward (Pavilion) She is my sister in the LORD and a gift to me working here.

Fatchima had this dress made for me. She has a matching one which is a tradition when people are working, worshiping or celebrating together. Men and women wear outfits made from the same material. What a gift!

Gift giving a part of many cultures. Here in Niger, the giving and receiving of a gift is a huge thing. So often it is a huge sacrifice as most people have so little compared to the USA or Canada. We try to be as generous as possible but do not want people to feel that they need to reciprocate. These sweet gifts of food and the dress touched my heart so much. The gifts we purchased for the children with the donated money will bring such joy to the children. The children here get excited about playing with an empty water bottle! Many have nothing!
I get a little distress some days with all the poverty.  There are so many children and adults begging on the road as we go to the hospital in the mornings. We could never give enough to supply what it needed for these dear ones. We know that God has called us to help the poor. When it is not appropriate to give money, one can offer a piece of fruit or bread....and if that is not on hand, one can offer a smile, a listening ear and acknowledge the person's presence. Everyone likes to be noticed. Even small gestures of kindness are important. We have a call to serve at CURE Hôpital des Enfants au Niger. The Lord called us to invest our time, talents and treasures in these children and their caregivers. We hope that there will be a ripple effect of love, generosity and kindness as the children return to their villages and homes. We are so grateful to be here to share the best gift of all in the person of the LORD Jesus Christ. Thank you for praying for us!

Psalm 9:18 

But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

Proverbs 14:31

Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

2 Corinthians 9:15

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 

This week in Niger-Workers together and a new discovery

I know this doesn't look like work at the CURE Hospital, it isn't! We are having dinner with two dear friends who are very involved with various ministries in Niger, including CURE. After a day of work at the hospital (mostly administrative stuff for me) We had supper by the river. It was a delightful change of pace. There were swarms of bats (I told Paul they were swallows or else he wouldn't have been able to eat there!)

Friday, I worked from home while Paul went to another hospital to help out. At the end of the afternoon I invited two precious sisters in the LORD over for a little tea party. Paul joined in for a little bit then left us women to chat alone!

And we did chat a good long while. Maman Soula on the right lives in Montreal and is very involved with the widows group called Dorcas project. Lucia, Soula's daughter is on the left . She has been in Niger for more than two decades. Lucia and her husband Scott train teachers in how to teach Math. They are wonderful folks! We love being together. It was a great time of sweet fellowship with yummy tea time snacks. We finished our time together praying for one another.

Here is a camel laden with woven mats. Note the contrast of the ancient carrier and the modern containers in the background. Africa is a continent of vast contrasts.

Sharing the road

The Niger River was flowing very fast today!

These same type boats have been used for many centuries!

Cap Banga is a simple and rustic restaurant on the river. We were picked up by motor boat and delivered to the dock of the restaurant. It was very beautiful and tranquil to be by the river. The menu was limited but delicious and inexpensive.

We discovered a terrace up in the trees and enjoyed God's creation together.

The terrace was up in the tree.

The Niger River is not very clear or clean although people bathe, wash clothes and do some boating on it.

There is such contentedness in God's beautiful creation. After hospital work, we were so glad to come here today. It is not very far from our apartment. 

For the Beauty of the Earth

For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the skies

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies

Refrain:

Lord of all to Thee we raise

This our joyful hymn of praise 

For the beauty of the hour

Of the day and of the night

Hill and vale and tree and flower

Sun and moon and stars of light

For the joy of human love

Brother, sister, parent, child

Friends on earth and friends above

For our gentle thoughts and mild 

For each perfect gift of Thine

To our race so freely given

Graces human and divine

Flow'rs of earth and buds of heav'n

Some weeks at the hospital I forget to take pictures. The work is sometimes routine or so hectic that picture taking is not on my mind. This week I had a lot of paper work to do which does not make for exciting pictures. Paul was in the operating room at the CURE hospital and another hospital in Niamey.  We were blessed this week with a visit from Marcia Lanoha and Brian Decker from MADALA which is an organization that most generously supports many missions including the CURE hospital. It was great to have time to be together for a couple of the evenings.

We are so aware of God's goodness in allowing us to be in Niger. We do lift our voices in joyful and grateful praise! God alone is worthy of our adoration.

Thank you for your interest in reading these blogs. Thank you to Josh Korn for explaining how to find Cap Banga. It was a little tricky as the road was so bad we had to use the four wheel drive to get there! Fun! 

Happy New Year 2019!

It hardly seems possible that we have been in Niger for more than two months! How time flies! We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was quite different in many ways. Being far away from family and loved ones was hard naturally. We had wonderful memories of our special Thanksmas celebration before we left for Niger.
Christmas is a time of sharing and caring remembering the best gift to the world being our Savior Jesus Christ when He came as a baby. We participated in a couple of parties one for children at the hospital and one for widows and their children in the church community. It truly is more blessed to give than to receive. The joy on the children's faces was wonderful. 
I even tried to make a few Christmas cookies in our little apartment. They came out well enough to share as Christmas gifts to a few friends. The butter is imported from Europe and is very lovely for baking!
Our Christmas Eve was spent with the Negrini family who we have known since the hospital opened here. We had a most blessed time of being together and shared in delicious food and exchanged some tokens of our affection for one another. Their children are growing beautifully and we enjoyed our time together very much! It was Christ-centered and such a blessing!
Sadly around midnight on Christmas Eve, I spiked a fever and had all the symptoms of malaria so on top of the antimalarial pills, I had to begin the appropriate treatment right away. The hospital was closed so had to wait for blood tests on the 26th, by then I had almost finished the regiment. Sadly, I was very dehydrated and needed IV fluid re-hydration and more antibiotics for typhoid (which is going around).  These tropical diseases are not fun. Christmas Day I was so sick and poor Paul worked with our guard to fix a leaky tire. He couldn't even go out to get me a ginger-ale (not that I could have drunk it!) To make a long story short, I spent Christmas week recuperating enough to get on a plane to go to London for some good food, exercise and REST! We were both in need of a little break away and had planned a week off in London while the hospital was essentially closed. It was a great plan as we both needed this time to walk, regroup and get a bit healthier.
One of the highlights of our week in London was attending All Souls at Langham Place. We went on the Sunday morning and then again for Monday, December 31, 2018 New Year's Eve Watchnight Service. This is a service that brought back happy memories of our younger years in Montreal at Rosemount Bible Church (formerly Ebenezer Gospel Chapel) and Bethel Chapel in Pointe Claire. What joy to ring in a new year with fellow believers-even if you don't know them!
We were particularly touched by the sermon on Romans 8 reminding us that we are MORE than conquerors through Christ Jesus. No matter our problems, persecutions, sufferings, we can enter into the new year with His strength, presence, love and promises. What an encouragement of the steadfast love of God!
One thing that we did before the clock chimes struck midnight was to sing the following hymn sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. Indeed whatever we say or do may be it to the glory of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. He is the reason we are here in Niger.

Should nothing of our efforts stand not legacy survive

Unless the Lord does raise the house in vain its builders strive,

To you who boast tomorrow's gain tell me, what is your life?

A mist that vanishes at dawn, all glory be to Christ!

Refrain:

All glory be to Christ our King,

All glory be to Christ!

His rule and reign we'll ever sing all glory be to Christ.

His will be done, His kingdom come, on earth as is above,

Who is Himself our daily bread, praise Him the Lord of love.

Let living water satisfy, the thirsty without price.

We'll take a cup of kindness yet, all glory be to Christ!

When on the day the great I Am, the faithful and the true,

The Lamb who was for sinners slain is making all things new.

Behold our god shall live with us and be our steadfast light .

And we shall e're His people be all glory be to Christ!

Dustin Kensrue @2012

Imagine the pipe organ full stops...all glory be to Christ! We couldn't help but think of our friend Ted Gentry of Lexington. Glorious!!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve with the Negrini family including Anne's sister who is working with MSF (Doctors without Borders) in Sudan

Hajara and Amina took great care of me when I was so sick. God has blessed us with a dear family at CURE.

 

At the suggestion of our friend Gerald Bray we visited the British Library for a special exhibition of Bibles and old manuscripts...WOW!!

Met a couple of special folks along the way as we walked about London!

Paul is standing in front of the Dominion of Canada Gates that are by Buckingham Palace.

Paul is standing on a bridge in St. James Park with the Palace in the background.

 

Happy New Year 2019 from Paul and Maureen! (I had just gotten used to writing 2018!)

Thank you to each one of you who read these blogs and to all of you who pray for us. We are back in Niger after a week away and are refreshed for the next 4 months. God bless you all!

La fatigue et repose

Watching the sunset by the river on a Friday after work. It was so lovely to be outdoors!

My work seems like play some days. Pure joy to hold this little fellow and sing Sunday School Songs and tell him that Jesus loves him!

Paul has such joy in his work. This little one was so scared and just wanted Paul to hold him while he was put to sleep. Love this picture. Paul loves his patients so!

Sunday night Lessons in Carols at Sahel Academy...love the flags as it reminds us that Jesus is the LORD of ALL NATIONS

The service ended with Silent Night and candles....we weren't in the know as we should have brought our own candles!

Monday morning back to work training the nurses in SIR which is French for Basic Life Support

Nurses hard at work practicing how to ventilate babies and do chest compressions as a team.

Sodogas our physical therapist was in one of the classes.  He is a Moslem. He has two wives who I have met. He is such a wonderful worker and colleague. Please pray for all our staff.

Sometimes our work includes showing visitors around the hospital. This visitor was so happy to jump in and greet our out-patients who are waiting for their turn to have their dressings changed.

Gary Bellig came to visit from our Mission Support Center. We were so glad to get to know him a bit better! Kindred spirits!

Tanti Seffie, who is on our spiritual ministry team is sorting and filling the gift bags for the children at the Christmas party

Hannatou and Seratou  are also filling the bags. It was team work for sure!

I was even allowed to help with the bags, threading the drawstrings and stuffing the bags for the boys and girls.

Mama Mantou was very busy sewing over 160 draw string bags for the candy, cookies and gifts. What a sweetheart!The pattern for these bags comes from Robin Maddux, a dear friend in Lexington, KY. We have replicated it over and over!

 

This is Ali and his son Ishmial. He was very sick with malaria on one of my first visits to CURE Niger 2010. He is now 11 years old and a health young boy. He is so kind to come to the hospital especially to visit me. His dad reminds him of our prayers for his healing. This young fellow nearly died. Malaria is a killer for the young and old. Pray that Ali's family would all know Jesus our Healer, Helper and Savior.

Dr. Pelumi is a 3rd year Anesthesia resident from the University of Kentucky. She is hand delivering some cards made by children in a church in the USA. It was fun to help her and sing Jesus Loves Me This I Know to the little ones.

Paul enjoying a moment of peace and solitude after a full week of training and anesthesia in the OR

The beauty of Niger is found in many places. We spied this spot on a boat ride to see the hippos. It was a very restful one Saturday morning.

Every day we have a series of greeting in French. It goes like this:
Bonjour Papa et Maman Good morning Papa and Mama
Comment ça va? How is it going?
Ça va bien  It is going well
Ça va un peu Local way of politely saying it is not going so well
Et la famille And the family?
Ça va It's going
Et la santé And your health?
Et la fatigue  and the tiredness/fatigue?

Always the questions are about your family, health and fatigue. It may seem a little strange way of greeting but in this place it makes perfect sense. Most people here do not have electricity, hence, no fans or air conditioning in the heat. Likewise, now that the evenings, nights and mornings are comparatively cool, people have little to keep them warm. Life is fatiguing! Paul and I are the oldest folks on the CURE Hôpital des Enfants au Niger campus! So naturally, everyone wants to know if we are tired, ill or able to work. They seem surprised when we show up to work at 7am in the morning!
Weather and work are not the only things that contribute towards fatigue. For us, it is tiring listening and trying to understand and communicate in a language that is not our mother tongue. The daily routines of life here take longer too. Shopping, food preparation (washing everything in clorox solution) and cooking can be energy zappers too. Some days it is all we can do to stay up until 8pm. Haha!
So you can see that physical fatigue is a natural response to the many duties of daily life.
The daily drive to work exposes us to a world of suffering too as we see many disabled, marginalized and indigent people. It breaks ones heart to drive down the street knowing that one does not have the means, nor are called to help everyone. It is tiring and stressful being exposed to the devastating and extreme poverty. It is tiring to know the best way to help the many beggars on the street.  Our hearts are always alert and keen to obey what the Spirit prompts us to do.
We come to work and see many dear children who suffer from the after effects of burns, congenital deformities and trauma. This too is tiring to the soul as we long to see healing, wholeness and functionality of these young bodies.
Our call at CURE is to proclaim the kingdom of God and heal along the way (Luke 9:2). 
All of this would be unbearable if not for our Loving Heavenly Father who gives us rest from our labors and stresses. His love poured into our hearts gives us strength to respond with His love for those we encounter daily. He has provided the beauty of nature and the sweet fellowship of colleagues. Best of all, the LORD has given us His rest, salvation and His promises to sustain us along the way.
As with the other blogs, I have turned to an old hymn that expresses the beautiful rest our Heavenly Father provides in of who He is to us.

Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose

Thou hidden source of calm repose, 

Thou all sufficient love divine,

My help and refuge from my foes,

Secure I am, if Thou art mine,

And lo! from sin and grief and shame

I hide me, Jesus in Thy name.

Thy mighty name salvation is,

And keeps my happy soul above,

Comfort it bring and prayer and peace.

And joy and everlasting love,

To me, with Thy dear name are given

Pardon and holiness and heaven.

Jesus my all in all Thou art,

My rest in toil my ease in pain

The medicine of my broken heart

In war my peace, in loss my gain,

My smile beneath the tyrant's frown

My shame my glory and my crown.

In want my plentiful supply,

In weakness my Almighty power

In bonds my perfect liberty

My light in Satan's darkest hour,

My help and stay when e'er I call

My life in death, my heaven my all. 

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)