October 2005

All-Africa Missionary Conference: On July 15th we flew from Harare to Kenya for 8 days. There were 9 of us missionaries and 3 guests who flew up for a wonderful conference for all Christian Church/Church of Christ missionaries in Africa. We hold this conference every two years. We spent our first night in downtown Nairobi in a hotel and then flew out the next morning to Malindi, on the coast. We spent 6 nights in a wonderful hotel called Turtle Bay—right on the Indian Ocean! We got to swim in the ocean, eat fish for each meal and have wonderful fellowship and lessons! Sherri and Rebekka Nunn from Sebastopol Church had stayed on from my last team here to go and help with the music and children’s program. Monica Ruvando, our secretary at the hospital went to help with the children’s program. Then we had a special part in the afternoon to encourage all who came and Sherri and Rebekka did manicures and pedicures and Monica cut hair! That was a big hit! We got to snorkel with the fish! It was a wonderful time for all of us!

We spent another night in Nairobi on the way back and I ended up spending an extra night in Nairobi when I got bumped off the flight home, with Sherri and Rebekka! It was quite exciting! I finally got them out on a plane to London from Kenya and I got home 1-½ days later via Zambia. My bag arrived a day after that!

The Container Arrived! As soon as we got back from Kenya we learned that the container sent by Sebastopol Christian Church had arrived in the country! Major spent a day in Harare clearing it and within 2 days the container arrived and was unloaded here! We were able to open it a few days later to get some tires out that were badly needed by our trucks! We are excited to see all the things we need in it! God provides in the most amazing way! We needed to put a chest tube in a woman and didn’t have the drainage bag—but we opened one barrel (out of about 100) and found an underwater drainage bag—just what we needed then! We had medical students from the University here who had never seen such a thing! God is good!

We hope to have it totally unpacked in the next few weeks! It is always fun to see what is in there! Thank you to our many friends who have sent medical supplies and equipment and to Sebastopol Christian Church that provided tables and chairs for us as well as paid for the shipping! A special big thank you to my forwarding agents Gene and Sue Beckstead who have spent almost 2 years with drums and medical equipment in their garage, packing what went in the container! It all makes a big difference to people’s lives here! We are also thankful to Global Bridges and Kaiser Hospitals for all of their donations!

Team from Seattle arrives: A team of 5 from Cedar Ridge Church of Christ near Seattle, Washington arrived on August 14th. This team was led by Lori Batten, a nurse who is a Chidamoyo alumni 3 times and a recruit to return to work with us fulltime next year. Her minister, Darrell Duff, a doctor from her church Dr. Larry Madewell and Emily and Brandon (both recent high school graduates) came too. They were kept busy in the hospital, unloading the container and visiting church people in the villages. They got to spend a night in a village with church people and all survived! They also spent a couple of nights in my tree house enjoying the African sky!

Ministers Conference: The next day after the Seattle team arrived, Darrell began a 2-day conference with 12 of our ministers and 3 of our students from the Bible College in Harare. They had wonderful lessons and discussion time and it was very encouraging for them. I cooked breakfast and lunch for 21 people for the 2 days and managed to work too! We are so thankful for our visitors who are encouraging to our ministers in our area.

Dennis Wolff and Liz Cantrell: New visitors arrived on August 24th, Dennis and Liz from Louisville, KY. They came to work with kids in the local High School here at the mission. They will be here until early December. They are a lot of fun to be around and I am enjoying them. They arrived just in time to help with month end reports—yippee!! We eat lunch together and so we see each other each day even though they are not working at the hospital.

South Africa: On August 28th I flew with our doctor, Dr. Jono Mbangani, to Johannesburg, South Africa to have arthroscopy done on my right knee. We stayed with Steve and Janeece England who are filling in for Alice Fishback for a few months. On Monday we saw the doctor and Tuesday I had the procedure and Wednesday spent the day at some malls doing “retail therapy.” Thursday we flew home and Friday back to work! I still have pain, but I have confidence it will get better! Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes from many of you.

More visitors: On September 7th Lil Cooksey from my home church of Sebastopol, CA arrived with Sylvia Majoni Brown and her husband Chuck. Sylvia is Zimbabwean and lives in the US. She has been a part of my family as a sister since 1981. Lil came to see the mission while Sylvia and Chuck went to visit Sylvia’s family. A week later Sylvia and Chuck joined us here at Chidamoyo. We traveled to The Hide safari camp for 3 nights and Victoria Falls for 2 nights to see some of the sights of Zimbabwe and to celebrate my birthday! We had a wonderful birthday dinner in Victoria Falls at the Boma, eating game meat and Mopani worms!

Dr. Jono Mbangani resigns: Farewell to Dr. Jono Mbangani and family: It is with sadness in our hearts that we said goodbye to Dr. Mbangani and his family the end of September. They served with us for 3 years and he was a wonderful asset to our hospital and community. He was a great Christian man of God and we will truly miss him. As our health system continues to deteriorate it has been frustrating for him in many ways. His wife taught in our High School and will also be missed. They have accepted a position in Katherine, Australia. We wish them well in their new endeavor, and hope to see them again in the future for visits!
We are looking for people to fill in as doctors and if you know anyone who would like to have an African Adventure, please tell them to contact me. Please be in prayer for the right person to come and be our doctor. Pray for the extra work this will mean for me and for strength to continue on in the midst of apathy and confusion.

Dr. Batsirai Chiureki: Many people have asked about Batsi and his family. Batsi was our doctor at Makonde Christian Hospital in Mhangura and he left in August 2004 to try and find work in England. He left his wife Charity and daughter Tafadzwa here in Harare until he was settled in England. Everytime I went to Harare I spent time visiting with the family. He found it very difficult to get work or a place to train and so finally in July 2005 he accepted a job in Darwin, Australia. He and his family left in August to take up their new position there. They have written to say they are adjusting to life there! We really miss them too!

Annual Church Conference: Our annual church conference for all of our 52 churches in the area was held on September 15-18. We were not expecting a big crowd because the bus fares have gone up so tremendously recently and also many buses haven’t been able to run due to lack of fuel. So we were pleasantly surprised to have over 700 people attend the conference. The church building was packed for every session. Denford Chizanga and Roy Chimbuya ministers from Harare came as special speakers. This is an encouraging time for all of churches as well as a great opportunity to teach and strengthen the leaders and congregations.


Update on Zimbabwe: Although there only seems to be bad news about Zimbabwe in the overseas press, we manage to carry on with our work. We are not starving yet and we always find it a challenge to see what we can find in the stores. The other day I saw fresh milk for sale for the first time in months and got so excited. Another man passing by noticed how excited I was and commented how little it takes to make people excited in Zimbabwe! Inflation continues to climb and prices are more expensive each day. We bought an ice cream cone this week at the shop in Harare and waited for Major to join us to buy his. When he joined us 15 minutes later the price had increased by $500 Zim! The thing you notice most now is the extreme poverty all around us. People are really struggling to survive. Already many people come to the hospital to seek food help. We thank you for your faithful support for our work. Without you we couldn’t help so many people! God bless each of you!

Visit to the U.S.: After a great deal became available to buy a ticket to the US I have decided to make a personal trip home for the month of December to see my new great nephew, Alec McCarty born in June 2005 and see my family for the holidays. I know it will be a quick time and many people to see and call. Please be in prayer for the hospital while I am away. I leave here on November 30th and arrive back on January 4th.